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mass of non-Levitical worshippers (see Num. All are "Levites " by descent, and are thus correlated in the i. 50-53), and they are taken by Yahweh as a See also:

SURROGATE (from Lat. surrogare, to substitute for)

surrogate genealogical and other lists, but the true priesthood is confined for the male first-See also:

BORN, IGNAZ, EDLER VON (1742–1791)

born of Israel (iii. 11-13). They are inferior to the sons of See also:

AARON

Aaron, while the mass of the Levites are subordinate only to the Aaronites to whom they are " joined " (xviii. 2, a See also:

PLAY

play servants who are not entitled to approach the See also:

ALTAR (Lat. altare, from alias, high; some ancient etymological guesses are recorded by St Isidore of Seville in Etymologiae xv. 4)

altar or to perform on the name Levi) as assistants. Various adjustments and any strictly priestly See also:

FUNCTION

function. All See also:

ACCESS (Lat. accessus)

access to the Deity is restricted modifications still continue, and a number of scattered details to the one priesthood and to the one sanctuary at Jerusalem; may indicate that See also:

INTERNAL

internal rivalries made themselves See also:

FELT (cognate with Ger. Filz, Du. vilt, Swed. and Dan. fill; the root is unknown; the word has given Med. Lat. filtrum, " filter ")

felt.

But the worshipping subject is the nation of Israel as a unity,. and the the different steps can hardly be recovered clearly, although the function of See also:

WORSHIP (i.e. " worth-ship," O. Eng. weor8scipe)

worship is discharged on its behalf by divinely chosen fact that the priesthood was extended beyond the Zadokites to priests. The See also:

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary individual may not intrude under See also:

PENALTY (Lat. poena, punishment)

penalty families of the dispossessed priests points to some See also:

COMPROMISE (pronounced compromize; through Fr. from Lat. compromittere)

compromise of See also:

DEATH

death; only those of Levitical origin may perform service, (1 Chron. See also:

XXIV

xxiv.). Further, it is subsequently found that certain and they are essentially the servants and hereditary See also:

SERFS, SERROS

serfs of the classes of temple servants, the singers and porters, who had once Aaronite priests (see Num. xviii.). But such a See also:

SCHEME (Lat. schema, Gr. oxfjya, figure, form, from the root axe, seen in exeiv, to have, hold, to be of such shape, form, &c.)

scheme finds no been outside the Levitical See also:

GILDS, or GUILDS

gilds, became absorbed as the See also:

TERM

term place in the See also:

MONARCHY (Fr. monarchic, from Lat. monarchia, Gr. uovapXia, rule of one, µbvos, alone, apXi7, rule)

monarchy; it presupposes a hierocracy under which " Levite " was widened, and this See also:

CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. «a urmu', to bend)

change is formally expressed by the priesthood increased its rights by claiming the privileges the genealogies which ascribe to Levi, the See also:

COMMON

common " ancestor " which past See also:

KINGS, FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF

kings had enjoyed; it is the outcome of a complicated of them all, the singers and even certain families whose heathenish development in Old Testament See also:

religion in the See also:

LIGHT

light of which it is and See also:

FOREIGN

foreign names show that they were once merely servants to be followed (see See also:

HEBREW

HEBREW RELIGION). of the temple.' First (a), in the earlier biblical writings which describe the See also:

state 2. Significance of the Development.—Although the legal basis of affairs under the Hebrew monarchy there is not this funda- for the final See also:

STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage is found in the legislation of the See also:

time of Moses See also:

MENTAL

mental distinction among the Levites, and, although a See also:

list of (latter See also:

PART

part of the second See also:

MILLENNIUM (a pseudo-Latin word formed on the analogy of biennium, triennium, from Lat. milk, a thousand, and armies, year)

millennium B.c.), it is in reality scarcely Aaronite high-priests is preserved in a See also:

LATE

late source, internal earlier than the 5th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century B.C., and the Jewish theory finds details and the See also:

EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence of the See also:

HISTORICAL

historical books render its value analogies when developments of the Levitical service are referred extremely doubtful (1 Chron. vi. 3-15, 49-53). In Jerusalem to See also:

David (1 Chron. xv. seq., See also:

XXIII

xxiii. sqq.), See also:

HEZEKIAH (Heb. for " [my] strength is [of] Yah ")

Hezekiah (2 Chron. xxix.) itself the subordinate See also:

OFFICERS

officers of the temple were not members and See also:

JOSIAH (Heb. yo' shiyydhu, perhaps " Yah [weh] supports ")

