376 Tova Ganzel factors that defile the Temple, and those that desecrate it. Both phenomena relate to the Israelites’ involvement in various types of idol worship, but whereas the Temple’s defilement results directly from the people’s involve- ment with idol worship, its desecration is generally caused by the entry of aliens into its precincts, sometimes as divine envoys, and sometimes with the approval of the people, who did not have the sense to exclude them. On other occasions, it is the arrival of Israelite worshipers in the Temple after slaughtering their children that effectuates the Temple’s desecration. III. “Defilement” in the Priestly Sources An evaluation of the usage of the term “defilement” and “desecration” in the Priestly Sources further demonstrates that these terms are not randomly interchangeable, and also sheds light on Ezekiel’s understanding of these terms in the Pentateuch as he enlisted them to convey his message to the people. The six Pentateuchal references to the defilement or desecration of a sacred precinct are all found in the Priestly Sources (Lev 15,31; 20,3; 21,12; 21,23; 22,9; and Num 19,13). There, bodily discharges such as genital fluxes, seminal emissions, and menstrual blood (Lev 15) are deemed causes of “defilement” which have the capacity to defile the sanctuary: “You shall set apart the Israelites from their impurity (μtamfm), lest they die through their impurity by polluting (μamfb) my Tabernacle which is among them” (v. 31)(34). Fluid bodily discharges cause impurity that defiles the sanctuary, thus rendering the impure person deserving of death. A second cause of defilement is idolatry, specifically the worship of Molech. Leviticus 20 begins with the laws concerning a person who gives his offspring to Molech, whom God threatens to “cut off” from the people “because he dedicated his offspring, thus defiling my sanctuary (yçdqm ta amf ˆ[ml) and desecrating my holy name (yçdq μç ta lljlw)” (v. 3). Giving offspring to Molech thus defiles the sacred precinct and desecrates the holy name. A person who commits this act is punished by God — by being cut off from the people — and by humans through stoning. The third defiling agent in the Priestly Sources is corpse impurity. Numbers 19 describes the preparation of the ash of the red heifer and how it is used for purification from corpse impurity. In this context, impurity caused by exposure to a corpse is explicitly mentioned as a means of defiling the Temple: “One who had contact with a corpse belonging to any human being who had died, but failed to purify himself, has defiled the Tabernacle of YHWH. That person shall be cut off from Israel, because water of lustration was not dashed on him. He remains impure; his impurity endures within him.” (v. 13) (34) This verse is perhaps the concluding verse of all of the pericopes concerning impurity (11,27–15,30) and does not necessarily relate to the impurities described in chapter 15, as assumed here. See M. BOLLE, Va-Yiqra (Da‘at Miqra; Jerusalem 1992) 284.