assume, as the rabbis did, that in Lev 15:31 defiling the tabernacle meant or involved actual entry into the sanctuary in an unclean state.74 At any rate Lev 15:31 is the first clear reference in Lev 11–15 to the idea of sancta polution. Lev 16:16, 19 cannot be fully examined here. But they also strongly suggest that the sancta have been defiled for a certain period of time. Thus we conclude that the hattat purifies sancta such as the outer altar, and unclean persons, though the sancta do not appear