First Century Judaism

Priests

Levites as Temple Officials

Holiness and Danger

Other

Download RTF version of article

Return

Level I    Level II    Level III

The priest and Levite were Jewish leaders who looked to a special section of the Bible, called the Holiness Code, for guidance in their life and faith. It is found in Leviticus 17-26.

The Holiness Code is a collection of bans, laws, warnings, and pleas. Their main theme is holiness. Holiness gave leaders like priests and Levites a "share" in the holiness of God. It gave them high status, but also a heavy social responsibility.

Knowing about the Holiness Code gives us a fuller picture of priests and Levites. Also, when the expert in the Law responds to Jesus, one passage he cites is from the Holiness Code.

Level I    Level II    Level III

 Luke’s parable of the Good Samaritan features a priest and a Levite, two Jewish leaders who looked to a special section of the book of Leviticus for guidance in their life and faith. Experts call this section of Leviticus the Holiness Code. It is found in Leviticus 17-26.

The Holiness Code in its current form is a collection of prohibitions, laws, exhortations, and appeals. The command to "be holy" means to "be set aside for the worship of God." This command had many consequences for the life and faith of priests and Levites. Among the most important of these was the extension of holiness far beyond the area of worship to include just about every aspect of daily living.

From the perspective of the Holiness Code, holiness gave leaders like priests and Levites a "share" in the holiness of God and as a result a privileged personal status. Also, this status meant that priests and Levites bore an especially heavy social responsibility. Their behavior could affect the well-being of all Jewish people.

For the story of the Good Samaritan, the Holiness Code is important in two ways. First, it gives us a fuller picture of what it meant to be a priest and Levite in the first century A.D., especially how important it was for such officials to guard their status as holy people. Second, when the expert in the Law responds to Jesus’ question "What do the Scriptures say?" he cites two passages from the Hebrew Scriptures, and one of them is from the Holiness Code: "Love others as much as you love yourself" (Lev 19.18 CEV).

Level I    Level II    Level III

Luke’s parable of the Good Samaritan features a priest and a Levite, two Jewish leaders who looked to a special section of the book of Leviticus for guidance in their life and faith. Experts call this section of Leviticus the Holiness Code. It is found in Leviticus 17–26.

This code became part of the book of Leviticus sometime after the Exile in the sixth-century B.C., and from then on its vision of holiness exercised a powerful influence on Judaism, particularly on the prophet Ezekiel ( Ezek 14.1–11, Ezek 18.5–17, Ezek 20.1-49). Later on, Christian authors made abundant use the Code, citing it and alluding to it over forty times, for example, 1 Peter 1.16.

The Holiness Code in its current form is a collection of prohibitions, laws, exhortations, and appeals. What unifies the code is a vision of holiness. According to this vision, God is holy and calls Israel to holiness:

The LORD told Moses to say to the community of Israel, "Be holy, because I, the LORD your God, am holy." ( Lev 19.1–2 TEV)

The command to "be holy" means to "be set aside for the worship of God"—a command with many consequences for the life and faith of priests and Levites. Among the most important of these was the extension of holiness far beyond the area of worship to include just about every aspect of daily living.

According to the Code, proper worship required that priests and Levites live in a way that was compatible with their holy status. Burying certain types of people, for instance, caused priests to lose their holiness:

The LORD commanded Moses to tell the Aaronite priests, "No priest is to make himself ritually unclean by taking part in the funeral ceremonies when a relative dies, unless it is his mother, father, son, daughter, brother, or unmarried sister…" ( Lev 21.1–3 TEV)

Holiness demanded that religious festivals such as Passover, the Harvest Festival, and the Day of Atonement be holy days. Sacrifices and offerings likewise belonged to the category of holy rituals, just as every seventh and forty-ninth year counted as holy years.

From the perspective of the Holiness Code, holiness gave leaders like priests and Levites a "share" in the holiness of God and as a result a privileged personal status. At the same time, this status meant that priests and Levites bore an especially heavy social responsibility. Their behavior could affect the well-being of all Jewish people. The Holiness Code explains this by saying that people who are supposed to live by the Code but do not are responsible for breaking the agreement or covenant that God made with Israel:

The LORD said, "If you will not obey my commands, you will be punished. If you refuse to obey my laws and commands and break the covenant I have made with you, I will punish you. I will bring disaster on you—incurable diseases and fevers…You will plant your crops but it will do you no good, because your enemies will conquer you…" ( Lev 26.14–16 TEV)

For the story of the Good Samaritan, the Holiness Code is important in two ways. First, it gives us a fuller picture of what it meant to be a priest and Levite in the first century A.D., especially how important it was for such officials to guard their status as holy people. Second, when the expert in the Law responds to Jesus’ question "What do the Scriptures say?" he cites two passages from the Hebrew Scriptures, and one of them is from the Holiness Code: "Love others as much as you love yourself" ( Lev 19.18 CEV).