G3393 — μίασμα (míasma)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G3393
Original: μίασμα
Transliteration: míasma
Pronunciation: mee'-as-mah
Part of Speech: Neuter noun
Root: From μιαίνω (miaínō, G3392) — to sully, taint, defile
Occurrences: 1 unique verse (1 token) in NT
First Occurrence: 2 Pet 2:20 — "For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning."
Hapax Legomenon: YES — appears only once in the entire NT

Lexicon Definition¶

From μιαίνω (G3392, "to defile"); (morally) foulness — properly, the effect or result of defilement. Strong's defines it as "(morally) foulness (properly, the effect):—pollution." Thayer adds: "that which defiles; defilement; metaphorically, vices the foulness of which contaminates one in his contact with the ungodly mass of mankind" (2 Pet 2:20).

The word denotes the pollution-substance itself — the contaminating residue left by moral defilement — as distinct from the act of defiling (μιασμός, G3394) or the verb of contamination (μιαίνω, G3392).

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain 88.034: Impurity
Broader domain 88: Moral and Ethical Qualities and Related Behavior
Glosses: impurity, impure, tainted
Other words in 88.034: ἀκαθαρσία (G167), μιαίνω (G3392), μιασμός (G3394), ῥυπαίνω (G4510a), ῥυπαρία (G4507), ῥυπαρός (G4508)

Domain Neighbors (88.034 — Impurity)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Total Verses	Primary KJV Translation
G167	ἀκαθαρσία	10	uncleanness
G3392	μιαίνω	4	defile, be defiled
G3394	μιασμός	1	uncleanness
G4510a	ῥυπαίνω	—	— (no KJV occurrence)
G4507	ῥυπαρία	1	filthiness
G4508	ῥυπαρός	1	vile

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
pollutions	1	100%

Only one occurrence; KJV renders it "pollutions" (plural, matching the accusative plural form μιάσματα in the Greek text).

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
2 Peter	1	1.6

Exclusive to 2 Peter. The word's concentration in a single late-NT epistle dealing with false teachers and apostasy limits intra-biblical distribution analysis. Its meaning must be reconstructed from the root verb μιαίνω (G3392, 4v across John, Titus, Hebrews, Jude), the cognate family, the Louw-Nida domain, and classical/LXX usage.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Moral Pollution from Worldly Contact¶

2 Pet 2:20 — "For if after they have escaped the pollutions (μιάσματα) of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning."

This is the sole NT occurrence. The plural μιάσματα denotes the accumulated moral contaminations that characterize the world (κόσμος, G2889). The context describes persons who had genuinely escaped these pollutions through ἐπίγνωσις (G1922, "full knowledge") of Christ, then returned to them. The grammatical structure is significant: - ἀποφυγόντες (aorist active participle of ἀποφεύγω, G668) — a decisive, completed escape - ἐμπλακέντες (aorist passive participle of ἐμπλέκω, G1707) — becoming entangled again - ἡττῶνται (present passive indicative of ἡσσάομαι, G2274) — being overcome, a continuing state of defeat

The "pollutions" are thus the defiling substance of the world's moral corruption — not the act of sinning itself (that would be μιασμός, G3394) but the contaminating residue that clings to those who participate in worldly vice.

LXX Background¶

The lexicon's outline of biblical usage notes Lev 7:8 and Jer 32:34 as LXX references. In the LXX, μίασμα carries the same sense of defiling substance — the contamination itself, particularly in contexts of ritual and idolatrous pollution. This links the NT usage to the Levitical purity system, where contact with contaminating substances rendered a person unfit for sacred participation.

Common Collocations¶

With only one verse, no statistically significant collocations can be established. The immediate co-occurring content words in 2 Pet 2:20 are:

Word	Strong's	Pattern
ἀποφεύγω (apopheugo)	G668	"escaped the pollutions" — escape from contamination
κόσμος (kosmos)	G2889	"pollutions of the world" — genitive source of pollution
ἐπίγνωσις (epignosis)	G1922	"through the knowledge of..." — means of escape
ἐμπλέκω (empleko)	G1707	"again entangled" — re-entrapment in pollution
ἡσσάομαι (hessaomai)	G2274	"overcome" — defeated by the pollutions

The most notable collocation is τὰ μιάσματα τοῦ κόσμου — "the pollutions of the world" — which frames the moral corruption of the world-system as a contaminating substance to be fled.

Word Family / Cognates¶

G3392 μιαίνω (miaínō) — root verb: to sully, taint, contaminate (4v NT). The parent verb from which μίασμα derives. Used for ceremonial defilement (John 18:28), moral conscience defilement (Titus 1:15), communal contamination (Heb 12:15), and fleshly defilement (Jude 1:8). See G3392-miaino.md.
G3394 μιασμός (miasmós) — cognate noun: contamination, the act of defiling (1v NT, 2 Pet 2:10). Where μίασμα is the result (the pollution-substance), μιασμός is the process (the act of contaminating). Both appear only in 2 Peter.
G283 ἀμίαντος (amíantos) — adjective: undefiled (alpha-privative of miaínō; 4v NT — Heb 7:26, 13:4; Jas 1:27; 1 Pet 1:4). The positive ideal: what has not been contaminated. Describes Christ's priesthood, marriage, pure religion, and the heavenly inheritance.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
ἀλίσγεμα (alisgema)	G234	"pollutions" (Acts 15:20)	Ceremonial pollution from idol-contaminated food; from ἀλισγέω "to soil." The Jerusalem Council's directive concerns ritual contamination from idol worship, not moral corruption of the world-system.
ṭâmêʼ (tame)	H2931	"polluted/pollution" (Ezek 4:13, etc.)	Hebrew adjective "unclean/defiled" with 87 OT occurrences across Levitical, moral, and cultic contexts. Broader scope than the single-use NT noun.

Distinguishing μίασμα: The KJV uses "pollutions" for both G3393 and G234, but the words are unrelated. G234 (alisgema) concerns ceremonial defilement from idolatrous food (Acts 15:20), while G3393 (miasma) concerns the moral foulness of the world-system that contaminates through ongoing contact with vice (2 Pet 2:20).

Hebrew Source¶

No Hebrew sources found for G3393 via direct LXX mapping in the Strong's database. However, the parent verb μιαίνω (G3392) maps primarily to H2930 טָמֵא (tame, "be/make unclean") with 86 LXX co-occurrences (PMI 31.76). The noun μίασμα inherits this Levitical impurity background through its verbal root. In the LXX itself, μίασμα appears in passages like Lev 7:8 and Jer 32:34 in contexts linked to the tame/tumah word family.