Much has been written about ritual impurity in ancient Judaism, but the question of how the ancient Jews understood the relationship between defilement and sin has largely been ignored. This book offers the first systematic exploration of the important topic to be published in the last seventy years. Jonathan Klawans takes the results of current research on the Hebrew Bible and applies them to early Jewish and Christian groups. The Bible, he shows, considers the moral impurity generated by sin to be entirely distinct from (but no less real than) the ritual impurity generated by bodily function such as menstruation. Klawans then traces the relationship between ritual and moral impurity from early Jewish sects through the New Testament and the theology of Saint Paul and shows how Christian theology arrived at the point where the need for ritual purity was entirely rejected.

"This volume makes a major contribution to the study of Ancient Judaism and Christianity. Professor Klawans has disentangled some confusing threads of ancient thinking about purity and has revealed a complex, nuanced array of perspectives to be found in our documentation. Those who wish to homogenize ancient Jewish thinking on the subject will hence forth be without excuse."

"Jonathan Klawans makes an important contribution to scholarship on ancient Judaism by providing a fresh look at the relationship between sin and impurity. Klawans writes well; he is concise, well-organized, and usually very clear. I recommend this book for all professors or students of ancient Judaism or early Christianity."

"Klawans has offered some very helpful illumination, particularly to the study of the New Testament. The clarity and simplicity of his thought is very attractive, and throws light into some very obscure corners of ancient thought."

Jonathan Klawans, Associate Professor of Religion, Boston University