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Levites |
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Levites (lē`vīts), a religious caste among the ancient Hebrews, descended from Jacob's son Levi and figuring prominently in the Bible. There were three divisions of Levites—Kohathites, Merarites, and Gershonites. Loyal to Moses during the Golden Calf incident, they were rewarded with special religious privileges. The Levites replaced the firstborn, who devoutly served God for having been saved at the Passover. They alone of the tribes received no allotment of land; instead they received revenues from certain cities, and each city had its quota of Levites to support. With the unification of worship at Jerusalem, the Levites became temple servants with hereditary assignments, and later were teachers of the Law. The Book of Leviticus is named for them. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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| Add to this the official proclaimers to the public, the readers in synagogues, the priests and levites in the temple in Jerusalem, the priests of the imperial court at Rome, the public announcements of ambassadors or (gospel) proclaimers, and the attendants outside the synagogues and temples throughout the Roman world who announced the feats of the gods. It is a form of patronage, one might also note, that does not come naturally to those socialized by strict sectarian social ethics (priest, Levite, Samaritan) that drew clear, cultural boundaries to what constitutes "honorable" activity. In the Old Testament there were two priesthoods, the more general one including all the Jews, and the more special one including only the Levite priests, who looked after the temple and the synagogues. |
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