Josiah (See also:

XXXV

xxxv.)—contrast the See also:

HISTORY

history in the earlier books of of a See also:

HOLY

holy gild, but of the royal See also:

BODY

body-guard, or See also:

bond-slaves who See also:

SAMUEL

Samuel and Kings—or when the still later See also:

BOOK

book of See also:

JUBILEES, BOOK OF

Jubilees had access to the sacred courts, and might even be uncircumcised (xxxii.) places the rise of the Levitical priesthood in the patriarchal foreigners (Josh. ix. 27; 1 Kings xiv. 28; 2 Kings xi.; cf. Zeph. See also:

period. The traditional theory of the See also:

MOSAIC (corresponding to Lat. opus musivum, from Gr. µovoeiov, an artificial grotto often decorated with mosaics; the word is only found in the sense of mosaic in late Greek, which generally uses k oXI yrlµa)

Mosaic origin of the i. 8 seq.; Zech. xiv.

21). Moreover, ordinary individuals might elaborate Levitical legislation cannot be maintained See also:

SAVE, or SAVA (Ger. Sau; Hungarian Szdva; Lat. Savus)

save by serve as priests (1 Sam. ii. 1I, 18, vii. 1; see 2 Sam. viii. 18, the most arbitrary and inconsequential treatment of the evidence deliberately altered in I Chron. xviii. 17) ; however, every Levite and by an entire indifference to the historical spirit; and, was a See also:

PRIEST (Ger. Priester, Fr. pretre)

priest, or at least qualified to become one (Deut. x. 8, although numerous points of detail still remain very obscure, the xviii. 7; See also:

JUDGES, THE BOOK OF

Judges xvii. 5-13), and when the author of 1 Kings xii. 31, three leading stages in the Levitical institutions are now recogwishes to represent See also:

JEROBOAM (Heb. ydrob`dm, apparently " Am ['the clan,' here perhaps a divine name] contends "; LXX. iepof3oaµ)

Jeroboam's priests as illegitimate, he does nized by nearly all See also:

INDEPENDENT

independent scholars. These stages with a not say that they were not Aaronites, but that they were not of number of concomitant features confirm the See also:

LITERARY

literary See also:

HYPOTHESIS (from Gr. inrorcOivat, to put under; cf. Lat. suppositio, from sub-ponere)

hypothesis the sons of Levi. that biblical history is in the See also:

main due to two leading recensions, The next stage (b) is connected with the suppression of the the Deuteronomic and the Priestly (cf. [b] and [c] above), which See also:

LOCAL

local high-places or See also:

minor shrines in favour of a central sanctuary. have incorporated older See also:

SOURCES

sources.' If the hierarchical system as This involved the suppression of the Levitical priests in the 2 The words " beside that which cometh of the See also:

sale of his patricountry (cf. perhaps the allusion in Dent. xxi.

5); and the See also:

PRESENT

present mony " (lit. " his sellings according to the fathers ") are obscure; See also:

hook of See also:

DEUTERONOMY

Deuteronomy, in promulgating the reform, represents they seem to imply some additional source of income which the Levite the Levites as poor scattered " sojourners " and recommends enjoys at the central sanctuary. For the See also:

NETHINIM

nethinim given ") and See also:

CHILDREN, LAW RELATING TO

children of the slaves of them to the charity of the See also:

PEOPLE

people (Dent. xii. 12, 18 seq., xiv. 27, See also:

Solomon " (whose hereditary service would give them a pre-See also:

EMINENCE (Lat. eminentia)

eminence 29, xvi. I I, 14, See also:

XXVI

xxvi. II sqq.). However, they are permitted to over the temple slaves), see See also:

art. NETHINIM, and Benzinger, Ency. congregate at " the place which Yahweh shall choose," where Bib. cols. 3397 sqq• they may perform the usual priestly duties together with their In See also:

defence of the traditional view, see S. I. Curtiss, The Levitical brethren who " stand there before Yahweh," and they are Priests (1877), with which his later attitude should be contrasted (see See also:

PRIMITIVE

Primitive Semitic Religion To-See also:

day, pp.

