Strong's H2930 · Hebrew
טָמֵא
ṭâmêʼ · /taw-may'/
Definition
to be foul, especially in a ceremial or moral sense (contaminated)
KJV: defile (self), pollute (self), be (make, make self, pronounce) unclean, [idiom] utterly.
Root / derivation: a primitive root;
KJV usage breakdown
How the Authorized (KJV) translators rendered טָמֵא across 142 verses.
Every occurrence (KJV)
142 verses use this word, grouped by book — the translated form is highlighted.
Genesis3 verses
And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter: now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they were come.
Genesis 34:13And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister:
Genesis 34:27The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister.
Leviticus71 verses
Or if he touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty.
Leviticus 11:24And for these ye shall be unclean: whosoever toucheth the carcase of them shall be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 11:25And whosoever beareth ought of the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 11:26The carcases of every beast which divideth the hoof, and is not clovenfooted, nor cheweth the cud, are unclean unto you: every one that toucheth them shall be unclean.
Leviticus 11:27And whatsoever goeth upon his paws, among all manner of beasts that go on all four, those are unclean unto you: whoso toucheth their carcase shall be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 11:28And he that beareth the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: they are unclean unto you.
Leviticus 11:31These are unclean to you among all that creep: whosoever doth touch them, when they be dead, shall be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 11:32And upon whatsoever any of them, when they are dead, doth fall, it shall be unclean; whether it be any vessel of wood, or raiment, or skin, or sack, whatsoever vessel it be, wherein any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the even; so it shall be cleansed.
Leviticus 11:33And every earthen vessel, whereinto any of them falleth, whatsoever is in it shall be unclean; and ye shall break it.
Leviticus 11:34Of all meat which may be eaten, that on which such water cometh shall be unclean: and all drink that may be drunk in every such vessel shall be unclean.
Leviticus 11:35And every thing whereupon any part of their carcase falleth shall be unclean; whether it be oven, or ranges for pots, they shall be broken down: for they are unclean, and shall be unclean unto you.
Leviticus 11:36Nevertheless a fountain or pit, wherein there is plenty of water, shall be clean: but that which toucheth their carcase shall be unclean. wherein: Heb. a gathering together of waters
Leviticus 11:39And if any beast, of which ye may eat, die; he that toucheth the carcase thereof shall be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 11:40And he that eateth of the carcase of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: he also that beareth the carcase of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 11:43Ye shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creepeth, neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled thereby. yourselves abominable: Heb. your souls, etc
Leviticus 11:44For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Leviticus 12:2Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean.
Leviticus 12:5But if she bear a maid child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her separation: and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying threescore and six days.
Leviticus 13:3And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.
Leviticus 13:8And if the priest see that, behold, the scab spreadeth in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a leprosy.
Leviticus 13:11It is an old leprosy in the skin of his flesh, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean, and shall not shut him up: for he is unclean.
Leviticus 13:14But when raw flesh appeareth in him, he shall be unclean.
Leviticus 13:15And the priest shall see the raw flesh, and pronounce him to be unclean: for the raw flesh is unclean: it is a leprosy.
Leviticus 13:20And if, when the priest seeth it, behold, it be in sight lower than the skin, and the hair thereof be turned white; the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a plague of leprosy broken out of the boil.
Leviticus 13:22And if it spread much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a plague.
Leviticus 13:25Then the priest shall look upon it: and, behold, if the hair in the bright spot be turned white, and it be in sight deeper than the skin; it is a leprosy broken out of the burning: wherefore the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy.
Leviticus 13:27And the priest shall look upon him the seventh day: and if it be spread much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy.
Leviticus 13:30Then the priest shall see the plague: and, behold, if it be in sight deeper than the skin; and there be in it a yellow thin hair; then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a dry scall, even a leprosy upon the head or beard.
Leviticus 13:44He is a leprous man, he is unclean: the priest shall pronounce him utterly unclean; his plague is in his head.
Leviticus 13:46All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.
Leviticus 13:59This is the law of the plague of leprosy in a garment of woollen or linen, either in the warp, or woof, or any thing of skins, to pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean.
Leviticus 14:36Then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest go into it to see the plague, that all that is in the house be not made unclean: and afterward the priest shall go in to see the house: empty: or, prepare
Leviticus 14:46Moreover he that goeth into the house all the while that it is shut up shall be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:4Every bed, whereon he lieth that hath the issue, is unclean: and every thing, whereon he sitteth, shall be unclean. thing: Heb. vessel
Leviticus 15:5And whosoever toucheth his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:6And he that sitteth on any thing whereon he sat that hath the issue shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:7And he that toucheth the flesh of him that hath the issue shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:8And if he that hath the issue spit upon him that is clean; then he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:9And what saddle soever he rideth upon that hath the issue shall be unclean.
Leviticus 15:10And whosoever toucheth any thing that was under him shall be unclean until the even: and he that beareth any of those things shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:11And whomsoever he toucheth that hath the issue, and hath not rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:16And if any man's seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall wash all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:17And every garment, and every skin, whereon is the seed of copulation, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:18The woman also with whom man shall lie with seed of copulation, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:19And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even. put: Heb. in her separation
Leviticus 15:20And every thing that she lieth upon in her separation shall be unclean: every thing also that she sitteth upon shall be unclean.
