The Levites: A Tribe for All Seasons

A casual reader, just finishing the Book of Genesis, would have little reason to believe that Levi, the name of the third son of Jacob and Leah, was to achieve great prominence in the rest of the Bible. On the contrary, if anything, Levi’s involvement in the violent stratagem to rescue Dina from Shechem would have earned him long-lasting notoriety. Indeed, Jacob, in his farewell “prophetic-blessings” to his sons, had this to say about Levi (and Simon): “In their anger they slew men and in their self-will they houghed oxen. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce and their wrath for it was cruel. Let my soul not come into their council” (Gen. 49:5-6).

Yet Jacob does not expel them completely from the family nor does he deny them a role in the future: “I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel” (Gen. 49:7). Jacob’s harsh words are understandable in light of his response at the time, which was that their heinous deed at Shechem had placed the entire family in mortal danger. However, a deeper look into their motivation and words may afford us a glimpse into more interior layers of their character. It should be remembered that their project started as a rescue mission to save their sister who was still held captive by her rapist in Shechem. The cry of the brothers, “shall one make a harlot of our sister” (Gen. 34:31), displays a certain loyalty and sense of family responsibility which is of and by itself a positive and expandable sentiment.

In what follows, I will trace the history of the Levites through the rest of the Bible, which includes the return of the Judean captives from Babylon and the beginning of the Second Temple period. I will attempt to show how certain primal characteristics of a negative nature were rechanneled over the course of generations, while new ones were cultivated and institutionalized, leading to the legacy of Beit HaLevi (House of Levi) (Ps. 135:20).¹

In Canaan

During the long dramatic story of Joseph, Levi, unlike Judah and Reuven, undertakes no initiative. However, it is clear that he must have been party to the plot to kill Joseph, then to sell him into slavery and to deceive his aged father into believing that his favorite son was dead. But, at the same time, Levi as one of the “brethren” experiences all of the emotion and wrenching twists and turns that Joseph puts them through: fear, guilt and remorse. Levi is last mentioned in the Book of Genesis, together with his three sons, Gershon, Kehat and Merari, as being among the family that accompanies Jacob to Egypt (Gen. 46:1).

In Egypt

From the sketchy information we have in the first chapter of Exodus, it would seem that during the lifetimes of Jacob and his sons in Egypt the Israelites continued their traditional lifestyle in Goshen, pretty much isolated from Egyptian culture, while Joseph and his family pursued their royal activities in the Egyptian capital. The text describes the radical change that took place after the passing of the tribal founders: “And the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly and multiplied and waxed mighty. The land was filled with them” (Ex. 1:7).

This passage tells us several things in addition to the fact that the Israelite population increased manifold: the Israelites left the Goshen area and spread to other parts of Egypt; it is possible that they abandoned their traditional occupation of herding and adopted others common in Egypt at the time (such as construction, baking, beer manufacturing and aspects of agriculture) and a process of acculturation was started (although according to the Rabbis they did not change their language, names or dress);² and it seemed to the Egyptians that the Israelites were “filling up the land” — that is to say, there was growing hostility to and fear of the Israelites.

With the rise of a new ruler that did not know Joseph (Ex. 1:8), this fear led to restrictions and a gradual process of enslavement. From the freedom of movement which Aaron seems to have enjoyed, it would appear, as a rabbinic tradition asserts, that the tribe of Levi was never enslaved, probably because they were considered the teachers and leaders.³

In societies where there is a rich folk tradition of stories about the founders that is transmitted orally in epic songs or poems, there are usually individuals such as priests, poets or elders who are recognized as the guardians of the tradition in its authentic version. There is reason to believe that the family of Kehat, one of the sons of Levi, somehow had become recognized as teachers and as keepers of the patriarchal story. This is evidenced by the following: when God first appears to Moses, He introduces Himself as “the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” (Ex. 3:15). This assumes that Moses knew about these individuals and their stories. But how and when did he acquire this information? Although Moses was brought up in the court of Pharaoh, his “nanny” was his natural mother Yocheved, wife of Amram son of Kehat the Levite, who had ample opportunities to give her son a sense of identity as an “Israelite.” This is reflected in the passage: “when Moses was grown up he went out to his brethren and saw their suffering” (Ex. 2:11). Moses saw himself as a “brother” of the enslaved Israelites. Where did Yocheved acquire her knowledge about the Patriarchs? Let us return to the text at the point where the obsessional fear of the Israelites had reached genocidal depths: “And there went forth a man from the House of Levi and married a daughter from the House of Levi” (Ex. 2:1). The emphasis on their tribal affiliation may suggest that perhaps the Levites, in view of assimilatory tendencies among the other tribes, had decided to marry only within the tribe where loyalty to the tradition prevailed.

There is no mention of the Levites as a tribe during the tumultuous events of the Exodus. However, in two of the events in the early life of Moses the Levite, we get a glimpse of what may be seen as tribal traits. On the first day of “his going out” (Ex. 2:11) to view the condition of his brothers, we are told he saw an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, one of his brethren, and he looked here and there, and when he saw there was no man, he smote the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. On the second day, he saw two Hebrews fighting and he said to the one he judged to be in the wrong: “why are you smiting your fellow?” (Ex. 2:11-13). In Moses’s response on the first day, we hear echoes of Levi’s action at Shechem — to paraphrase, “shall they make a helpless victim of our brother?” On the second day, Moses again is impelled to intervene after making a judgment as to who is in the wrong. This sensitivity to injustice, and the impulse to respond with extreme measures, seems Levitical in character.

