טָמֵא
to be unclean
also: become unclean, become impure fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Qal verb in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Stem
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”). Here: ‘sexually’
- Piel
- An intensive or resultative active stem. Here: ‘sexually Gn 34’
- Niphal
- Usually the simple passive or reflexive of the Qal (“he was written”). Here: ‘sexually’
- Hithpael
- The reflexive or reciprocal stem (the subject acts on itself).
- Pual
- The passive counterpart of the Piel.
Form
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
- Sequential Perfect
- A perfect with prefixed waw continuing a preceding imperfect or command (waw-consecutive perfect).
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
- Infinitive Construct
- A bound verbal noun, frequently with prepositions (“to write / in writing”).
- Sequential Imperfect
- An imperfect with prefixed waw — the standard past-narrative form (waw-consecutive imperfect).
- Jussive
- A third- or second-person volitional form expressing wish or command (“let him write”).
- Participle Passive
- A verbal adjective expressing action received (“written”).
- Infinitive Absolute
- An unbound verbal noun, often intensifying or standing in for a finite verb.
- Imperative
- A direct command (“write!”).
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Person
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
- 2nd Person
- The one addressed (“you”).
- 1st Person
- The speaker (“I / we”).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
- Common
- Either gender — not distinguished for this form.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
65 distinct verses where H2930 appears in the Qal stem, across 6 books. Filtered view — show all forms. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Leviticus 48 verses
- Leviticus 5:3 יִטְמָ֖א Qal impf 3ms "'Or if he touches the uncleanness of man, whatever his uncleanness is with which he is unclean, and it is hidden from him; when he knows of it, then he shall be guilty.
- Leviticus 11:24 תִּטַּמָּ֑אוּ יִטְמָ֥א Hithpael impf 2mp Qal impf 3ms "'By these you will become unclean: whoever touches the carcass of them shall be unclean until the evening.
- Leviticus 11:25 וְ/טָמֵ֥א conj + Qal wpf 3ms Whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening.
- Leviticus 11:26 יִטְמָֽא Qal impf 3ms "'Every animal which parts the hoof, and is not cloven-footed, nor chews the cud, is unclean to you. Everyone who touches them shall be unclean.
- Leviticus 11:27 יִטְמָ֥א Qal impf 3ms Whatever goes on its paws, among all animals that go on all fours, they are unclean to you. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening.
- Leviticus 11:28 וְ/טָמֵ֣א conj + Qal wpf 3ms He who carries their carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. They are unclean to you.
- Leviticus 11:31 יִטְמָ֥א Qal impf 3ms These are they which are unclean to you among all that creep. Whoever touches them when they are dead, shall be unclean until the evening.
- Leviticus 11:32 יִטְמָ֗א וְ/טָמֵ֥א Qal impf 3ms conj + Qal wpf 3ms On whatever any of them falls when they are dead, it shall be unclean; whether it is any vessel of wood, or clothing, or skin, or sack, whatever vessel it is, with which any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening; then it will be clean.
- Leviticus 11:33 יִטְמָ֖א Qal impf 3ms Every earthen vessel, into which any of them falls, all that is in it shall be unclean, and you shall break it.
- Leviticus 11:34 יִטְמָ֑א יִטְמָֽא Qal impf 3ms Qal impf 3ms All food which may be eaten, that on which water comes, shall be unclean; and all drink that may be drunk in every such vessel shall be unclean.
- Leviticus 11:35 יִטְמָא֒ Qal impf 3ms Everything whereupon part of their carcass falls shall be unclean; whether oven, or range for pots, it shall be broken in pieces: they are unclean, and shall be unclean to you.
- Leviticus 11:36 יִטְמָֽא Qal impf 3ms Nevertheless a spring or a cistern in which water is a gathered shall be clean: but that which touches their carcass shall be unclean.
- Leviticus 11:39 יִטְמָ֥א Qal impf 3ms "'If any animal, of which you may eat, dies; he who touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening.
- Leviticus 11:40 וְ/טָמֵ֣א וְ/טָמֵ֥א conj + Qal wpf 3ms conj + Qal wpf 3ms He who eats of its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. He also who carries its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening.
