First-century Mediterranean people were strong group-oriented persons.15 To them, the integrity of the group—loyalty—was more important than self-reliance.16 Purity is a socially shared map of space and time involving values held in common by members of a group and especially relevant in a strong group.17 An unclean person, then, is a person out of place, collectively deemed a deviant. Deviant labels therefore are a matter of perspective.18 Behavior deemed “out of place,” or “out of order” by a group