After this outburst of activism, Moses flees Egypt and is not heard from for a long time. It would seem that the plight of his brothers receded in his consciousness as he proceeded to make a life for himself in Midian as a shepherd.

In the momentously revealing encounter between Moses and God at the Burning Bush, in which an aging fugitive Hebrew-Egyptian shepherd is called upon to become a liberator and lawgiver, there is a Levitical identification that is relevant to our subject. In response to Moses’s self-disqualification as negotiator to Pharaoh because he is “slow of speech and heavy of tongue,” the Lord says: “Is there not Aaron your brother, the Levite. I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming to meet you and will be glad in his heart” (Ex. 4:14).⁴ Why was it necessary for the text to characterize Aaron as a Levite? Surely Moses was aware of the fact that he and his older brother were Levites. However, perhaps the inclusion of the appellation “the Levite” was meant to reassure Moses that while arrangements in which the “older” brother is placed under the authority of the younger brother usually end in failure, in this case the two would work well together — because they are both Levites, and the organic solidarity and shared values native to the tribe will ensure cooperation. In addition, Aaron, as a grandson of Kehat, has not forgotten the Divine promise of redemption and will be helpful in selling the idea to the people. This trait of brothers being able to work together harmoniously for a common cause despite inequality in rank will become important again later when the Israelites enter the wilderness.

Strong family ties among the Levites can also be seen in the relationship between Miriam and her younger brother Moses. Realizing that her three-month effort to hide her newly born son from the authorities was no longer feasible, Yocheved, surely with the aid of the rest of the family, decided on a desperate move, since detection meant certain death: to fashion a waterproof basket, place the child therein, and put it among the reeds at the well-visited river’s edge. “And his sister (Miriam) stood afar off to know what would happen to him” (Ex. 2:4). We may well speculate as to Miriam’s motives in undertaking this vigil. It is something beyond simple morbid curiosity. Perhaps she had a premonition, based on “signs,” that a Deliverer was soon to appear. It is most probable that Miriam, both as a sister and as a Levite, could not just leave her younger brother floating unprotected on the water; perhaps she thought that she could still be of some assistance.

In the Wilderness

Miriam is next mentioned in connection with the “Song of the Sea” (Shirat haYam). This was the hymn-like epic song-poem sung by Moses and the children of Israel as they stood wonderstruck watching the defeat of their enemies by an event that defied natural explanation: “I will sing to the Lord for He is highly exalted, horse and rider has He cast into the sea” (Ex. 15:1). At the conclusion of the song we are told: “And Miriam, the prophetess, sister of Aaron, took a tumbrel in her hand and all the women went out after her with tumbrels and the round-dance and Miriam sang unto them: ‘Sing you to the Lord, for He is highly exalted, horse and rider has He cast into the sea’” (Ex. 15:20-21).

Miriam is identified here as “sister of Aaron” rather than of Moses because her sibling relationship had been experienced much more with Aaron, with whom she had shared her life during the period of servitude in Egypt, whereas she had not seen Moses since childhood. However, the “Song of the Sea” is of most importance as a striking expression of a talent hidden deep within the personality of the Levites: the gift of song and sensitivity to music, a trait evidently shared by Miriam. Her moves seemed to be coordinated with those of Moses; her timing is just right, supplementing the rhythms with percussion instruments and enhancing the joy of thanksgiving with the art of the dance. The reader who recalls Moses’s self-description, “I am not a man of words” (Ex. 4:10), will surely be surprised by the flow of a variety of colorful words in poetic form describing all of the wonders as seen by an eyewitness. Such is the power of personal experience and Divine inspiration. This text may very well be the first sign of Levites having that uniquely human sense of music and song which they innovatively enlist in the worship of God. Later, in Temple days, the Levites will become renowned for their liturgical singing.

However, the defining moment for the Levites comes during the crisis precipitated by the worship of the Golden Calf. Descending Sinai with the two tablets of the Covenant in his arms, a shocking and bitterly disappointing scene greets Moses: the people are engaged in the wild and frenzied worship of an idol. After receiving a report from a humiliated Aaron, Moses, fearing open rebellion, calls out, “Whoso is on the side of the Lord, let him come to me,” and all the sons of Levi gathered together unto him (Ex. 32:26). Moses says to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, put every man his sword on his thigh and go… throughout the camp and slay” (Ex. 32:27). Howsoever one may understand the probity of the order and its execution, the rioting mob is subdued, and order is restored at the cost of about 3,000 lives (Ex. 32:28).

In this episode, Moses orders the Levites in the name of the Lord, “put every man his sword…” whereas their ancestor in Shechem “took his sword…” (Gen. 34:25) on his own initiative without any authorization. This is an indication that their emotions are being brought under control.