- Leviticus 12:2 וְ/טָֽמְאָה֙ תִּטְמָֽא conj + Qal wpf 3fs Qal impf 3fs "Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'If a woman conceives, and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of her monthly period she shall be unclean.
- Leviticus 12:5 וְ/טָמְאָ֥ה conj + Qal wpf 3fs But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her period; and she shall continue in the blood of purification sixty-six days.
- Leviticus 13:14 יִטְמָֽא Qal impf 3ms But whenever raw flesh appears in him, he shall be unclean.
- Leviticus 13:46 יִטְמָ֖א Qal impf 3ms All the days in which the plague is in him he shall be unclean. He is unclean. He shall dwell alone. Outside of the camp shall be his dwelling.
- Leviticus 14:36 יִטְמָ֖א Qal impf 3ms The priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest goes in to examine the plague, that all that is in the house not be made unclean: and afterward the priest shall go in to inspect the house.
- Leviticus 14:46 יִטְמָ֖א Qal impf 3ms "Moreover he who goes into the house while it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening.
- Leviticus 15:4 יִטְמָ֑א יִטְמָֽא Qal impf 3ms Qal impf 3ms "'Every bed whereon he who has the discharge lies shall be unclean; and everything he sits on shall be unclean.
- Leviticus 15:5 וְ/טָמֵ֥א conj + Qal wpf 3ms Whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
- Leviticus 15:6 וְ/טָמֵ֥א conj + Qal wpf 3ms He who sits on anything whereon the man who has the discharge sat shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
- Leviticus 15:7 וְ/טָמֵ֥א conj + Qal wpf 3ms "'He who touches the body of him who has the discharge shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
- Leviticus 15:8 וְ/טָמֵ֥א conj + Qal wpf 3ms "'If he who has the discharge spits on him who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
- Leviticus 15:9 יִטְמָֽא Qal impf 3ms "'Whatever saddle he who has the discharge rides on shall be unclean.
- Leviticus 15:10 יִטְמָ֖א וְ/טָמֵ֥א Qal impf 3ms conj + Qal wpf 3ms Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening. He who carries those things shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
- Leviticus 15:11 וְ/טָמֵ֥א conj + Qal wpf 3ms "'Whoever he who has the discharge touches, without having rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
- Leviticus 15:16 וְ/טָמֵ֥א conj + Qal wpf 3ms "'If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the evening.
- Leviticus 15:17 וְ/טָמֵ֥א conj + Qal wpf 3ms Every garment, and every skin, whereon the semen is, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the evening.
- Leviticus 15:18 וְ/טָמְא֖וּ conj + Qal wpf 3cp If a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the evening.
- Leviticus 15:19 יִטְמָ֥א Qal impf 3ms "'If a woman has a discharge, and her discharge in her flesh is blood, she shall be in her impurity seven days: and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening.
- Leviticus 15:20 יִטְמָ֑א יִטְמָֽא Qal impf 3ms Qal impf 3ms "'Everything that she lies on in her impurity shall be unclean. Everything also that she sits on shall be unclean.
- Leviticus 15:21 וְ/טָמֵ֥א conj + Qal wpf 3ms Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
- Leviticus 15:22 וְ/טָמֵ֥א conj + Qal wpf 3ms Whoever touches anything that she sits on shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
- Leviticus 15:23 יִטְמָ֖א Qal impf 3ms If it is on the bed, or on anything whereon she sits, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until the evening.
- Leviticus 15:24 וְ/טָמֵ֖א יִטְמָֽא conj + Qal wpf 3ms Qal impf 3ms "'If any man lies with her, and her monthly flow is on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed whereon he lies shall be unclean.
- Leviticus 15:27 יִטְמָ֑א וְ/טָמֵ֥א Qal impf 3ms conj + Qal wpf 3ms Whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
- Leviticus 15:32 לְ/טָמְאָה prep + Qal inf.cs This is the law of him who has a discharge, and of him who has an emission of semen, so that he is unclean thereby;
- Leviticus 17:15 וְ/טָמֵ֥א conj + Qal wpf 3ms "'Every person that eats what dies of itself, or that which is torn by animals, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening: then he shall be clean.
- Leviticus 18:20 לְ/טָמְאָה prep + Qal inf.cs "'You shall not lie carnally with your neighbor's wife, and defile yourself with her.
