378 Tova Ganzel who enters the “sanctified area” (39) or goes to offer a sacrifice on the outer altar (40) desecrates the temenos. Leviticus 22 deals with the injunction forbidding the priests to eat the sacred donations of the Israelites when they or the foods are ritually impure. Verse 9 concludes this discussion by admonishing, “They shall heed my prohibition lest they bear sin by it and die thereby when they desecrate it (whlljy yk); I am YHWH who sanctifies them.” It is difficult to determine whether the phrases “by it” and “when they desecrate it” refer to the sacred donations or to the sanctuary. While from the context it might appear that the verse speaks here of the holy things, it is possible that it is the sanctuary that is desecrated through the consumption of sacred donations in a forbidden state(41). In Leviticus, then, the causes of desecration all relate to the disruption or suspension of the priests’ ritual functions in the Temple. This concept of “desecration” differs significantly from Ezekiel’s usage of this term in reference to the withdrawal of the Temple’s sanctity in the wake of the sinful acts committed in its precincts, usually in the presence and through the means of foreigners. V. Ezekiel’s Exegesis For Ezekiel, defilement of the Temple is defined primarily in terms of two of the causes mentioned in the Priestly Sources, namely, corpse impurity and idolatry (42). The concept of defilement is grounded in very specific actions, as delineated in the Priestly Sources, and this status cannot surface through any other means. Ezekiel’s strict adherence to the Priestly Sources’ definitions of defilement may perhaps be attributed to his being a member of the priestly caste in exile, which led him to insist upon the preservation of the Pentateuchal classifications. (39) MILGROM (ibid.) emphasizes the difference between the phrasing aby al tkrph la, which he understands as referring to the sanctified area of the tabernacle, and tkwrpl tybm, which refers to the Holy of Holies. In his view, it is to this latter area that a high priest with a deformity is forbidden entry to perform routine activities such as the rites of the menorah and the table. Any priest with a blemish can enter the sacred area for non-cultic purposes, such as covering the sanctums in preparation for journey, or for their cleansing, and so on. The permission granted to priests with deformities to consume consecrated food indicates that they are not barred from contact with sacred things, but only from active participation in the Temple cult. (40) Joseph Bekhor Shor comments that this refers to the golden altar, but most commentators understand it as referring to the outer altar. See MILGROM, Leviticus 17–22, 1830-1831. (41) See, for example, Ibn Ezra, ad loc. According to this understanding, carelessness with regard to the consumption of sancta in purity by the priests leads to sin, desecration of the Temple, and death. If so, then this signifies the only instance in Scripture where the concepts of defilement and desecration converge with respect to the sanctuary: consumption of sacralized food in an impure state desecrates the sacred precinct. See also MILGROM, Leviticus 17–22, 1859, where he suggests other interpretations of this verse. (42) Our discussion of the terms “defile” and “desecrate” thus adds a new dimension to Hurvitz’s comprehensive study, which does not address these terms. See A. HURVITZ, A Linguistic Study of the Relationship Between the Priestly Source and The Book of Ezekiel (Paris 1982).