Topical Bible: Profaned

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Topical Encyclopedia

The term "profaned" in the Bible refers to the act of treating something sacred with irreverence or disrespect. This concept is deeply rooted in the biblical understanding of holiness and the distinction between the sacred and the common. The Hebrew word often translated as "profaned" is "ḥālal," which means to defile, pollute, or treat as common. In the New Testament, the Greek equivalent is "bebēloō," which carries a similar meaning.

Old Testament Context

In the Old Testament, the concept of profaning is frequently associated with the desecration of holy things, such as the Sabbath, the name of God, the temple, and the offerings. Leviticus 19:12 warns, "You must not swear falsely by My name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD." Here, profaning God's name involves using it in a manner that diminishes its sanctity.

The Sabbath is another key area where profanation is addressed. In Ezekiel 22:26 , the priests are accused of failing to distinguish between the holy and the common, leading to the profanation of the Sabbath: "Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They do not distinguish between the holy and the common, and they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; they shut their eyes to the keeping of My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them."

The temple, as the dwelling place of God's presence, was also subject to profanation. In Ezekiel 5:11 , God declares, "Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and abominations, I Myself will withdraw, and I will not look on you with pity, nor will I spare you."

New Testament Context

In the New Testament, the concept of profaning extends to the misuse of what is holy, including the body, which is considered a temple of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 , Paul writes, "Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple." Here, profaning the body is equated with defiling God's temple.

The New Testament also addresses the profanation of sacred practices, such as the Lord's Supper. In 1 Corinthians 11:27 , Paul warns, "Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord."

Theological Implications

The act of profaning is a serious offense in the biblical narrative because it undermines the holiness of God and His commandments. It reflects a heart that is not aligned with God's will and a failure to honor what God has set apart as sacred. The biblical call to holiness is a call to recognize and respect the boundaries between the sacred and the common, ensuring that God's name, His day, His dwelling, and His ordinances are treated with the reverence they deserve.

Practical Application

For believers, the concept of profaning serves as a reminder to live in a manner that honors God and His holiness. This includes respecting the sanctity of worship, the integrity of one's body, and the reverence due to God's name and commandments. It calls for a life that reflects the holiness of God in every aspect, avoiding actions and attitudes that would desecrate what God has declared holy.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

(imp. & p. p.) of Profane.

Strong's Hebrew

2491b. chalal -- profaned
... chalal. 2492 . profaned. Transliteration: chalal Short Definition: profaned. Word
Origin from chalal Definition profaned NASB Word Usage profaned (2). ...
/hebrew/2491b.htm - 5k

2490c. chalal -- to pollute, defile, profane
... 2), cast you as profane (1), defile (2), defiled (3), desecrate (1), enjoy (1),
first (1), pollute (1), polluted (1), profane (21), profaned (29), profanes (3 ...
/hebrew/2490c.htm - 6k

2486. chalilah -- far be it!
... be far, God forbid. Or chalilah {khaw-lee'-law}; a directive from chalal; literal
for a profaned thing; used (interj.) Far be it! -- be far, (X God) forbid. ...
/hebrew/2486.htm - 6k

Library

Strength Profaned and Lost
... THE BOOK OF JUDGES STRENGTH PROFANED AND LOST. 'But the Philistines took
him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture f/strength profaned and lost.htm

Of Jeroboam, who Profaned the People Put under Him by the Impiety ...
... Chapter 22."Of Jeroboam, Who Profaned the People Put Under Him by the Impiety of
Idolatry, Amid Which, However, God Did Not Cease to Inspire the Prophets ...
/.../augustine/city of god/chapter 22 of jeroboam who profaned.htm

That the Sacrament of Faith must not be Profaned.
... Third Book. 50. That the sacrament of faith must not be profaned. In Solomon,
in the Proverbs: "Say not anything in the ears of ...
/.../three books of testimonies against the jews/50 that the sacrament of.htm

The Grace by which the Stony Heart is Removed is not Preceded by ...
... This is His language: "This I do, O house of Israel, [3108] but for mine holy name's
sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. ...
/.../augustine/anti-pelagian writings/chapter 30 the grace by which.htm

Sanctification is a Mystery.
... continues to rest upon him not only to stop his unholy working in it, but also to
reconsecrate perfectly what he has so bitterly and maliciously profaned. ...
/.../kuyper/the work of the holy spirit/ii sanctification is a mystery.htm