- Leviticus 18:23 לְ/טָמְאָה prep + Qal inf.cs "'You shall not lie with any animal to defile yourself with it; neither shall any woman give herself to an animal, to lie down with it: it is a perversion.
- Leviticus 18:25 וַ/תִּטְמָ֣א conj + Qal wimpf 3fs The land was defiled: therefore I punished its iniquity, and the land vomitted out her inhabitants.
- Leviticus 18:27 וַ/תִּטְמָ֖א conj + Qal wimpf 3fs (for all these abominations have the men of the land done, that were before you, and the land became defiled);
- Leviticus 19:31 לְ/טָמְאָ֣ה prep + Qal inf.cs "'Don't turn to those who are mediums, nor to the wizards. Don't seek them out, to be defiled by them. I am Yahweh your God.
- Leviticus 22:5 יִטְמָא יִטְמָא Qal impf 3ms Qal impf 3ms or whoever touches any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatever uncleanness he has;
- Leviticus 22:6 וְ/טָמְאָ֖ה conj + Qal wpf 3fs the person that touches any such shall be unclean until the evening, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he bathe his body in water.
- Leviticus 22:8 לְ/טָמְאָה prep + Qal inf.cs That which dies of itself, or is torn by animals, he shall not eat, defiling himself by it. I am Yahweh.
Numbers 10 verses
- Numbers 6:12 טָמֵ֖א Qal pf 3ms He shall separate to Yahweh the days of his separation, and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a trespass offering; but the former days shall be void, because his separation was defiled.
- Numbers 19:7 וְ/טָמֵ֥א conj + Qal wpf 3ms Then 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 19:8 וְ/טָמֵ֖א conj + Qal wpf 3ms He who burns her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even.
- Numbers 19:10 וְ/טָמֵ֖א conj + Qal wpf 3ms He who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be to the children of Israel, and to the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them, for a statute forever.
- Numbers 19:11 וְ/טָמֵ֖א conj + Qal wpf 3ms He who touches the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days:
- Numbers 19:14 יִטְמָ֖א Qal impf 3ms This is the law when a man dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent, and everyone who is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.
- Numbers 19:16 יִטְמָ֖א Qal impf 3ms Whoever in the open field touches one who is slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
- Numbers 19:20 יִטְמָא֙ טִמֵּ֗א Qal impf 3ms Piel pf 3ms But the man who shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of Yahweh: the water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean.
- Numbers 19:21 יִטְמָ֖א Qal impf 3ms It shall be a perpetual statute to them: and he who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until even.
- Numbers 19:22 יִטְמָ֑א תִּטְמָ֥א Qal impf 3ms Qal impf 3fs Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the soul that touches it shall be unclean until even.
Psalms 1 verse
Ezekiel 4 verses
- Ezekiel 22:3 לְ/טָמְאָֽה prep + Qal inf.cs You shall say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: A city that sheds blood in the midst of her, that her time may come, and that makes idols against herself to defile her!
- Ezekiel 22:4 טָמֵ֔את Qal pf 2fs You have become guilty in your blood that you have shed, and are defiled in your idols which you have made; and you have caused your days to draw near, and are come even to your years: therefore have I made you a reproach to the nations, and a mocking to all the countries.
- Ezekiel 23:17 וַ/יְטַמְּא֥וּ וַ/תִּ֨טְמָא conj + Piel wimpf 3mp conj + Qal wimpf 3fs The Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their prostitution, and she was polluted with them, and her soul was alienated from them.
- Ezekiel 44:25 לְ/טָמְאָ֑ה יִטַּמָּֽאוּ prep + Qal inf.cs Hithpael impf 3mp They shall go in to no dead person to defile themselves; but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister who has had no husband, they may defile themselves.
Micah 1 verse
Haggai 1 verse
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
The Hebrew verb טמא centers on the idea of “to be unclean.” The word gravitates to Leviticus (50%), then Ezekiel and Numbers. It turns up in 142 verses across 13 books, a common footprint. The verb spans 6 stems, from Qal to Niphal. Older and newer Bibles part ways — “shall be unclean” in the King James Version, “will be unclean” (Berean Standard Bible) in modern versions. See the renderings breakdown. Dig into 142-verse concordance and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H2930 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 142
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 142 distinct verses.
