Dictionary entry

Pollution

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

po-lu'-shun (ga'al, "to pollute"; alisgema, "contamination"): InMal 1:7, "Ye offer polluted bread," i.e. not actually unclean, but worthless, common (compareEzr 2:62), bread here being used metonymically for sacrificial offerings generally (compareLe 21:6;Mt 6:11). The phrase inAc 15:20, "the pollutions of idols," is explained in 15:29 by "things sacrificed (the King James Version "meats offered") to idols."