Leviticus 15:21And whosoever toucheth her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:22And whosoever toucheth any thing that she sat upon shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:23And if it be on her bed, or on any thing whereon she sitteth, when he toucheth it, he shall be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:24And if any man lie with her at all, and her flowers be upon him, he shall be unclean seven days; and all the bed whereon he lieth shall be unclean.
Leviticus 15:27And whosoever toucheth those things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 15:31Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness; that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.
Leviticus 15:32This is the law of him that hath an issue, and of him whose seed goeth from him, and is defiled therewith;
Leviticus 17:15And every soul that eateth that which died of itself, or that which was torn with beasts, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even: then shall he be clean. that which died: Heb. a carcase
Leviticus 18:20Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's wife, to defile thyself with her.
Leviticus 18:23Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.
Leviticus 18:24Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:
Leviticus 18:25And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.
Leviticus 18:27(For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)
Leviticus 18:28That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you.
Leviticus 18:30Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 19:31Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 20:3And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.
Leviticus 20:25Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean. creepeth: or, moveth
Leviticus 21:1And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people:
Leviticus 21:3And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled.
Leviticus 21:4But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself. he: or, being an husband among his people, he shall not defile himself for his wife, etc
Leviticus 21:11Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;
Leviticus 22:5Or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath;
Leviticus 22:6The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water.
Leviticus 22:8That which dieth of itself, or is torn with beasts, he shall not eat to defile himself therewith: I am the LORD.
Numbers21 verses
Both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell.
Numbers 5:13And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner;
Numbers 5:14And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled:
Numbers 5:20But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband:
Numbers 5:27And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people.
Numbers 5:28And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed.
Numbers 5:29This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled;
Numbers 6:7He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head. consecration: Heb. separation
Numbers 6:9And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it.
Numbers 6:12And he shall consecrate unto the LORD the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering: but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled. be lost: Heb. fall
Numbers 19:7Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even.
Numbers 19:8And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even.
Numbers 19:10And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever.
Numbers 19:11He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. man: Heb. soul of man
Numbers 19:13Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.
Numbers 19:14This is the law, when a man dieth in a tent: all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.
Numbers 19:16And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
Numbers 19:20But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the LORD: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean.
Numbers 19:21And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even.
Numbers 19:22And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.
Numbers 35:34Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell: for I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel.
Deuteronomy2 verses
His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance. accursed: Heb. the curse of God
Deuteronomy 24:4Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
2 Kings4 verses
And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.
2 Kings 23:10And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.
2 Kings 23:13And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile. the mount: that is, the mount of Olives
2 Kings 23:16And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.
Psalms2 verses
Jeremiah4 verses
And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination. a plentiful: or, the land of Carmel
Jeremiah 2:23How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways; thou art: or, O swift dromedary
Jeremiah 7:30For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it.
Jeremiah 32:34But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it.
Ezekiel28 verses
Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.
Ezekiel 5:11Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity.
Ezekiel 9:7And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.
Ezekiel 14:11That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 18:6And hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbour's wife, neither hath come near to a menstruous woman,
Ezekiel 18:11And that doeth not any of those duties, but even hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbour's wife,
Ezekiel 18:15That hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled his neighbour's wife,
Ezekiel 20:7Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
Ezekiel 20:18But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols:
Ezekiel 20:26And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the LORD.
Ezekiel 20:30Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom after their abominations?
Ezekiel 20:31For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day: and shall I be enquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be enquired of by you.
Ezekiel 20:43And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed.
Ezekiel 22:3Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD, The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself.
Ezekiel 22:4Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed; and hast defiled thyself in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the heathen, and a mocking to all countries.
Ezekiel 22:11And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter. one: or, every one another: or, every one lewdly: or, by lewdness
Ezekiel 23:7Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself. committed: Heb. bestowed her whoredoms upon them the chosen: Heb. the choice of the children of Asshur
Ezekiel 23:13Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way,
Ezekiel 23:17And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them. Babylonians: Heb. children of Babel alienated: Heb. loosed, or, disjointed
Ezekiel 23:30I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols.
Ezekiel 23:38Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths.
Ezekiel 33:26Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbour's wife: and shall ye possess the land?
Ezekiel 36:17Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman.
Ezekiel 36:18Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it:
Ezekiel 37:23Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
Ezekiel 43:7And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places.
Ezekiel 43:8In their setting of their threshold by my thresholds, and their post by my posts, and the wall between me and them, they have even defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed: wherefore I have consumed them in mine anger. and the: or, for there was but a wall between me and them
Ezekiel 44:25And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves: but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves.
Hosea3 verses
I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.
Hosea 6:10I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.
Hosea 9:4They shall not offer wine offerings to the LORD, neither shall they be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted: for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the LORD.
Topics that use this word
Frequently asked questions
What does Strong's H2930 (ṭâmêʼ) mean?
to be foul, especially in a ceremial or moral sense (contaminated)
How many times does H2930 appear in the Bible?
Strong's H2930 (טָמֵא) appears in 142 verses of the King James Version, most often translated “unclean.”
How is ṭâmêʼ translated in the KJV?
In the KJV, Strong's H2930 is rendered as “unclean” (74×), “defiled” (45×), “defile” (25×), “polluted” (12×), among other words.
Where does the Hebrew word טָמֵא come from?
a primitive root;