The response of Moses is most significant: “Consecrate yourselves (milu yedeichem) today to the Lord… that He may also bestow upon you a blessing this day” (Ex. 32:29). In order to understand the full significance of this brief response, we must widen our horizons and view this event in its full context. Moses, with his prophetic insight, grasped the multi-dimensional magnitude of what had happened, its historic nature and grave consequences. The Levites, in their response to the call of Moses, had displayed an extraordinary unity of purpose — “all the sons of Levi gathered unto him” — as well as blind devotion, for he “did not know his own children” (Deut. 33:9). It may be thought that the prompt response of the Levites was because Moses himself was a Levite and there was tribal loyalty at work here; however, Moses’s call for help went out to the general public and did so based on loyalty to God: “Whoso is on the side of the Lord…” The significance of the Levites’ timely action is directly connected to a dereliction of duty by another group on that same day, namely the failure of the firstborn. In ancient Israel there was a tradition that the firstborn (bechor) in the family is the officiant at religious sacrificial services, which in those days was also a social event on a homemade altar.⁵ Thus the “young men” who do the offering at the earlier ceremony at the foot of Sinai are identified by Onkelos and Rashi as the firstborns (Ex. 24:5). So on that infamous day when the people sacrificed “burnt offerings” (Ex. 32:6) to the Golden Calf, it would again be the firstborns who officiated. This was the beginning of their disqualification as religious officiants. The readiness of the Israelites, so soon after the epiphany of Sinai, to believe that a golden calf could represent the God that took them out of Egypt (Ex. 32:4) revealed a serious immaturity in their religious consciousness; they were clearly not prepared to serve the invisible, incorporeal God without the medium of conventional rituals. Among the opinions regarding the timing of the command to build the Tabernacle is the understanding of Rashi (to Exodus 31:18) that it was precisely at that point that the need for the Tabernacle was born. Therefore, the blessing that Moses mentions in Exodus 32:29 is said to be the appointment and dedication, or “setting apart,” of the tribe of Levi to the service of God.

The Tabernacle

The special status and function of the Levites is revealed piecemeal in the opening chapters of Numbers, in the tribal listings of the census. In four of these texts, the Levites are explicitly set apart and listed separately, and each time a somewhat different explanation is given.

First: “Appoint (hafkaid) Levites over the Tabernacle of the testimony and over all its furniture and over all that belongs to it; they shall bear the Tabernacle and all the furniture and shall minister unto it and shall encamp round about the Tabernacle, and when the Tabernacle sets forward the Levites shall take it down, and when the Tabernacle is to be pitched the Levites shall set it up… and the common man that comes close shall be put to death… and the Levites shall pitch their tents round about the Tabernacle… and the Levites shall keep the charge (mishmeret) of the Tabernacle of the testimony” (Num. 1:50-53).⁶ This is a very functional description of the role of the Levites, much like a work assignment given out by a supervisor. However, their duties required more than the physical strength and practical intelligence needed to transport, dismantle, and re-erect the structure and its furniture; the task also called for policing skills to provide security at all times, and administrative ability to ensure adequate supplies of wood, oil, incense and flour for the sacrificial service. It would appear that the Levites even played a role during the construction of the Tabernacle itself: “These are the accounts of the Tabernacle… as they were tendered by Moses… through the service of the Levites” (Ex. 38:21). Clearly, a public project of the magnitude and religious importance of the Tabernacle, undertaken by a society newly liberated from slavery, required strict supervision and utmost accountability. The people had responded generously to the call for gold, silver, brass, precious stones, skins, fabrics and other materials, and the final tabulations (Ex. 38:24-30) were evidently accepted without challenge — meaning that even at this early stage the Levites were more than porters or gatekeepers; they included individuals who could count and record accurately and who had the trust and confidence of Moses and the people.

After listing the different positions of the tribes in relation to the Tabernacle, Moses is instructed, second: “Bring the tribe of Levi near (hakraiv) and set them before Aaron the priest that they may minister unto him, and they shall keep his charge and the charge of the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting to do the service of the Tabernacle, and they shall keep all the furniture of the Tent of Meeting and the charge of the children of Israel to do the service of the Tabernacle. And you shall give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons; they are wholly given unto him (netunim netunim) from the children of Israel” (Num. 3:6-9). From the last verse it would appear that the Levites were primarily to assist the Kohanim and were entirely subservient to them. Yet later in that same chapter, Moses is told, third: “And I, behold, have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel, instead of every firstborn that opens the womb among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine (yiheyu li); for all the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I hallowed unto Me all the firstborn in Israel” (Num. 3:46). Later, describing the formal ceremony in which the Levites were invested in their office, we read, fourth: “And the Lord spoke unto Moses saying, take (kach) the Levites from among the children of Israel and cleanse them (tiharta)… you shall offer the Levites before the Lord… to do the service of the Lord… thus shall you separate the Levites from the children of Israel and the Levites shall be Mine. They are wholly given unto Me (netunim netunim) from the children of Israel. Instead of all the firstborn have I taken them unto Me” (Num. 8:5-16).⁷

It would thus appear that the Levite appointment was a complex one, involving three different components: special responsibilities for the Tabernacle; general assistance to the Kohanim in the Tabernacle’s ritual functioning; and a special relationship with God growing out of their having replaced and redeemed the firstborn of Israel. In order to understand how these came about, we must return to the day of the worship of the Golden Calf. It was on that very same day that the Israelites showed their need for a Tabernacle (which would require staffing); on that day the firstborn failed to meet their obligations; and on that very same day there had appeared a band of kinsmen totally devoted to God in response to the call of Moses. It was natural, therefore, to seize the opportunity and to “appoint” the Levites, “bring” the tribe of Levi near, “take” the Levites, “separate” the Levites, to fill the newly created needs.⁸

Was the Levitical appointment from among the children of Israel similar to that of the “choosing” of Israel from among the nations, or more like the selection of Aaron and his sons from among the Levites? The Levitical appointment is unlike Israel’s being “chosen” in that the latter has a permanent covenantal aspect and required Israel’s consent, which the former lacks. In this respect, the Levites are similar to their brother Levites, the Kohanim, whose appointment comes as unconditional commands from God to Moses and whose consent is assumed.

