Leviticus 18:25

Hebrew Bible

23 You must not have sexual relations with any animal to become defiled with it, and a woman must not stand before an animal to have sexual relations with it; it is a perversion. 24 “‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things, for the nations that I am about to drive out before you have been defiled with all these things. 25 Therefore the land has become unclean, and I have brought the punishment for its iniquity upon it, so that the land has vomited out its inhabitants. 26 You yourselves must obey my statutes and my regulations and must not do any of these abominations, both the native citizen and the resident foreigner in your midst, 27 for the people who were in the land before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become unclean.

Jeremiah 2:7

Hebrew Bible

5 This is what the Lord says: “What fault could your ancestors have possibly found in me that they strayed so far from me? They paid allegiance to worthless idols, and so became worthless to me. 6 They did not ask,‘Where is the Lord who delivered us out of Egypt, who brought us through the wilderness, through a land of valleys and gorges, through a land of desert and deep darkness, through a land in which no one travels, and where no one lives?’ 7 I brought you into a fertile land so you could enjoy its fruits and its rich bounty. But when you entered my land, you defiled it; you made the land I call my own loathsome to me. 8 Your priests did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ Those responsible for teaching my law did not really know me. Your rulers rebelled against me. Your prophets prophesied in the name of the god Baal. They all worshiped idols that could not help them. 9 “So, once more I will state my case against you,” says the Lord. “I will also state it against your children and grandchildren.

 Notes and References

"... Moral impurity, by contrast, is inherently sinful and results from committing certain acts so heinous that they are considered defiling. Such behaviors include sexual sins (e.g., Leviticus 18:24–30), idolatry (e.g., 19:31; 20:1–3), and bloodshed (e.g., Numbers 35:33–34). These acts are specifically referred to as “abominations,” and they bring about an impurity that morally—but not ritually— defiles the sinner (Leviticus 18:24), the Land of Israel (Leviticus 18:25; Ezekiel 36:17), and the sanctuary of God (Leviticus 20:3; Ezekiel 5:11). The defilement of the sanctuary renders it unfit for the divine presence that dwells there (Numbers 35:34; Ezekiel 8:1–11:25). This in turn leads to the expulsion of the people from the Land of Israel (Leviticus 18:28; Ezekiel 36:19). The bulk of the references to these ideas can be found in priestly traditions (especially the Holiness Code) and in the most priestly of prophetic books, Ezekiel. Additional articulations of the notion or echoes of it can be found in various strands of biblical tradition, including Genesis 34:5; Deuteronomy 24:1–4; 1 Kings 14:24; Jeremiah 2:7, 23; 3:1; Hosea 5:6; 6:10; and Psalms 106:34–40 ..."

Klawans, Jonathan "Moral and Ritual Purity" in Levine, Amy-Jill, et al. (eds.) The Historical Jesus in Context (pp. 266-284) Princeton University Press, 2009

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