The meaning of Spot; Spotted in the Bible
(From International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)
spot, spot'-ed (mum; spilos): The Hebrew word is used to denote a blemish which mars the perfection of the face, as in Song of Solomon 4:7; Job 11:15. It is translated "blemish" in Leviticus 24:19 f., where it means an injury the result of violence, and is rendered "blot" in Proverbs 9:7, where it signifies "shame" or "disgrace." The "spotted" cattle of Genesis 30:32-39 are animals of variegated color (Tala'; compare Ezekiel 16:16, "decked with divers colors"; Joshua 9:5, "patched"). For chabharburah in Jeremiah 13:23, see LEOPARD. Spilos is used in the figurative sense of a stain of sin in II Peter 3:14, and similarly along with rhutis ("a wrinkle") in Ephesians 5:27. The "garment spotted (verb, spiloomai) by the flesh" of Judges 1:23 is, as Calvin has para-phrased it, anything that in any way savors of sin or temptation. The "spots" of Judges 1:12 the King James Version are spilades, "hidden (sunken) rocks" which are betrayed by the surf beating over them (as in Homer Od. iii.298), and are so rendered in the Revised Version (British and American). "Spot" in Lev. 13 is referred to under FRECKLED SPOT; LEPROSY; TETTER.
"Without spot" in Numbers 19:2, etc., is tamim, a usual word for "perfect" (so the Revised Version margin); aspilos (the negative form of spilos) occurs in I Timothy 6:14; I Peter 1:19; II Peter 3:14, with James 1:27 ("unspotted"). For the King James Version Hebrews 9:14 see BLEMISH.
Alex. Macalister
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