Comments on the Four Source Texts

In the first of the four texts (S1), the translation “wholly given” for the repeated words netunim netunim (JPS, 1955), which is applied to both God and the Kohanim (S2, S4), is not felicitous. These repeated words are best understood as they are literally read, i.e. “given, given,” that is, twice given. As Rashi comments on Numbers 8:11, “given” for service, “given” for song. In short, the service to be given to God and the Kohanim by the Levites is seen as open-ended and may involve a multiplicity of tasks.

In S3 and S4, the relationship between God and the Levites is described in very possessive terms: “The Levites shall be mine.” We have here a first-person declaration by God that the Levites, in some special sense, “belong” to God or are “owned” by Him. This is explained by God, who informs us that the Levites were taken instead (mitachat) of every firstborn (bechor) among the children of Israel, “for all the firstborn are mine” (Num. 3:45). God’s statement — “I have taken the Levites instead of the firstborn” — takes us back to the worship of the Golden Calf, when, as we have noted, the firstborn failed in their charge and became unfit to officiate.

Korach and Phinehas

In the last half of the Book of Numbers there is no mention of the Levites as a group. However, two of the more dramatic events described therein are associated with individuals identified as Levites: Korach and Phinehas. In what follows, I shall argue that their behavior reflects traits rooted in their tribal heritage.

The story of Korach (Num. 16) tells of the first serious questioning of the authority of Moses and Aaron. A coalition of disgruntled elements, each opposing the leadership of Moses and Aaron for their own reasons, has been put together by Korach, who is identified as “the son of Izhar, the son of Kehat, the son of Levi” (Num. 16:1). Korach is no mere rabble-rouser; his campaign pitch is a populist one, using terminology of high religious value to form a compelling argument: “Seeing that all the congregation are Holy, everyone of them” (Num. 16:3), directed at Aaron — since kedusha (holiness) seems to be the prerequisite for priesthood, why need it be Aaron if all the people are holy? As for Moses: “if the Lord is among them” (Num. 16:3) — if God is so accessible, why the need for an intermediary spokesman like Moses? What follows is Korach’s powerful operative conclusion: “Why then, lift yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?” (Num. 16:3). There is, of course, nothing particularly Levitical about Korach’s thirst for power. However, note the following: Korach’s knowledge of the theological concepts of Israel as a “kingdom of priests and holy nation” (Ex. 19:6) and of the presence of God as being “among them” (Ex. 25:8) likely derives from his grandfather, Kehat, the distinguished son of Levi; and the intelligence that permits elaborate planning and strategy before taking action seems characteristic of the Levites — going back to Shechem, where Simeon and Levi induce the Shechemites to circumcise themselves, rendering them easy prey, and to Moses, who cautiously “looks here and there” (Ex. 2:12) to make sure no one is looking before dispatching the Egyptian. It must have taken a great deal of intelligence and psychological insight on the part of Korach to have persuaded his partners to join an open confrontation with a leader like Moses.

After recovering from his initial shock and challenging the rebels to a test, Moses, in a sort of afterthought, remarks: “You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi” (Num. 16:7). There is here a tone of wistful bitterness, as if to say, “I recognize the brilliance of your argument, but I hardly expected something like this from my own brethren.”

The event with which Phinehas is associated takes place at the end of the wilderness period, after the Israelites have reached the Plains of Moab on the east side of the Jordan. “The people began to commit harlotry with the daughters of Moab” (Num. 25:1); they had been lured into participating in debauched pagan rites. At the height of this wave of moral and religious bankruptcy, a prince of the tribe of Simeon brings a Midianite woman into the public square and, in sight of Moses and the congregation, proceeds to indulge his carnal lust. Beset by shock and indecision, Moses freezes and the people weep in frustration and shame (Num. 25:6). We are then told: “And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw it, he rose up and took a spear in his hand… and slew them both” (Num. 25:7-8). This action of Phinehas is classic Levitical behavior. Although surprising coming from a grandson of Aaron, known for his conciliatory and passive nature, a trait recessive in one generation can reappear dominant in the next. Thus, confronted by an outrageous desecration of all that was holy to the nation, the “Levite” in Phinehas reacts with an extreme measure — as we have seen in the instance of Shechem and in the worship of the Golden Calf. Their violence is morally repugnant yet seems in a way right for the situation and has positive consequences. It is interesting to note that it is Phinehas, the priestly Levite, who is appointed to lead a national army of Israelites to battle the Midianites (Num. 31:6), and it is again Phinehas who later leads a military force to investigate a suspicious action by the returning expeditionary force of the two-and-a-half tribes who chose their portion on the eastern side of the Jordan (Josh. 22:13).

The Levites as Teachers

Having reached the Plains of Moab, at the end of the forty-year wilderness period, Moses takes leave of the people in several addresses that make up the bulk of the Book of Deuteronomy. At a particular point, as he describes his experiences at Mount Sinai and the need to seek forgiveness for the sin of the Golden Calf, Moses reports: “At that time, the Lord separated (hivdil) the tribe of Levi to bear the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord, to minister unto Him, to bless in His Name, unto this day. Therefore, Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; the Lord is his inheritance, according as the Lord thy God spoke to him” (Deut. 10:8-9).