- 13 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 13 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #283
- by frequency
- Top 500 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 283 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 142 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 142 distinct verses.
- Torah (Pentateuch) 97 verses · 68%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 42 verses · 30%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 3 verses · 2%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
BDB lists this Strong’s number as 3 distinct words (homographs). Each count above pools all of them and is not split by sense — see the Senses section below. A low-frequency rendering may belong to a different one of those words, not the primary meaning.
- King James Version†: Shall be unclean 26×, Be unclean 18×, Defile 13×
- American Standard Version†: Shall be unclean 25×, Be unclean 18×, Defile 9×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Will be unclean 27×, He will be unclean 15×, Defile 9×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Shall be unclean 17×, Unclean 14×, He shall be unclean 13×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H2930 across 161† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 68 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H2930 across 163† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 75 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H2930 across 157† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 56 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 5 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H2930 across 197† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 57 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
24 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB
Hebrew verbs can shift meaning by stem (binyan): Qal is the basic action, Niphal is often passive or reflexive, Piel often intensifies or makes it factitive, and Hiphil is typically causative. The senses below are grouped under the stem BDB assigns to each. This entry also uses Pual (the passive of Piel), Hithpael (reflexive or reciprocal), and Hothp (the passive of Hithpael).
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 24 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
טמא I be or become unclean (NH Pi. pollute (ceremonially)
Qal
- Pf. 3 ms. ט׳ Lv 11:25 + 22 times; 3 fs. טָֽמְאָה 12:2 + 2 times; 2 fs. טָמֵאת Ez 22:4; pl. טָֽמְאוּ Lv 15:18; Impf. יִטְמָא Lv 5:3 + 34 times; 3 fs. תִּטְמָא 12:2 + 4 times; pl. יִטְמְאוּ ψ 106:39; Inf. טָמְאָה Lv 15:32 + 6 times;—be or become unclean: e.g. Leviticus 11:25
- 1. sexually, c. בְּ Lv 18:20, 23 (H), Ez 23:17; the land Lv 18:25, 27 (H). e.g. Leviticus 18:20
- 2. religiously, with idols Ez 22:3; c. בְ v 4; with necromancers Lv 19:31 (H); by sacrificing children to idols ψ 106:39. e.g. Ezekiel 22:3
