[[Christine Hayes]] argues that moral impurity is the reason for the gentile expulsion and alienation that occurs in [[Ezra–Nehemiah]].<ref>Hayes, C. (1999). Intermarriage and impurity in ancient Jewish sources. ''Harvard Theological Review'', 92(01), 11.</ref> However, S.M. Olyan argues that Ezra and Nehemiah's attempt of the restoration of Israel to its original state was expressed through thethis expulsion and alienation of foreign peoples that was causedinspired by bothearlier ritualbiblical andtraditions moralregarding impurities. The Judean people believed that Israel and the priestly bloodline of Israel in itself was pure, being the chosen nation of their God. Furthermore, when the men of Israel committed to relations with Gentile people the acts took away from their purity. Olyan argues that there were different actions that were categorized by the Judean people asboth ritual impurity and moral impurity. Moral impurity can simply be removed, as in physical removal or separation between groups; thus expulsion of the Gentiles from the Judean environment was enough to re-purify the environment. However, ritual impurity is much more serious. Olyan argues that ritual impurity is deeply embedded into covenants, thus a religious ritual must be performed to rid the impurity from the people group.<ref>Olyan, S. M. (2004). Purity ideology in Ezra-Nehemiah as a tool to reconstitute the community. ''Journal for the Study of Judaism'', 35(1), 1-16.</ref>