Here, in compact and measured words, we have Moses’s version of the appointment of his tribe — but it is a memory shaped by forty years of working with them, enabling him to judge their performance and their effect upon the people. While previous source-texts were work-specific as to the functions of the Levites, and stressed their relationship with God, Moses’s account here seems designed to reveal the social aspects of their activities and their personal qualities. Except for the vague “at that time,” the text makes no direct connection between the “separation” of the Levites and the sin of the Golden Calf; perhaps Moses took into consideration that he was now talking to a new generation, some of whom might not take kindly to the costly action of the Levites, or who might have been descendants of the fallen. Of all the many duties of the Levites regarding the Tabernacle, only the bearing of the Ark is mentioned — not for its practical relevance (Moses foresees that upon entering the land the portable Tent of Meeting will become a stationary sanctuary) but for its high spiritual sensitivity and what it says about the trust vested in the Levites. “To stand before the Lord to minister unto Him” includes the connotations of standing at attention, ready to serve, undertaking unexpected missions, standing erect with self-confidence and critical judgment — hinting at the open-endedness of the Levites’ appointment. “To bless in His name unto this day” clearly refers to the priestly segment of the Levites, for whom blessing the Israelites was a special commandment (Num. 6:22-27); but the non-priestly Levites, too, had a role in the dramatic inaugural ceremony of the “blessings and curses” on Mounts Gerizim and Ebal, where “the Levites shall speak and say to all the men of Israel in a loud voice: cursed is the man who…, blessed is the man who…” (Deut. 27:14-19). By connecting verse 8 to verse 9 with a causal “therefore,” the text points up the seriousness and self-sacrificial nature of the Levites’ appointment: while the nation turns to the myriad activities of working the land and building a society, the Levites will remain solely dedicated to their mission to minister unto Him. To young Levites who may feel deprived at being unable to share in the apportionment of the land, Moses says, in effect: fret not, “the Lord is your inheritance” — yours is an opportunity to share in that which is of ultimate value. There is no record elsewhere of the Lord speaking to the Levites directly, but this text is relevant to the question of whether the Levites were given any choice regarding their appointment; from the above it would appear that there was some discussion in advance.⁹

From this summary description and from a stylistic idiosyncrasy, it may be adduced that Moses had a holistic view of his tribe — that he saw the Kohanim simply as a subset of the Levites, sanctified for special duty, rather than a group rooted in some original, separate relationship with God. This is reflected in a usage unique to Deuteronomy, by which the Kohanim are frequently referred to as Hakohanim Haleviim (“the priests, the Levites”) (Deut. 18:1, 24:8, and others). The expression “Kohanim, sons of Levi” (Deut. 21:5) is of particular significance, as it replaces the usual “Kohanim, sons of Aaron,” as if to say that their basic eminence continues to be their Levitical origins.

However, it is in Moses’s prophetic blessing of the tribes, given before his demise, that we find a hint of a new and significant task awaiting the Levites: “And of Levi he said, Your Tumim and your Urim to your Holy man, which you did test at Massah, with whom you did strive at the waters of Meriba, who said of his father and of his mother ‘I have not seen him,’ neither did he acknowledge his brethren nor did he know his own children, for they have observed Your word and keep Your covenant. They shall teach Jacob Your ordinances and Israel Your law. They shall put incense before You and whole burnt offerings on Your altar. Lord bless his substance and accept the work of his hands, smite through the loins of them that rise up against him and of them that hate him that they rise not again” (Deut. 33:8-11). Verse 8 clearly refers to the Kohanim (Tumim and Urim); verse 9, describing the Levites’ action against the worshippers of the Golden Calf, refers to the entire tribe, since this was before Aaron and his sons were appointed to the priesthood; verse 10, in the future tense, describes the Levites’ activities once they enter the land, with its second half — offering incense and burnt offerings — referring unquestionably to the Kohanim. Moses foresees the building of a Temple “in the place that the Lord your God will choose” (Deut. 12:11) where the Kohanim will apply their ritual knowledge and skills. But to whom is Moses referring in the first half of the verse, “They shall teach Jacob Your ordinances and Israel Your Torah”? Of course the Kohanim served as judges in ritual law and taught their neophytes the details of the sacrificial service — but the sweeping nature of this statement, “Jacob” and “Israel,” “ordinances” and “Torah,” suggests a new and more significant development: that the Levites will evolve into a class of scholars, teachers and judges. We have earlier noted steps in this direction: in Egypt, the Levites, headed by Aaron, were seen as leaders and teachers; in the home of Amram the Levite, the patriarchal stories were well known; and the work of the Levites in the Tabernacle required skills in reading, writing and calculating. These elements build on the zeal and devotion that motivated the Levites from the very start; with the passing of time, these literate individuals, bearing the Ark containing the Words of God, will grow a thirst to understand its meaning and share it with others.

The Period of Conquest and Settlement

Since the Levites were not counted among those that go forth to war, nor did their tribe receive a portion in the land (Num. 26:53), it is to be expected that they are not involved as a tribe in the events recorded in the Books of Joshua and Judges dealing with this period. Theoretically, the material needs of the Levites were provided for by giving them many cities with pasture for their livestock and the first tithe from the produce of the land.¹⁰ However, there is reason to believe that the lot of the individual Levite during this period was rather precarious. In the course of the transition from the tightly organized life in the wilderness to the anarchic war-zone that was Canaan, the Levites lost their cohesive character. Moses already anticipated a situation in which the Levites would need special help: “And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your men-servants and your maid-servants, and the Levite that is within your gates, for he has no portion” (Deut. 12:12); “Take heed of yourself lest you forsake the Levite as long as you live upon your land” (Deut. 12:19); “And you shall rejoice, you and your household and the Levite that is in your gates, that you should not forsake him, for he has no portion nor inheritance with you” (Deut. 14:26-27); “And you shall rejoice in all the good which the Lord your God has given you and to your house, you and the Levite and the stranger that is in your midst” (Deut. 26:11). Unlike the widow and orphan whom we are called upon to protect and provide for, the Levite appears in a context of rejoicing and is listed with members of the household; the concern is not necessarily that the Levite lacks a meal, but that he has no established social framework, and since the rejoicing on the festivals is over the abundant yield of the land, fairness requires that the Levite who received no portion of the land be invited to share in the celebration. This repeated concern by Moses for the Levite is reflected in the strong prohibition, above: take heed.¹¹