- 3. ceremonially, by contact with carcasses of unclean animals Lv 11:24, 27, 28, 31, 32, 33, 34(×2), 35, 36, 40 (P); any carcass 17:15 (H); eating of a carcass 22:8 (H); by issues 15:4, 9, 20(×2), 24, 27, 32 (P); by contact with an unclean man 5:3; 15:4 (P), 22:5 (H), or thing 22:6 (H); by leprosy 13:14, 46; 14:36, 46 (P); by contact with the dead Nu 6:12; 19:20 (P), Ez 44:25, or with one unclean by such contact Nu 19:22 (P), Hg 2:13(×2); by contact with creeping things Lv 22:5 (H); certain animals were always unclean 11:26, 27 (P). In ordinary cases of uncleanness טמא עד הערב unclean till even Lv 11:24, 25, 27, 28, 31, 32, 39, 40(×2); 14:46; 15:5, 6, 7, 8, 10(×2), 11, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 27 Nu 19:7, 8, 10, 21, 22 (all P), Lv 17:15; 22:6 (H); but uncleanness lasted 7 days for woman bearing a son Lv 12:2(×2) (P), for man lying with woman having an issue 15:24 (P), or one coming in contact with the dead Nu 19:11, 14, 16 (P); it lasted 14 days for a woman bearing a daughter Lv 12:5 (P). e.g. Leviticus 11:24
Niphal
- Pf. 3 ms. נִטְמָא Ho 5:3; 6:10; 3 fs. נִטְמְאָה Nu 5:27, 28; נִטְמָ֑אָה 5:13 + 5 times; 1 s. נִטְמֵאתִי Je 2:23; 2 m.pl. נִטְמֵתֶם Lv 11:43 (א omitted by scribal error; but Ges al. derive from טמה), etc. + 4 times pf.; Pt. pl. נִטְמְאִים Ez 20:30, 31;—defile oneself, be defiled: e.g. Hosea 5:3
- 1. sexually, Lv 18:24 (H), Nu 5:13, 14(×2), 20, 27, 28, 29 (P). e.g. Leviticus 18:24
- 2. by idolatry conceived as whoredom Ho 5:3; 6:10 Je 2:23 Ez 20:30, 31, 43; 23:7, 13, 30. e.g. Hosea 5:3
- 3. ceremonially, by eating creeping things Lv 11:43. e.g. Leviticus 11:43
- 4. be regarded as unclean (cf. Pi. 4), prob. נִטְמִינוּ Jb 18:3 we are accounted as unclean; metapl. form; on another view v. טמה. e.g. Job 18:3
Piel
- Pf. טִמֵּא Gn 34:5 + 15 times; sf. טִמְּאוֹ Lv 13:8 + 3 times; 2 fs. טִמֵּאת Ez 5:11, etc. + 7 times Pf.; Impf. יְטַמֵּא 2 K 23:8, etc. + 12 times Impf.; Imv. pl. טַמְּאוּ Ez 9:7; Inf. טַמֵּא Lv 13:44 + 2 times; sf. טַמְּאָם 15:31, etc. + 4 times Inf.;—defile: e.g. Genesis 34:5
- 1. sexually Gn 34:5, 13, 27 (R), Ez 18:6, 11, 15; 22:11; 33:26; the land by sexual impurities of the people Lv 18:28 (H); Isr. by spiritual whoredom Ez 23:17. e.g. Genesis 34:5
- 2. religiously: the land, by bloodshed Nu 35:34 (P); by allowing the dead body of the murderer to hang on the tree over night Dt 21:23; by idolatry Je 2:7 Ez 36:17, 18; Isr. defiled the sacred places by the sacrifice of children Lv 20:3 (H), Ez 23:38, and God defiled him thereby 20:26; he defileth the sacred places by idolatry 2 Ch 36:14 Je 7:30 = 32:34, Ez 5:11; the holy name of י׳ 43:7, 8; Josiah defiled the idolatrous places of worship by destroying them and making them unfit for use 2 K 23:8, 10, 13, 16; of Isr. defiling idolatrous images Is 30:22, and the nations the temple of God ψ 79:1. e.g. Numbers 35:34
- 3. ceremonially: by ceremonial uncleanness, the sacred places Lv 15:31 Nu 19:13, 20 (P); the camp Nu 5:3 (P); the temple by dead bodies Ez 9:7; the Nazirite’s head of separation by a death occurring in his presence Nu 6:9 (P); the people defile themselves (נפשׁתיכם) by creeping things Lv 11:44 (P). e.g. Leviticus 15:31
- 4. pronounce or declare ceremonially unclean: the leper Lv 13:3, 8, 11, 15, 20, 22, 25, 27, 30, 44(×2), 59 (P); unclean animals 20:25 (H). e.g. Leviticus 13:3
Pual
- Pt. נַפְשִׁי לֹא מְטֻמָּאָה Ez 4:14 myself is not polluted. e.g. Ezekiel 4:14
Hithpael
- Impf. יִטַּמָּא Lv 21:1 + 4 times; pl. יִטַּמְּאוּ Ez 14:11; 37:23; יִטַּמָּ֑אוּ Ho 9:4 Ez 44:25, etc. + 6 times Impf.;—reflexive, defile oneself: by eating of an unaccepted peace-offering Ho 9:4; c. בְּ Lv 18:24, 30 (H), 11:43 (P), Ez 14:11; 20:7, 18; 37:23; c. לְ for a dead person Lv 21:1, 3, 11 (H), Nu 6:7 (P); by Lv 11:24 (P); without prep. 21:4 (H), Ez 44:25. e.g. Leviticus 21:1
