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The Levites were religious leaders who worked in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem along with the priests. The Levites were well-known and respected members of the religious organization in Judaism at the time of Jesus. The name "Levite" refers to members of the tribe of Levi, descendants of the third son of the Hebrew patriarch Jacob. God chose the tribe of Levi to serve as priests. Levites once held priestly roles. At first, they held sacrifices and supervised religious law in local communities. Later, the Levites were assigned to lower roles in the temple rites. Levites often worked as gatekeepers and guards at the temple. They not only protected the security of the temple grounds, but also protected the ritual cleanliness that was key to the correct serving of the rites of worship. Levites are mentioned only three times in the New Testament, including the parable of the Good Samaritan.
The Levites were religious leaders who worked in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem along with the priests. The Levites were well-known and respected members of the religious organization in Judaism at the time of Jesus. The name "Levite" refers to members of the tribe of Levi. They were descendants of the third son of the Hebrew patriarch Jacob. Unlike the other eleven tribes, the tribe of Levi had no territory of its own. According to Joshua 18.7, this is because God chose the tribe of Levi to serve as priests. Levites once held priestly roles. They held sacrifices and supervised religious law in local communities. Yet, when worship was centralized in Jerusalem, matters became complicated. Tension grew between the Levites and the authorities in Jerusalem. The authorities didn't want the Levites from outside Jerusalem to perform priestly jobs there. The Levites were assigned to lower roles in the temple rites. In Numbers 18.6-7, the contrast between priests and Levites is made. God’s instructions to Aaron concerning the priesthood show the inferior role of Levites: "I am the one who has chosen your relatives the Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you, so that they can carry out their duties. But you and your sons alone shall fulfill all the responsibilities of the priesthood that concern the altar and what is in the Most Holy Place." It is very likely that the division of labor between priests and Levites was set up during the Babylonian exile (after 586/587 B.C.). From Philo, a Jewish author who lived during the first century A.D., we learn that the Levites worked as gatekeepers and guards at the temple. "Some of these are stationed at the doors as gatekeepers at the very entrances, some within in front of the sanctuary to prevent any unlawful person from setting foot thereon, either intentionally or unintentionally. Some patrol around it turn by turn in relays by appointment night and day, keeping watch and guard at both seasons. Others sweep the porticoes and the open court, convey away the refuse and ensure cleanliness." They not only protected the security of the temple grounds, but also protected the ritual cleanliness that was key to the correct serving of the rites of worship. Levites are mentioned only three times in the New Testament, including the parable of the Good Samaritan. In John 1.19 the religious leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to John the Baptist to question him about his identity. We read in Acts 4.36 of a Levite from Cyprus, named Joseph, who became a follower of Jesus. Joseph contributed to the apostles the money from the sale of a field he owned, an example of the sharing of material goods that typified the early Christian community.
The Levites were religious professionals who worked in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem along with the priests. Because of their service in the temple, the Levites were recognized and respected members of the religious establishment in Judaism at the time of Jesus. Many suggestions have been made about the meaning of the word "Levite," but none of the proposed etymologies is any more than a guess, since we have little conclusive evidence either about the origin of the word or about the beginnings of the profession it describes. Some have suggested that the word "Levite" comes from a Hebrew word that means "to join" and that this term originally referred to a group of people who were especially close to God. Other suggestions reflect the specific tasks in public worship performed by those who were designated as Levites, for instance, "carrying," "bearing," or camping "around" the shrine or religious sanctuary. Whether or not any of these possibilities provides us with the original meaning of the word, in much of the Old Testament literature the name "Levite" refers to members of the tribe of Levi, descendants of the third son of the Hebrew patriarch Jacob. Unlike the other eleven tribes, the tribe of Levi had no territory of its own. According to Joshua 18.7, this is because the tribe of Levi was chosen by God to serve as priests. Although they had no tribal territory, they were given several cities, the forty-eight so-called "levitical cities" and the pasture lands around them. It seems clear that Levites once exercised priestly functions, including sacrifice and the administration of religious law as ministers of local sanctuaries. Yet, with the centralization of worship in Jerusalem, matters became complicated by the tension between the Levites and the authorities in Jerusalem, who were