The Book of Judges ends with two sordid stories which illustrate the oft-repeated theme of the book: “in those days there was no king in Israel, every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Jud. 21:25). Both stories start with an unnamed itinerant Levite who, as the story unfolds, is victimized repeatedly, and in the end each acts in a way contrary to normative biblical values. There are elements in these stories that reflect tribal traits identified earlier. Both accounts suggest that the Levite was alien to the place where he was living and sets forth on his journey with no particular destination in mind, “to sojourn where he may find a place” (Jud. 17:8) — precisely the kind of situation that prompted Moses to exhort the Israelites not to forsake the Levite. In the Micah story (Jud. 17-18), the Levite, although not a descendant of Aaron, is persuaded to officiate as a Kohen before a graven image and later, under duress, becomes the official “priest” of the tribe of Dan at their idolatrous sanctuary; a victim of circumstances, he is hardly to be condemned, yet his decision to join Micah and later the Danites is reminiscent of the problematic collaboration of Aaron with the worshippers of the Golden Calf. In the story of the concubine of Gibeah (Jud. 19-20), a Levite traveling with his concubine stops for the night in Gibeah, in the portion of Benjamin, where a kindly old man gives them lodging; during the night the house is attacked by a gang of “base fellows” from the town, who kidnap the concubine, abuse her to her death, and leave her body at the entrance to the house, where the Levite finds her in the morning. He takes the body home, cuts it into twelve pieces, and sends them to the twelve tribes of Israel with a message demanding justice. The gruesome message galvanizes the Israelites; the tribes unite and, when the Benjaminites refuse to surrender the culprits, a series of bloody battles ensue in which the fighting men of Benjamin are decimated. The elements that make this story Levitical: the individual is a victim of a flagrant, brutal crime committed publicly by a gang within a community; his pain is aggravated by outrage at the injustice; he feels impelled to do something; and his response is extreme, both in the inhumanity of the act itself and in the disproportion of its consequences. However, as in all the other cases reviewed, in the long-term perspective of biblical history these incidents carry the story forward, and in this case help bring about the realization of the vital need for a strong central political authority.

The Period of the Monarchy

The Monarchy in Israel, essentially the Davidic Dynasty, existed for some four centuries (circa 1012-586 BCE). This period was crucial for the process of specialization within the Levites, a process that had started while yet in the wilderness: the seemingly insignificant differences in the functions assigned to the three family heads of the Levites — Gershon, Kehat and Merari — grew over time into recognizable special interests, skills and character traits. Thus, for example, Levites originally assigned to create a perimeter of security around the Tabernacle developed over time into a special group called the Gatekeepers (Shoarim). However, the catalytic feature of this period was not that Israel had a king but that Israel now had a Temple.

Upon entering the land, the Tabernacle was set up permanently in Shilo, in the tribal portion of Ephraim; though presided over by the Aaronide Kohanim, there is no mention of any official Levite role there. The next we hear of the Levites as a tribe is early in David’s reign, when he decides to bring the Ark up to Jerusalem. The account in II Samuel describes how the first attempt fails because of the fear aroused by the death of Uzzah; after three months, David tries again, this time having the Ark carried on shoulders rather than in an ox-drawn cart, and the transfer succeeds, with the Ark placed in a tent next to David’s palace. The celebrations culminate with David bringing burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord (II Sam. 6:17); there is no mention here of Levites. However, the parallel account in Chronicles paints a different, more detailed picture, containing important information about the Levites and their future role in Solomon’s Temple. David’s first step is to gather the Levites and bring them to Jerusalem (I Chron. 15:4); he organizes them according to their families (Gershon, Kehat, Merari), takes a census, and appoints a chief (sar) over each group (I Chron. 15:5-11). He gives each group its assignment: to the Kohanim and Levites, “sanctify yourselves… that you may bring up the Ark of the Lord” (15:12); the Levites of the family of Kehat carry the Ark on their shoulders as Moses commanded (15:15); and David orders the chiefs to call to duty the singers (meshorerim) with instruments of music, psalteries and harps, cymbals, “and lifting up the voice with joy” (15:16). We also learn of a group called gatekeepers (15:18). The event came off splendidly, with the Levites clad in robes of fine linen (15:27) — but the phenomenon of a trained Levitical chorus and orchestra at this early date raises the question of when and under what circumstances music became a prominent component of Levitical and Israelite religious culture, since there is no mention in the Pentateuch of music as part of the Tabernacle service.

After the festivities, David blesses the assembled people, who disperse to their ancestral homes (16:2). David had brought the Ark to Jerusalem to make the city the religious center, even as it was to become the political capital of the united kingdom; but the thought that the Ark should now sit unattended in a simple tent was intolerable, so David appointed the Levites who were still around to minister to the Ark (16:4). There was no altar there at that time, so David did what David does best: “Then, on that day, did David first ordain to give thanks unto the Lord, by the hands of Asaph and his brothers” (16:7), continually, “as every day’s work required” (16:37) — including a hymn by David containing his signature line, “give thanks unto the Lord for He is good, for His mercy endures forever” (16:34). Thus, on a hill in Jerusalem, was born the concept of Psalmody: the idea that God may be properly worshipped simply by expressing praise and thanksgiving in poetic song and music, even unaccompanied by other rituals. David also sends another team of Levites to accompany Tzadok the priest at the sacrificial service at the sanctuary in Givon: Heiman and Yedutun, “to give thanks to the Lord with trumpets and cymbals,” with the sons of Yedutun at the gate (16:41-42).