Hallowed be Thy Name.
... Now the name of God is profaned by us either in words or in works. ... Here again must
the name of God come to shame and be profaned because of us. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/luther/the large catechism/hallowed be thy name.htm

The Testimonies of Scripture in Favour of Grace.
... says, "These things saith the Lord God: I do not this for your sakes, O house of
Israel, but for mine own holy name's sake, which has been profaned among the ...
/.../augustine/anti-pelagian writings/chapter 14 the testimonies of scripture.htm

But Even this is Nothing. ...
... They profaned the temples, violated conscience, blasphemed the God of the faithful,
parodied the ceremonies, cast to the winds the pious symbols of worship ...
/.../lamartine/atheism among the people/xi but even this is.htm

Twelfth Day. Fidelity in Rebuke.
... When His Father's name and temple were profaned, how did He sweep, with an avenging
hand, the mammon-crowd away, replacing the superscription, "Holiness to the ...
/.../macduff/the mind of jesus/twelfth day fidelity in rebuke.htm

Beth-Lehem
... The same father of the annals adds, that Beth-lehem, from the times of Adrian to
the times of Constantine, was profaned by the temple of Adonis: for the ...
/.../lightfoot/from the talmud and hebraica/chapter 51 beth-lehem.htm

Thesaurus

Profaned (43 Occurrences)
...Profaned (43 Occurrences). ... (See JPS NAS). Psalms 55:20 He hath put forth his hands
against such as were at peace with him: He hath profaned his covenant. ...
/p/profaned.htm - 20k

Desecrated (17 Occurrences)
... Leviticus 19:8 but everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has
profaned the holy thing of Yahweh, and that soul shall be cut off from his ...
/d/desecrated.htm - 12k

Sabbaths (53 Occurrences)
... wilderness: they didn't walk in my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances, which
if a man keep, he shall live in them; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned...
/s/sabbaths.htm - 24k

Name's (31 Occurrences)
... Ezekiel 20:9 But I worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in
the sight of the nations, among which they were, in whose sight I made myself ...
/n/name's.htm - 15k

Profane (69 Occurrences)
... (WEB). Exodus 20:25 And if thou make Me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build
it of hewn stones; for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast profaned it. ...
/p/profane.htm - 30k

Vindicate (18 Occurrences)
... Ezekiel 36:23 I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations,
which you have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall ...
/v/vindicate.htm - 11k

Obeys (17 Occurrences)
... wilderness: they didn't walk in my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances, which
if a man keep, he shall live in them; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned...
/o/obeys.htm - 11k

Distinction (14 Occurrences)
... Ezekiel 22:26 Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned my holy
things: they have made no distinction between the holy and the common ...
/d/distinction.htm - 11k

Disregarded (8 Occurrences)
... Ezekiel 22:26 Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned my holy
things: they have made no distinction between the holy and the common ...
/d/disregarded.htm - 8k

Prostitution (48 Occurrences)
... Leviticus 21:7 They shall not take a woman that is a harlot, or profaned; neither
shall they take a woman put away from her husband; for he is holy unto his God ...
/p/prostitution.htm - 22k

Resources

What is the Feast of Dedication? | GotQuestions.org

What is the significance of the Roman Empire in biblical history? | GotQuestions.org

What is the meaning of Hashem? | GotQuestions.org

Profaned: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

Bible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus

Concordance

Profaned (43 Occurrences)

Acts 21:28
crying, Israelites, help! this is the man who teaches all everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place, and has brought Greeks too into the temple, and profaned this holy place.
(DBY)

Hebrews 10:29
How much worse punishment, do you think, will he be judged worthy of, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?
(See RSV)

Exodus 20:25
And if thou make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stones; for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.
(See JPS DBY)

Leviticus 19:8
but everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the holy thing of Yahweh, and that soul shall be cut off from his people.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Leviticus 20:3
I also will set My face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people, because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile My sanctuary, and to profane My holy name.
(See NIV)

Leviticus 21:7
They shall not take a woman that is a harlot, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God.
(See JPS NAS)

Leviticus 21:14
A widow, or one divorced, or a profane woman, a harlot, these shall he not take: but a virgin of his own people shall he take to wife.
(See JPS NAS)