reluctant to allow the Levites from outside of Jerusalem to perform priestly functions there. The Levites were relegated to subordinate roles in the religious rites that took place at the temple. Second Kings 23.8–9 describes the religious reforms undertaken by King Josiah, who reigned in Judah from 639 to 609 B.C.: "He brought to Jerusalem the priests who were in the cities of Judah, and throughout the whole country he desecrated the altars where they had offered sacrifices," and further, "Those priests were not allowed to serve in the temple, but they could eat the unleavened bread provided for their fellow priests." However, in the book of Deuteronomy (a portion of which is likely to have been the basis for Josiah’s religious reforms) we find contradictory evidence about the Levites. In Deuteronomy 18.6–8 we read, "Any Levite who wants to may come from any town in Israel to the one place of worship and may serve there as a priest of the LORD his God, like the other Levites who are serving there. He is to receive the same amount of food as the other priests, and he may keep whatever his family sends him." The distinction between priests and Levites according to which the Levites are restricted to a subservient role in worship is described in Numbers 18.6–7, presented as God’s instructions to Aaron concerning the priesthood entrusted to him and to his descendants: "I am the one who has chosen your relatives the Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you, so that they can carry out their duties…But you and your sons alone shall fulfill all the responsibilities of the priesthood that concern the altar and what is in the Most Holy Place." It is very likely that the division of labor in the temple service between priests and Levites was formulated during the Babylonian exile (after 586/587 B.C.). The prophet Ezekiel, who was active during the period of the exile, reports "The LORD said to me, ‘I am punishing those Levites who, together with the rest of the people of Israel, deserted me and worshiped idols. They may serve me in the temple by taking charge of the gates and by performing the work of the temple…They are not to serve me as priests or to go near anything that is holy to me or to enter the Most Holy Place…I am assigning to them the menial work that is to be done in the temple’" ( Ezek 44.10–14). According to Ezekiel’s vision of the plans for the restoration of the temple after the exile, the demotion of the Levites to a secondary role is a punishment for their worship of idols. In 1 Chronicles 9.28–30 we learn of some of duties performed by Levites: "Some of them had charge of the utensils of service, for they were required to count them when they were brought in and taken out. Others of them were appointed over the furniture, and over all the holy utensils, also over the choice flour, the wine, the oil, the incense and the spices. Others, of the sons of the priests, prepared the mixing of the spices" (New Revised Standard Version). The duties of Levites in the temple also included providing music for the religious services, for according to 1 Chronicles 23.30 they were charged to "praise and glorify the LORD every morning and every evening." The book of Psalms was their song book, and they held the scrolls as they sang. We learn from the Jewish historian Josephus that, around A.D. 65, because these scrolls were so heavy, they presented King Agrippa II with a petition asking permission to sing the psalms from memory and to wear linen clothing in the performance of their duties. The Mishnah specifies the psalms that the Levites sang in
the temple service each day of the week: "On the first day they sang ‘The world
and all that is in it belong to the Lord’ From Philo, a Jewish author who lived in the Nile Delta city of Alexandria during the first century A.D., we learn of the Levites’ work as gatekeepers and guards at the temple: "Some of these are stationed at the doors as gatekeepers at the very entrances, some within in front of the sanctuary to prevent any unlawful person from setting foot thereon, either intentionally or unintentionally. Some patrol around it turn by turn in relays by appointment night and day, keeping watch and guard at both seasons. Others sweep the porticoes and the open court, convey away the refuse and ensure cleanliness." In these capacities the Levites not only insured the security of the temple grounds and the safety of the people and property located there, but they also safeguarded the ritual cleanliness that was essential to the correct functioning of the rites of worship. In the New Testament, Levites are mentioned only three times, including the Levite who saw the man who had been beaten up and passed him by in the parable of the Good Samaritan. In John 1.19 the religious authorities in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to John the Baptist to question him about his identity. In Acts 4.36 we read of a Levite from Cyprus named Joseph, who became a follower of Jesus and who contributed to the apostles the proceeds from the sale of a field he owned, in an example of the sharing of material goods that characterized the early Christian community. In some present-day Jewish congregations, the dignity of the Levite is marked by his being called up to read the Torah immediately after the priest, who is given the privilege of being called on first. The traditional relationship between priests and Levites is symbolically maintained by having the Levite wash the hands of the priest before the priest imparts the priestly blessing. |