Who was the matchmaker that brought together David and the Levites? In this writer’s opinion, it was Samuel, the last of the Judges and the first of the Prophets, who had ministered at the Tabernacle during its last days in Shilo (I Chron. 6:11, 13). It was Samuel who anointed David while he was a mere shepherd and had watched him ever since. Samuel, himself a Levite, had been appalled at the corruption at Shilo and chose a different path: instead of waiting in the sanctuary for the worshippers, he went out to the people — “he went from year to year in circuit to Bet-El and Gilgal and to Mizpah and he judged Israel in all these places, and he returned to Ramah… and there he built an altar unto the Lord” (I Sam. 7:16-17). At the sacrificial meal (zevach) at this altar, “the people did not eat until the seer comes and blesses the sacrifice” (9:13) — Samuel the Levite is recognized as a judge and prophet.¹² We then learn of a roving “band of prophets” (hevel neviim) who come down from the altar preceded by lyre, timbrel, pipe and harp, “and they were prophesying” (10:5) — members of a special order established by Samuel called b’nai haneviim, trained to be teachers and leaders who inspired the people through oratory, song and music to turn to God, reaching states of trance-like ecstasy. Samuel’s innovative program of reaching out to the people, and his preference for a social spiritual experience over a ritualistic sacrificial service, may be traced to his negative experience at Shilo; but his appreciation of music and hymns of thanksgiving were part of his parental heritage — his father Elkanah was a Levite in the line of Korach, whose descendants were the b’nai Korach of the temple choir, while his mother Hannah authored one of the Bible’s greatest hymns of thanksgiving (I Sam. 2:1-10). Before fleeing the now openly hostile court of King Saul, David sought Samuel’s counsel: “And David fled and escaped and came to Samuel to Ramah and told him of all that Saul had done to him, and he and Samuel went and dwelt (vayeshvu) in Nayot” (I Sam. 19:18). The word “dwelt” implies an extended stay; Nayot, on the outskirts of Ramah, has been identified as the location of the school for the training of the b’nai haneviim, where, according to the Rabbis, they discussed the future of David as king and his desire to build a Temple.¹³ It is likely here that David received from Samuel prophetic authority to consider hymns of praise and thanksgiving a proper form of Divine worship.

Many years after the Ark was brought to Jerusalem, David, “now old and full of days” (I Chron. 23:1), summons the entire tribe to Jerusalem to inform them of their responsibilities in the Temple to be built. Whereas the Levites’ role in the wilderness Tabernacle had been mandated by the word of God to Moses, their role in Solomon’s Temple was by royal decree of David — though David saw his action as an extension of the word of God to Moses (I Chron. 23:26-27; 24:19). Their responsibilities now included: standing every morning and evening to thank and praise the Lord, and doing the same at the sacrifices (23:30); overseeing the construction of the House of the Lord (23:9); serving as officers (shotrim) and judges; praising the Lord with instruments David made (23:5); serving as gatekeepers (shoarim) (23:6-7); serving at the side of the sons of Aaron; being in charge of all manner of measure and size; and being in charge of the treasures of the House of the Lord (26:28). By the dedication of Solomon’s Temple, the Levitical choir and orchestra had become a regular part of Temple service: “Also the Levites who were the singers, all of them, even Asaph, Heiman and Yedutun, their sons and brothers, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals and psalteries and harps with them, and 120 priests with trumpets… were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanksgiving the Lord… for He is good, for His mercy endures forever” (II Chron. 5:12). Where the assignment of functions was adhered to, almost everything in the Temple other than the priestly rituals proper — even handing the blood to the kohen to sprinkle on the altar wall — was done by the Levites (II Chron. 30:16-17).

During the monarchy, the fate of the Levites was tied to the fate of the Temple, both as a structure for Divine worship and through unforeseen events within it. When an idolatrous king such as Menasseh (692-638 BCE) was on the throne, the Temple was desecrated and neglected, with deleterious effects on the priests and Levites; but in periods of political crisis, the high priest might play a decisive role. This is what happened during the last days of the wicked queen Athaliah, who set out to assassinate all the children of Amaziah; the wife of Yehoyada, the priest, spirited away the one-year-old Yoash and his nurse and hid them in the Temple for six years while Athaliah reigned. In the seventh year, Yehoyada gathered the elders — which included the Levites out of all the cities of Judah (II Chron. 23:1-2) — and together they staged a successful insurrection. The coronation of the seven-year-old Yoash, in the Temple courtyard, was under heavy guard, as a counter-attack was expected: “And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapon in his hand” (23:7) — probably the shotrim and shoarim, who were armed while on duty.