Hothp
- Pf. אַהֲרֵי אֲשֶׁר הֻטַּמָּ֑אָה Dt 24:4 after that she has been defiled (sexually); on form v. Ges§ 54. 3. e.g. Deuteronomy 24:4
טמא II unclean
- 1. ethically and religiously ט׳ שׂפתים Is 6:5(×2) unclean of lips; ט׳ השׁם Ez 22:5 defiled of name, infamous; טהור מִטּ׳ Jb 14:4. e.g. Isaiah 6:5
- 2. ritually:
- a. of persons, ‖ טהור Dt 12:15, 22; 15:22 Ec 9:2; ט׳ נפשׁ Lv 22:4 (H); (אדם) ט׳ לנפשׁ unclean for a (dead) person Nu 5:2; 9:6, 7, 10 (P) = ט׳ נפשׁ Hg 2:13; elsewhere for various reasons Dt 26:14; Lv 5:2; 13:11, 36, 44, 45(×2), 46; 15:2, 25, 33 Nu 19:13, 17, 19, 20, 22 (all P), 2 Ch 23:19; Is 64:5 Ez 4:13; 22:10 La 4:15. e.g. Deuteronomy 12:15
- b. of animals Lv 5:2(×4); 7:21(×2); 11:4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31; 27:11, 27 Nu 18:15 (all P), Lv 20:25(×2) (H), Dt 14:7, 8, 10, 19. e.g. Leviticus 5:2
- c. of things in gen. Lv 11:35(×2), 38; 15:26 Nu 19:15 (all P), Is 52:11; food Ju 13:4 Ho 9:3; houses Je 19:13; leprosy Lv 13:15, 51, 55; 14:44, 57 (P); offering Hg 2:14. e.g. Leviticus 11:35
- d. persons and things in general כל טמא Lv 7:19, 21 (P); הבדיל בין הט׳ ובין הטהור Lv 10:10; 11:47; הודיע בין (ה)ט׳ לטהור Ez 22:26; 44:23; of aliens Is 52:1 (‖ עָרֵל), perhaps also 35:8. e.g. Leviticus 7:19
- 3. specif. of places: מקום ט׳ unclean place (place of refuse away from holy place and human habitation) Lv 14:40, 41, 45 (P); טמאה ארץ land on the east of the Jordan separated from the land of the tabernacle of י׳ Jos 22:19 (P); so אדמה ט׳ a foreign land Am 7:17. e.g. Leviticus 14:40
טמא III uncleanness (טָֽמְאָה, Baer, seems to rest upon a misinterpretation of the form) Mi 2
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
I. vb. be or become unclean (NH Pi. pollute (ceremonially); Aramaic טְמָא and especially deriv., ܛܰܡܰܐ Pa. pollute; v. RSK 307 ff.)—
II. adj. unclean;—ט׳ Lv 5:2 + 58 times; cstr. טְמֵא 22:4 + 3 times; f. טְמֵאָה 5:2 + 11 times; cstr. טְמֵאַת Ez 22:5, 10; pl. טְמֵאִים Lv 11:8 + 10 times;—unclean,
I. n.f. uncleanness (טָֽמְאָה, Baer, seems to rest upon a misinterpretation of the form) Mi 2:10 (so Thes MV SS); of ethical uncleanness, from wrong-doing.
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Origin: a primitive root
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
טַמָּא
- (= טעמא, v. M. Kat. 18ᵃ quot. s. v. טַעֲמָא, a. T’shuboth G’onim ed. Cassel, p. 22ᵃ) reason, argument (on the cause of grief), consolation.—Pl. טַמַּיָּא, or טָמַיָּא.—בֵּי ט׳ gathering of comforters around the mourner in his house or at the place of worship. Ber. 6ᵇ אגרא דבי ט׳ וכ׳ (Ar. טמא, Tshub. G’onim l. c. טעמא) the merit of attending the mourner’s gathering lies in the silence (which must be observed until the mourner begins to speak). Snh. 113ᵃ [read:] למשאל ביה ט׳ (v. Rabb. D. S. a. l. note), v. טַעֲמָא.
טָמֵא I
- [to be filled up, inaccesible,] to be unclean; v. טָמֵא II.
- 1. to make unclean, to soil, defile. Yoma 39ᵃ אדם מְטַמֵּא עצמו מעט מְטַמְּאִין וכ׳ if a man begins to defile himself a little (through sin), he will soon be defiled largely. Yad. III, 5, a. fr. מט׳ את הידים their handling makes the hands unclean (washing the hands is required after handling them). Kel. I, 1; a. v. fr.
- 2. to declare unclean. Toh. VI, 2. Eduy. I, 11; a. v. fr.—Makhsh. VI, 2 טִימְּאוּ; Y. Dem. V, 24ᵈ טִימּוּ.
