An Impenetrable Temple: The Nature and Characteristics of Impurity in the Temple Scroll

Abstract Studies of purity in the Temple Scroll have highlighted the composition’s maximizing tendencies and observed its innovations vis-à-vis Pentateuchal texts. Less attention has been paid to the nature of impurity in the Temple Scroll, and how the concept of impurity and its characteristics influenced the laws and rites outlined in the composition. This article argues that impurity in the Temple Scroll is a static, sticky substance, which can only travel by means of its carriers. Consequently, the Temple Scroll’s concern is with keeping the ‘wrong’ people out of the Temple, rather than addressing the inevitable presence of impurity therein. I demonstrate this through analysis of the Temple Scroll’s Day of Atonement blood rite and aspects of its purity laws, before drawing attention to the defensive design of the Temple plan.