Pollution

POLLUTION po-lu'-shun (ga'al, "to pollute"; alisgema, "contamination"):

In Malachi 1:7, "Ye offer polluted bread," i.e. not actually unclean, but worthless, common (compare Ezra 2:62), bread here being used metonymically for sacrificial offerings generally (compare Leviticus 21:6; Matthew 6:11). The phrase in Acts 15:20, "the pollutions of idols," is explained in 15:29 by "things sacrificed (the King James Version "meats offered") to idols."

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Bibliography Information

Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'POLLUTION'".  "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia".  1915.