LEVITES, or SONS OF LEVI 0:14; Aearat, v101 levitce, jilii Levi), besides denoting all the descendants of the tribe of Levi (Exod. vi. 25 ; Levit. xxv. 32, etc. ; Num. xxxv. 2 ; JOSh. xXi. 3, 41), is the distinctive title of that portion of it which was set apart for the subordinate offices of the sanctuary, to assist the other and smaller pot, tion of their OWIl tribe, who are denominated the .$07/3 of Aaron, ilaronites, or Priests, and were invested with the superior fnnctions of the hierarchy [PatEsTs]. In describing the institution and de velopment of the Levitical order, we shall have to distinguish three periods ; viz.—I. From the insti tution of this order by Moses till the commence ment of the monarchy ; II. From the changes introduced in this order by David till the exile ; and III. The post-exile period.
I. From the histitution of the Levitical order till the monarchy.—This is the most interesting and important period in the history of the Levitical order, and in describing.; it we must first of all trace the cause which called it into existence.
1. Origin and institution of the Levitical order.— The Tabernacle, with its extensive and regular sacri ficial service, which required a special priestly order regularly to perform the higher functions of the sanctuary, also called into being the Levitical staff to aid the priests in their arduous task ; inasmuch as the primitive and patriarchal mode of worship which obtained till the erection of the Tabernacle, and according to which the first-born of all Israelites performed the priestly offices (comp. Exod. xxiv. 5 with xix. 24, and Art. FIRST-BORN), could not be perpetuated under the newly-organised congrega tional service, without interfering with the do mestic relations of the people. It was for this reason, as well as to secure greater efficiency in the sacred offices, that the religious primogeniture \vas conferred upon the tribe of Levi, which were hence forth to give their undivided attention to the re quirements of the sanctuary (Num. iii. 11-13). The tribe of Levi were selected because they had manifested a very extraordinary zeal for the glory of God (Exod. xxxii. 26, etc.), had already obtained
a part of this religious primogeniture by the insti tution of the hereditary priesthood in the family of Aaron (Exod. xxviii. I), and because, as the tribe to which Moses and Aaron belonged, they would most naturally support and promote the institutions of the lawgiver. To effect this transfer of office, both the first-born males of all the other tribes, and the Levites, were ordered to be numbered, from the age of one month and upwards ; and when it was found that the former were 22,273 and the latter 22,000," it \vas arranged that 22,000 of the first-born should be replaced by the 22,000 Le vites, that the 273 first-born who were in excess of , the Levites should be redeemed at the rate of five shekels each, being the legal sum for the redemp tion of the first-born child (Num. xviii. 16), and that the 1365 shekels be given to Aaron and his sons as a compensation for the odd persons who, as first-born, belonged to Jehovah. As to the difficulty how to decide which of the arst-born should be redeemed by paying this morey, and which should be exchanged for the Levites, since it was natural for every one to wish to escape this expense, the Midrash (on Num. iii. 17) and the Talmud relate that Moses wrote on 22,000 tickets Levite (4 p), and on 273 Five Shekels (rn a,9pv), mixed them all up, put them into a ves sel, and then bid every Israelite to draw one. He who took out one with Levite on it was redeemed by a Levite, and he who drew one with Five Shekels on it had to be redeemed by payment of this sum' (Sanhedrin 17, a). And there is no reason to doubt this ancient tradition. It \vas farther ordained, that the cattle which the Levites then happened to possess, should be considered as equivalent to all the first-born cattle which all the Israelites had, without their being numbered and exchanged, one for one, as in the case of the human beings (Num. iii. 41-51), so that the firstlings should not now be given to the priest, or be re deemed, which the Israelites were hereafter required to do (Num. xviii. 15).