By way of reflecting this, the book of Leviticus draws attention to three related categories: holy, clean/pure and unclean/impure. The existence of these three distinct categories is reflected in the layout of the Israelite camp. At the heart of the camp stands the tabernacle courtyard, a holy area. The rest of the camp is viewed as clean, and everywhere outside the camp is unclean.3 This same threefold pattern is mirrored in the status of the people linked to each region. The priests are holy, the Israelites clean, and the non-Israelites unclean.