- , Hithpa. הִתְטַמֵּא, הִיטַּמֵּא
- 1. to become unclean, to be made unclean. Ukts. I, 1 מְטַמֵּא ומִיטַּמֵּא eventually makes unclean and becomes unclean. Kel. II, 1 מִיתְטַמְּאִין וכ׳ (ed. Dehr. מִיטַּ׳) are fit to become unclean and to make unclean. Ib. ומיט׳ מאחוריהן ואינן מיט׳ וכ׳ Mish. ed. (Talm. ed. מִטַּ׳) may be made unclean through their backs (touching uncleanness), &c. Ib. VI, 4 ונִטְמְאוּ and which became unclean; a. v. fr.—Yoma 38ᵇ [read:] בא לִטַּמֵּא פְּתָחִין לו (v. Rabb. D. S. a. l. note) to him who is willing to defile himself, doors are open; Sabb. 104ᵃ; Ab. Zar. 55ᵃ; Men. 29ᵇ
- 2. to make one’s self unclean by handling a corpse &c. (v. Lev. XXI, 1, sq.). Yeb. 60ᵃ מִטַּמֵּא לה he (the priest) may attend to her burial; a. fr. e.g. Leviticus 21:1
טְמָא
- v. טְמִי
טָמֵא II
- v. preced. art.) unclean, levitically impure, forbidden. Kel. XII, 2 המחובר לט׳ ט׳ whatever is attached to an object which is fit to become unclean, may become unclean. Ib. 1 טבעת אדם ט׳ a ring used by man may eventually become unclean; a. v. fr.—Ḥull. VII, 5 דג ט׳ a fish forbidden to eat. Ib. 6 (בהמה) ט׳ a forbidden animal; a. v. fr.—Ab. Zar. 39ᵃ (referring to ‘the ass of the sea’, v. חֲמָר, a. ‘the ox of the sea’, v. תּוֹרָא) ט׳ טהור טהור ט׳ what is unclean (on land) is clean (in water) &c.—טְמֵא מת = b. h. טָ׳ למת, one made unclean through a corpse. Pes. 19ᵇ; a. fr.—Pl. טְמֵאִים, טְמֵאִין; f. טְמֵאוֹת. Ḥull. VIII, 6. Pes. 17ᵃ. Kel. XI, 8; a. v. fr.—טְמֵאֵי מתים, v. supra. Pes. 66ᵇ; a. fr.
טְמֵא
- v. טְמֵי
טְמִי
- = h. טָמֵא, to be, become unclean. Targ. Ps. CVI, 39 טְמִיאוּ (some ed. incorr. טַמִּי׳).
- to make unclean. Targ. Y. II, Num. XII, 12.—Targ. Mic. II, 10 בדיל לטַמָּיוּתָהּ ed. Lag. (ed. בדיל ט׳ corr. acc.) in order to defile her.—Ḥull. 3ᵃ לטַמְּיֵיה וטַמִּיתֵיה לבשר … the person will make the knife unclean and then the knife will make the flesh unclean. Pes. 79ᵃ דבשר הוא דמְטַמְּיָא ליה וכ׳ which affects only the flesh, but not the person. (Ms. M. דמִיטַּמֵּי … מִיטַּמְּאֵי, Ithpe.). Ib. 67ᵇ טַמּוּיֵי מְטַמֵּי makes unclean; a. fr.
- to be made unclean. Ḥull. 2ᵇ; a. e.
טְמֵי
- , constr. (preced.) unclean. Targ. Num. V, 2, a. fr. ט׳ נפשא, v. טָמֵא II.—Pl. f. טַמְיַין. Targ. Y. Deut. XIV, 4 [read:] עִיבּוּרֵי ט׳ (v. Bekh. 7ᵃ) offsprings of unclean mothers.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 101 distinct written forms H2930 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that stem’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
The 60 most common forms are shown; 41 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H2930, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derived from this word
Compare all same-root words → They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 140 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 142 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Genesis 34:5
- Leviticus 5:3
- Numbers 5:3
- Deuteronomy 21:23
- 2 Kings 23:8
- 2 Chronicles 36:14
- Psalms 79:1
- Isaiah 30:22
- Jeremiah 2:7
- Ezekiel 4:14
- Hosea 5:3
- Micah 2:10
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
