Hebrew word · H1351

גָּאַל

mego'al

to defile

A second root ga'al, separate from ga'al 'to redeem' (H1350). It means to be or make unclean, polluted, desecrated, and is closely related to the root ga'al spelled with ayin, 'to loathe'.

Appears 11 times in 9 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to defile, pollute, desecrate

1a) (Niphal) to be defiled, be polluted

1b) (Piel) to pollute, desecrate

1c)(Pual) to be desecrated (of removal from priesthood)

1d) (Hiphil) to pollute, stain

1e) (Hithpael) to defile oneself

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Isaiah 59:3

Range of meaning

A second root ga'al, separate from ga'al 'to redeem' (H1350). It means to be or make unclean, polluted, desecrated, and is closely related to the root ga'al spelled with ayin, 'to loathe'. It is used for food unfit for the altar (Mal 1:7, 12), for what makes a person ritually unfit (Dan 1:8), for priests barred from office as 'defiled' (Ezra 2:62; Neh 7:64), and for garments stained with blood (Isa 63:3).

Against the English

KJV, WEB, ESV and NASB say 'defiled'; YLT says 'polluted'; BSB and NIV say 'stained'. 'Stained' keeps the visual picture but loses the sense of ritual disqualification. 'Defiled' keeps it.

How it drifted

To modern ears 'stained' suggests a visible mark or a guilty conscience. In Hebrew this is the vocabulary of purity: something defiled cannot approach the holy.

Used elsewhere in the period

The closest parallel is Lam 4:14: 'they were defiled with blood (nego'alu baddam), so that no one could touch their garments.' Priests and prophets there are treated like lepers because of the blood they shed. The odd vowels of nego'alu, which mix two verb patterns, occur in both places; the grammars treat it as a blended form (Gesenius-Kautzsch §51h).

From the study of Isaiah 63:3

Range of meaning

“To be defiled, polluted, made unclean or filthy.” It is used of food, priests and offerings made ritually unfit (Malachi 1:7, 12; Ezra 2:62; Lamentations 4:14, “defiled with blood”). It sounds the same as ga'al I (H1350), “to redeem, act as kinsman-rescuer.”

Against the English

KJV, BSB and NIV say “stain” or “stained,” which captures the visible soaking. YLT's “polluted” keeps the overtone of defilement, since in Israel's purity system contact with blood made a person unclean. “Stained” sounds like a laundry problem. The Hebrew carries a hint of being made ritually unclean.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lamentations 4:14 (“defiled with blood”) is the closest parallel. The form אֶגְאָלְתִּי, with a prefixed aleph instead of the expected he, is unusual. Grammarians (e.g. GKC §53p) explain it as Aramaic-influenced or a mixed form.

From the study of Zephaniah 3:1

Range of meaning

גָּאַל II: 'to be defiled, stained, polluted'. It belongs with the late root געל and is a different word from גָּאַל I 'to redeem, act as kinsman-redeemer' (H1350). It is used for hands defiled with blood (Isa 59:3), garments stained with blood (Isa 63:3), people 'defiled with blood' wandering in Jerusalem's streets (Lam 4:14), polluted offerings (Mal 1:7, 12), priests barred from service as unclean (Ezra 2:62; Neh 7:64), and Daniel refusing to 'defile himself' with the king's food (Dan 1:8).

Against the English

KJV and WEB have 'polluted'; ESV, NASB, NIV and BSB have 'defiled'. 'Defiled' is closer. To modern readers 'polluted' suggests environmental contamination, while the Hebrew means a state of uncleanness that disqualifies a person or thing before God, often through bloodshed.

How it drifted

Until the 19th century the English word 'pollute' still mainly meant 'make unclean or profane'. The environmental sense now dominates.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Isa 59:3 and Lam 4:14 passages tie this verb to Jerusalem and to blood. The Septuagint here read the same consonants as gāʾal I and translated apolelytrōmenē, 'redeemed'.

Where it appears

Ezra · 1

  1. Ezra 2:62 וַֽיְגֹאֲל֖וּ and they were defiled

    These men searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.

Nehemiah · 1

  1. Nehemiah 7:64 וַיְגֹֽאֲל֖וּ and they were defiled

    These men searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.

    Here: 'And they were defiled,' meaning treated as defiled or declared unfit. The form is passive. This is the rarer gāʾal meaning 'to defile', not the well-known gāʾal meaning 'to redeem'. It follows from the failed search: with no record, their status counted as contaminated for priestly purposes.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 59:3 נְגֹאֲל֣וּ they are defiled

    For your hands are stained with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters injustice.

    Here: 'Have been defiled', a purity word. It means made unclean and unfit to come near God, not just dirty. The perfect form describes a settled state: their hands are polluted.

  2. Isaiah 63:3 אֶגְאָֽלְתִּי׃ I have defiled

    “I have trodden the winepress alone, and no one from the nations was with Me. I trampled them in My anger and trod them down in My fury; their blood spattered My garments, and all My clothes were stained.

    Here: “I have defiled / stained.” The verb form is unusual: a hybrid that grammarians often treat as Aramaic-influenced. It comes from ga'al II (“make filthy”), which sounds the same as ga'al I (“redeem”), and v. 4 goes straight on to “the year of my redeemed.”

Lamentations · 1

  1. Lamentations 4:14 נְגֹֽאֲל֖וּ they were defiled

    They wandered blind in the streets, defiled by this blood, so that no one dared to touch their garments.

Daniel · 2

  1. Daniel 1:8 יִתְגָּאַ֛ל יִתְגָּאָֽל׃ he defiled himself, he will defile himself

    But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or wine. So he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself.

    Here: A reflexive form: "make himself defiled." Daniel sees eating the food as something he would be doing to himself, an act that would leave him polluted and unfit. This verb is not the related-sounding word for "redeem".

Zephaniah · 1

  1. Zephaniah 3:1 וְנִגְאָלָ֑ה and [the] defiled [one]

    Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled!

    Here: 'And she who is defiled': a passive participle. The city is in a state of contamination. Elsewhere this verb describes hands and garments stained with blood, so it points to moral and ritual pollution, not dirt.

Malachi · 3

  1. Malachi 1:7 מְגֹאָ֔ל גֵֽאַלְנ֑וּךָ defiled, have we defiled you

    By presenting defiled food on My altar. But you ask, ‘How have we defiled You?’ By saying that the table of the LORD is contemptible.

    Here: A passive participle: 'defiled,' made unfit for the altar. This is the 'defile' root, not the identical-looking root that means 'redeem.' It belongs to the later books of the Bible and describes something ritually disqualified.

  2. Malachi 1:12 מְגֹאָ֣ל [is] defiled

    “But you profane it when you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is contemptible.’

    Here: A passive participle: “in a state of defilement,” ritually unfit, disqualified from holy use. It repeats 1:7 (“defiled food”). This is a different root from the familiar gāʾal “to redeem,” though it is spelled the same.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.