POLLUTION (חָלַל֒, H2725, to pierce, to pollute; טָמֵא֮, H3238, to defile, make unclean; κοινόω, G3124, to make common, to pollute [Acts 21:28]; αλίσγημα, pollution; μιάσμα, defilement, pollution [2 Pet 2:20]; μιαίνω, G3620, to stain, color, defile).

1. Pollution in the OT. This occurred through a woman in menstruation (Ezek 22:10, RSV, “impurity”); through making an altar of cut stones (Exod 20:25; RSV, “profane”); through touching a dead body (Num 9:6; 19:14); through eating an animal declared unclean (Lev 11); because of certain diseases (Lev 11, 15); because of a disregard of the marriage limits (Lev 18:6ff.); or eating food offered to idols (Acts 15:20, 29). Maimed and imperfect offerings that were brought with the wrong motive were declared polluted (Mal 1:7-9).

2. Pollution in the NT. The Christian is to avoid the pollutions from the world (2 Pet 2:20). The Jerusalem council warned against the pollution of idols, namely eating food that first had been offered to an idol, lest this offend others who were weaker (Paul later explained this in detail in Romans 14); also included is fornication, which is always wrong, and eating strangled animals and blood as forbidden in the OT.