Another existential crisis occurred during the reign of King Yehoshaphat (874-850 BCE), when a coalition of Transjordan nations invaded from the south, moving up toward Jerusalem. The panic-stricken king declared a fast and summoned the people to the Temple courtyard; in his fervent supplication, “there came the spirit of the Lord” upon Yeachziel son of Zeharia, the Levite, of the sons of Asaph, who declared: “Hearken ye all Judah… thus says the Lord unto you: fear not, neither be dismayed by this multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s” (II Chron. 20:14-15). Yeachziel instructed the people to go to the pass leading up to Jerusalem, where they would witness God’s salvation; the people, led by the king, bowed in worshipful gratitude, and “the Levites from the sons of Kehat and Korach” rose to praise God in a loud voice (20:19). The king appointed singers “to praise in the beauty of Holiness” as they went out before the vanguard, chanting “give thanks unto the Lord for His kindness endures forever” (20:21) — and the invading armies were found to have turned on each other in panic. The people returned to Jerusalem with joy, psalteries, harps and trumpets (20:28).¹⁴ Here the Levites perform their musical praise outside the formal Temple service, amidst the congregation, and their value as a means of generating religious inspiration and national unity is fully recognized in the public arena. We are also told that King Yehoshaphat appointed Levites, priests and heads of the clans in Jerusalem “for rendering judgment in matters of the Lord and for disputes… between blood and blood, between law and commandments, statutes and ordinances” (II Chron. 19:8-10) — cases requiring considerable knowledge of civil and religious law, which says much about the level of Levitical learning at the time.

The reign of King Hezekiah of Judah (720-692 BCE) was one of the most significant in the history of the monarchy. The Levites are called to “sanctify anew the House of the Lord” and to “remove the filth of the Holy Place” (II Chron. 29:5); during the dedication ceremony, the Levitical choir and orchestra perform first to accompany the burnt-offering sacrifices and then as a distinct worship-service of praise and thanksgiving, after which the king and those present “bowed and prostrated themselves before the Lord” (II Chron. 29:25-30). The text carefully distinguishes the sacrificial service of the Kohanim, chosen by the Lord to minister before Him (29:11), from the Levitical service, instituted “according to the commands of David and Gad the King’s seer and Nathan the prophet” (29:25). Among his efforts to unify the nation, Hezekiah invited all of Judah and the remnants of the northern tribes to celebrate Pesach in Jerusalem, with such success that “there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon, son of David… there was not the like in Jerusalem” (30:26) — though “the priests were too few… and their brothers, the Levites, did help them” (29:34).

The fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 586 BCE saw the demise of the Davidic dynasty, the destruction of the Temple, and the people of Israel reduced to captivity. For the Levites, the loss of the Temple was a traumatic personal blow that rocked the very foundations of their identity and reason for existence. Psalm 137, attributed to a Levite, is a poignant expression of their grief: “By the rivers of Babylon there we sat, yes, we wept when we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in its midst did we hang our harps… How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” The Cyrus Declaration specifically mentioned the reconstruction of the Temple as the purpose of the liberation of the captive nations, and among each of the groups that returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbavel, Ezra and Nehemiah there were families of Kohanim and Levites who, for the most part, resumed their traditional functions, though with a much more modest Temple most of them took up residence outside Jerusalem. It would seem that the Levites used the years in captivity to deepen their knowledge of and devotion to the Torah of Moshe.¹⁵

In the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, which record the history of the return and the reconstruction of the Temple, we find, among the traditional special groups of Levites — meshorerim (singers), shoarim (gatekeepers), shotrim (officers) — an entirely new group called mevinim (“those that understand”), that is, Levites who could read, translate and elucidate the Torah text (Neh. 8:3). In the eighth chapter of Nehemiah we are told how, on the first day of the seventh month (Rosh Hashanah), Ezra the priest, called “the Scribe” (sofer), stood on a wooden platform before the water gate of the Temple, where men and women had gathered from early morning until midday to hear the words of the Torah: “And the Levites caused the people to understand the Torah… and they read in the Book of the Torah of God, distinctly, and they gave the sense and caused them to understand the reading” (Neh. 8:7-8). After the reading, the people were overwhelmed by grief and guilt at how far they had strayed, and “the Levites stilled the people, saying: Hold your peace, for the day is Holy, neither shall ye be grieved” (8:11); “and all the people went their way to eat and to drink… and to make great joy, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them” (8:12). There can be no more complete fulfillment of Moses’s blessing to the Levites: “They shall teach Your judgments to Jacob and Your Torah to Israel” (Deut. 33:10).

Post-Biblical Postscript¹⁶

The story of the Levites, once outlined, speaks for itself. Although given a mandate planted in the House of the Lord, they sprouted and blossomed into the outer courts (Ps. 92:14) of Israelite society. Whether in Egypt, the wilderness, or the land, during the First and Second Temple, the Levites, in the main, remained loyal to their mandate. Out of the priestly families of the Levites there rose individuals like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, who reached the heights of biblical prophecy, and Ezra the Scribe, whom the Rabbis compared to Moses and who brought Torah learning to the people. From the non-priestly families, the singers and musicians and composers of psalmody, such as Samuel and the families of Asaph, the sons of Korach and Heiman, taught the world to worship God in song and music, and thereby immortalized the genius of King David. As a historic postscript, the Hasmonean family of Levitical priests, in defense of the tradition, undertook extreme measures in 168 BCE and assumed political leadership of Israel until a new generation of leaders would arise. To this day, in synagogues the world over, Jews of the seed of Aaron the Levite stand before the Ark and bless the congregation in the words prescribed in Numbers, and the morning service ends with the recital of the psalm sung on that day of the week by the Levites in the Temple.

Acknowledgement

I am deeply grateful to Iris, my wife, for transforming an old man’s scrawl into legible sentences. To my son Moshe Halevi for his research help, and to David Fineberg for his editorial assistance.

Editor’s note: This wide-ranging study is the author’s fortieth article to appear in the Jewish Bible Quarterly. We note with warmest congratulations that this coincides with his 98th birthday, ad meah v’esrim.