14, 50, 133 seq., 171, 238 ' For the derivation of " Levi " see below § 4 end. sqq., 241 sqq.) ; W. L. See also:

Baxter, Sanctuary and See also:

SACRIFICE (from Lat. sacrificium; sacer, holy, and facere, to make)

Sacrifice (1895)-1 it existed in the See also:

POST

post-exilic See also:

AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age was really the See also:

WORK

work of Moses, it is inexplicable that all trace of it was so completely lost that the degradation of the non-Zadokites in See also:

EZEKIEL (SKpm', " God strengthens" or " God is strong "; Sept. 'IE'EKL?)X; Vulg. Ezechiel)

Ezekiel was a new feature and a See also:

PUNISHMENT (from Lat. punire, to punish, from poena, punishment, Gr. 7rocvil)

punishment, whereas in the Mosaic See also:

law the ordinary Levites, on the traditional view, was already forbidden priestly rights under penalty of death. There is in fact no clear evidence of the existence of a distinction between priests and Levites in any Hebrew See also:

writing demonstrably earlier than the Deuteronomic stage, although, even as the See also:

PENTATEUCH

Pentateuch contains ordinances which have been carried back by means of a "legal See also:

convention " to the days of Moses, writers have occasionally altered earlier records of the history to agree with later standpoints.' No See also:

ARGUMENT

argument in support of the traditional theory can be See also:

DRAWN

drawn from the See also:

account of Korah's revolt (Num. xvi, sqq., see § 3) or from the Levitical cities (Num. xxxv.; Josh. xxi.). Some of the latter were either not conquered by the Israelites until See also:

long after the invasion, or, if conquered, were not held by Levites; and names are wanting of places in which priests are actually known to have lived. Certainly the names are largely identical with ancient holy cities, which, however, are holy because they possessed noted shrines, not because the inhabitants were members of a holy tribe. See also:

GEZER

Gezer and Taanach, for example, are said to have remained in the hands of Canaanites (Judges i. 27, 29; cf. I Kings ix. I6), and See also:

RECENT

recent excavation has shown how far the cultus of these cities was removed from Mosaic religion and ritual and how long the grosser elements persisted.2 On the other See also:

hand, the sanctuaries obviously had always their local ministers, all of whom in time could be called Levitical, and it is only in this sense, not in that of the late priestly legislation, that a place like See also:

SHECHEM (mod. Nablus)

Shechem could ever have been included. Further, instead of holding cities and pasture-grounds, the Levites are sometimes described as scattered and divided (Gen. xlix. 7; Deut. xviii.

6), and though they may naturally possess See also:

PROPERTY

property as private individuals, they alone of all the tribes of Israel possess no tribal See also:

INHERITANCE

inheritance (Num. xviii. 23, xxvi. 62; Deut. x. 9; Josh. xiv. 3). This fluctuation finds a parallel in the age at which the Levites were to serve; for neither has any reasonable explanation been found on the traditional view. Num. iv. 3 fixes the age at See also:

THIRTY

thirty, although in i. 3 it has been reduced to twenty; but in I Chron. xxiii. 3, David is said to have numbered them from the higher limit, whereas in vv. 24. 27 the See also:

LOWER

lower figure is given on the authority of " the last words (or acts) of David." In Num. viii.

23-26, the age is given as twenty-five, but twenty became usual and recurs in See also:

Ezra iii. 8 and 2 Chron. xxxi. 17. There are, however, independent grounds for believing that I Chron. xxiii. 24, 27, 2 Chron. xxxi. 17 belong to later insertions and that Ezr. iii. 8 is relatively late. When, in accordance with the usual methods of Hebrew genealogical history, the Levites are defined as the descendants of Levi, the third son of Jacob by Leah (Gen. xxix. 34), a literal See also:

INTERPRETATION (from Lat. interpretari, to expound, explain, inter pres, an agent, go-between, interpreter; inter, between, and the root pret-, possibly connected with that seen either in Greek 4 p4'ew, to speak, or irpa-rrecv, to do)

interpretation is unnecessary, and the only narrative wherein Levi appears as a See also:

PERSON, OFFENCES AGAINST THE

person evidently delineates under the See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form of personification events in the history of the Levites (Gen. xxxiv.).3 They take their place in Israel as the tribe set apart for sacred duties, and without entering into the large question how far the tribal schemes can be used for the earlier history A. See also:

van Hoonacker, Le Sacerdote levitique (1899) ; and J. Orr, Problem of the O.T. (1905). These and other apologetic writings have so far failed to produce any adequate alternative hypothesis, and while they argue for the traditional theory, later revision not being excluded, the See also:

MODERN

modern See also:

CRITICAL (in alphabetical order of authors)

critical view accepts late See also:

DATES

dates for the literary sources in their present form, and explicitly recognizes the presence of much that is ancient.

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