Each tradition has distinctive ideas about sin and holiness. In P, the Temple is the primary locale of holiness, and in H, it is the land. Ezekiel seems to straddle the two viewpoints: Chapter 8 through 11 focus on the holiness in the Temple, and chapters 40 through 48 focus on the holiness in the land in its concern to arrange the tribal allotments around the Temple in the center. His priestly outlook is consistent. For him, Israel's sin consisted in defiling the sanctuary (5, 11), in committing "abominations" (a term used in worship, e.g., 5, 9; 7,4; chapters 8 and 11), and in worshipping images (14, 3-5). An important metaphor for him is the priestly one of uncleanness (e.g., 20, 30-31; 22, 26; 36, 18). Uncleanness plays an important role in the long allegory of the two sisters in chapters 16 and 23, and in his attack on against the mountains, corrupted by the people's abominations. In chapter 18, Ezekiel gives a priestly torah, or teaching, on the question whether the guilt of one generation is passed on to the next.
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