H3799 H3799
To be stained or marked; to bear indelible discoloration, especially from sin
This Niphal participle appears only in Jeremiah 2:22, where God declares 'your iniquity is stained before me' despite ritual washing. The verb means to be stained or marked indelibly, like cloth that retains blood-stains despite cleaning. The imagery powerfully refutes the notion that external purification can remove internal guilt. Even with alkali and abundant soap, the moral stain remains visible to God.
Senses
1. sense 1 — To be stained or marked indelibly, used metaphorically for sin's persistent mark on the soul. Jeremiah's accusation emphasizes that Judah's guilt cannot be washed away by ritual means—the stain penetrates too deeply. Spanish 'manchada' (stained/spotted) captures the disfiguring effect of sin. The participial form suggests an ongoing state: the iniquity remains stained, present tense, regardless of purification attempts. This anticipates the need for God's transformative cleansing beyond human ritual. 1×
AR["مُنْطَبِعٌ"]·ben["চিহ্নিত"]·DE["[נכתם]"]·EN["is-stained"]·FR["[נכתם]"]·heb["נכתם"]·HI["दागा-हुआ"]·ID["ternoda"]·IT["[נכתם]"]·jav["dipun-tetepaken"]·KO["얼룩져-있다"]·PT["manchada"]·RU["запечатано"]·ES["manchada"]·SW["imechorwa"]·TR["lekeli"]·urd["داغدار"]
Related Senses
H3548 1. priest, cultic officiant (750×)G5547 1. Christ, Messiah, Anointed One (540×)H5030 1. Prophet, divine spokesperson (317×)H5930a 1. burnt offering (sacrifice) (286×)H3881 1. Levites (priestly class) (283×)G4396 1. prophet, spokesperson of God (146×)H6944 1. sanctuary, holy place (129×)G0749 1. high priest, chief priest (123×)H6944 2. holiness, sacredness (abstract quality) (123×)G5330 1. Pharisee (99×)G4336 1. pray to God (86×)H6944 3. holy things, sacred offerings (plural) (86×)H3722a 1. make ritual atonement (Piel) (85×)H6912 1. bury (Qal active) (82×)H6419 1. pray (Hitpael) (80×)H6944 4. holiness (with possessive pronoun) (77×)H6942 1. sanctify, consecrate (Piel factitive) (76×)H2930a 1. Qal: be/become unclean (75×)H7819a 1. slaughter an animal (Qal active) (72×)H1486 1. lot (object cast for decisions) (71×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† I. [כָּתַם] vb. only Niph. be stained (NH Niph. id. (Jastr); כֶּתֶם blood-stain; 𝔗 כְּתִים (blood-) stained Is 1:18; כִּיתְמָא blood-stain Je 2:22; Syriac ܟܬܰܡ stain, defile, Pt., also Pa. Ethpa., and deriv.; Arabic كَتَمَ is cover, conceal, so Assyrian katâmu; Zinj. כתם(?), DHMSendsch. p. 37);— Niph. Pt., fig., נִכְתָּם עֲוֹנֵךְ לְפָנַי Je 2:22 stained is thine iniquity before me (cf. Eng. phr. iniquity of deepest dye).