Psalms 55:20
He hath put forth his hands against such as were at peace with him: He hath profaned his covenant.
(See JPS ASV DBY)

Psalms 74:7
They have burned your sanctuary to the ground. They have profaned the dwelling place of your Name.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY)

Psalms 89:39
Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant: thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS)

Psalms 106:38
And they shed innocent blood -- Blood of their sons and of their daughters, Whom they have sacrificed to idols of Canaan, And the land is profaned with blood.
(YLT)

Isaiah 43:28
Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.
(KJV JPS DBY WBS RSV)

Isaiah 47:6
I was angry with my people, I profaned my inheritance, and gave them into your hand: you showed them no mercy; on the aged you have very heavily laid your yoke.
(WEB JPS ASV NAS RSV)

Isaiah 48:11
For my own sake, for my own sake, will I do it; for how should my name be profaned? and my glory I will not give to another.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Jeremiah 16:18
And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable things, and have filled mine inheritance with their abominations.
(See JPS DBY)

Jeremiah 19:4
Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it to other gods, that they didn't know, they and their fathers and the kings of Judah; and have filled this place with the blood of innocents,
(See RSV)

Jeremiah 34:16
but you turned and profaned my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom you had let go free at their pleasure, to return; and you brought them into subjection, to be to you for servants and for handmaids.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Lamentations 2:2
The Lord has swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and has not pitied: He has thrown down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; He has brought them down to the ground; he has profaned the kingdom and its princes.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY NAS)

Ezekiel 7:24
Therefore I will bring the worst of the nations, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pride of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be profaned.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY NAS RSV)

Ezekiel 13:19
You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to kill the souls who should not die, and to save the souls alive who should not live, by your lying to my people who listen to lies.
(WEB JPS ASV NAS RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 20:9
But I worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, among which they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 20:13
But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they didn't walk in my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances, which if a man keep, he shall live in them; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Ezekiel 20:14
But I worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 20:16
because they rejected my ordinances, and didn't walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Ezekiel 20:21
But the children rebelled against me; they didn't walk in my statutes, neither kept my ordinances to do them, which if a man do, he shall live in them; they profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Ezekiel 20:22
Nevertheless I withdrew my hand, and worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them forth.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 20:24
because they had not executed my ordinances, but had rejected my statutes, and had profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Ezekiel 22:8
You have despised my holy things, and have profaned my Sabbaths.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Ezekiel 22:16
You shall be profaned in yourself, in the sight of the nations; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
(WEB JPS ASV RSV)

Ezekiel 22:26
Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 23:38
Moreover this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my Sabbaths.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Ezekiel 25:3
and tell the children of Ammon, Hear the word of the Lord Yahweh: Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Because you said, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was made desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity:
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Ezekiel 28:18
By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your traffic, you have profaned your sanctuaries; therefore have I brought forth a fire from the midst of you; it has devoured you, and I have turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all those who see you.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY NAS RSV)

Ezekiel 36:20
When they came to the nations, where they went, they profaned my holy name; in that men said of them, These are the people of Yahweh, and are gone forth out of his land.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 36:21
But I had respect for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, where they went.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 36:22
Therefore tell the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I don't do this for your sake, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations, where you went.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 36:23
I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am Yahweh, says the Lord Yahweh, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 39:7
My holy name will I make known in the midst of my people Israel; neither will I allow my holy name to be profaned any more: and the nations shall know that I am Yahweh, the Holy One in Israel.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY NAS RSV NIV)

Amos 2:7
That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the humble; and a man and his father go unto the same maid, to profane My holy name;
(See RSV)

Micah 4:11
And now many nations are assembled against thee, that say, Let her be profaned, and let our eye look upon Zion.
(DBY RSV)

Zephaniah 3:4
Her prophets are arrogant and treacherous people. Her priests have profaned the sanctuary. They have done violence to the law.
(WEB JPS ASV NAS)

Malachi 1:12
But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the LORD is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible.
(KJV WBS)

Malachi 2:11
Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the holiness of Yahweh which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

Subtopics

Profaned

Related Terms

Profaned (43 Occurrences)

Profaneness (2 Occurrences)

Swear (99 Occurrences)

Profane (69 Occurrences)