Define

• Ritually impure; defiling; must be kept away from the sanctuary and holy things until purified

• Hebrew: ṭāmēʾ (טָמֵא) unclean, defiled, impure

• Greek:

  • Primary word: akáthartos (ἀκάθαρτος) – “unclean” (especially of spirits and ritual impurity)
  • Secondary word: koinós (κοινός) – “common/defiled” (Mark 7:2; Acts 10:14)

Related words

• Common
• Holy
• Clean

Additional Info

• Sources of uncleanness:
  • Contact with carcasses (Lev 11)
  • Bodily discharges (Lev 15)
  • Childbirth (Lev 12)
  • Skin diseases (“leprosy”) (Lev 13–14)
  • Contact with the dead (Num 19)
  • Severe uncleanness brings the death penalty if one approaches the sanctuary (Num 19:13, 20)

Connections

• NT: unclean spirits (demons) are ἀκάθαρτα πνεύματα
• Peter’s vision: “What God has cleansed (ἐκαθάρισεν) no longer call common/unclean (κοινόν)” (Acts 10:15) Not talking about food, it's about people.
• Ultimate cleansing in the NT is through Christ’s blood (Heb 9:13–14; 1 John 1:7)