This week we start reading the third book of the Torah, Vayikra. The book is more commonly known as Leviticus—after the tribe of Levi—since most of it is concerned with priestly, or Levitical, law. The big question is: at which point did the Levites (including the Kohanim, who are from the same tribe of Levi) become priests, and why?
The Torah does not explicitly answer this question. The traditional explanation (see, for example, Rashi on Numbers 3:12) is that the Levites were the only tribe not to participate in the Golden Calf incident, and thus merited to become priests. Before that point, the firstborn son of each family was meant to serve in the priesthood (and presumably anyone else who so wished), as God had originally stated that the entire nation will be “a kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:6).1 After the Golden Calf, everything changed and it was strictly the Levites who became worthy of the priesthood.
Yet, other traditions maintain that the Levites were already priests long before the Golden Calf debacle. It is commonly held that the Levites were not enslaved in Egypt (or, at least, not to the same degree) because they were recognized as priests, and priests were protected under Egyptian law (see Genesis 47:26). This notion is supported by Exodus 5:4 where Pharaoh tells the Levite leaders Moses and Aaron: “Why do you, Moses and Aaron, cause the people to break loose from their work? Go to your own burdens.” Pharaoh essentially tells the brothers to mind their own business and let the others do their work.
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Keywords: Kohen, Kohanim, Cohen, Priest, Priesthood, priests, Levites, Levi, kingdom of priests, tribe of Levi, Jewish priesthood
Bible reference(s): Exodus 19:22, Exodus 19:24, Exodus 29:9, Exodus 29:27, Exodus 29:28, Exodus 31:10, Exodus 35:19, Exodus 38:21, Exodus 39:41, Leviticus 1, Leviticus 2, Leviticus 3, Leviticus 4, Leviticus 5, Leviticus 6, Leviticus 7, Leviticus 12, Leviticus 13, Leviticus 14, Leviticus 15:14, Leviticus 15:15, Leviticus 15:29, Leviticus 15:30, Leviticus 16:32, Leviticus 16:33, Leviticus 17:5, Leviticus 17:6, Leviticus 19:22, Leviticus 21, Leviticus 22:10, Leviticus 22:14, Leviticus 22:15, Leviticus 23:10, Leviticus 23:11, Leviticus 23:20, Leviticus 27, Numbers 3:3, Numbers 3:6, Numbers 3:31, Numbers 3:32, Numbers 4:16, Numbers 4:28, Numbers 4:33, Numbers 5, Numbers 6:10, Numbers 6:11, Numbers 6:16, Numbers 6:17, Numbers 6:19, Numbers 6:20, Numbers 7:8, Numbers 10:8, Numbers 15:25, Numbers 15:28, Numbers 16:10, Numbers 16:37, Numbers 16:39, Numbers 18:28, Numbers 19:3, Numbers 19:4, Numbers 19:6, Numbers 19:7, Numbers 25:7, Numbers 25:11, Numbers 26:1, Numbers 26:3, Numbers 26:63, Numbers 26:64, Numbers 27:2, Numbers 27:19, Numbers 27:21, Numbers 27:22, Numbers 31:6, Numbers 31:12, Numbers 31:13, Numbers 31:21, Numbers 31:26, Numbers 31:29, Numbers 31:31, Numbers 31:41, Numbers 31:51, Numbers 31:54, Numbers 32:2, Numbers 32:28, Numbers 33:38, Numbers 34:17, Deuteronomy 17:9, Deuteronomy 17:12, Deuteronomy 17:18, Deuteronomy 18:1, Deuteronomy 18:3, Deuteronomy 19:17, Deuteronomy 20:2, Deuteronomy 21:5, Deuteronomy 24:8, Deuteronomy 26:3, Deuteronomy 26:4, Deuteronomy 27:9, Deuteronomy 31:9, Joshua 3:3, Joshua 3:6, Joshua 3:8, Joshua 3:13, Joshua 3:14, Joshua 3:15, Joshua 3:17, Joshua 4:3, Joshua 4:9, Joshua 4:10, Joshua 4:11, Joshua 4:16, Joshua 4:17, Joshua 4:18, Joshua 6:4, Joshua 6:6, Joshua 6:9, Joshua 6:12, Joshua 6:16, Joshua 8:33, Joshua 14:1, Joshua 17:4, Joshua 18:7, Joshua 19:51, Joshua 21:1, Joshua 21:4, Joshua 21:13, Joshua 21:19, Joshua 22:13, Joshua 22:30, Joshua 22:31, Joshua 22:32, Judges 18:6, Judges 18:17, Judges 18:18, Judges 18:20, Judges 18:24, Judges 18:27, 1 Samuel 1:9, 1 Samuel 2:11, 1 Samuel 2:13, 1 Samuel 2:14, 1 Samuel 2:15, 1 Samuel 2:36, 1 Samuel 5:5, 1 Samuel 6:2, 1 Samuel 14:3, 1 Samuel 14:19, 1 Samuel 14:36, 1 Samuel 21:1, 1 Samuel 21:2, 1 Samuel 21:4, 1 Samuel 21:5, 1 Samuel 21:6, 1 Samuel 21:9, 1 Samuel 22:11, 1 Samuel 22:17, 1 Samuel 22:18, 1 Samuel 22:19, 1 Samuel 22:21, 1 Samuel 23:9, 1 Samuel 30:7, 2 Samuel 15:27, 2 Samuel 15:35, 2 Samuel 17:15, 2 Samuel 19:11, 1 Kings 1:7, 1 Kings 1:8, 1 Kings 1:19, 1 Kings 1:25, 1 Kings 1:26, 1 Kings 1:32, 1 Kings 1:34, 1 Kings 1:38, 1 Kings 1:39, 1 Kings 1:42, 1 Kings 1:44, 1 Kings 1:45, 1 Kings 2:22, 1 Kings 2:26, 1 Kings 2:35, 1 Kings 4:2, 1 Kings 8:3, 1 Kings 8:4, 1 Kings 8:6, 1 Kings 8:10, 1 Kings 8:11, 1 Kings 12:32, 1 Kings 13:2, 2 Kings 11:9, 2 Kings 11:10, 2 Kings 11:15, 2 Kings 12:2, 2 Kings 12:4, 2 Kings 12:5, 2 Kings 12:6, 2 Kings 12:7, 2 Kings 12:8, 2 Kings 12:9, 2 Kings 12:16, 2 Kings 16:10, 2 Kings 16:11, 2 Kings 16:15, 2 Kings 16:16, 2 Kings 17:27, 2 Kings 17:28, 2 Kings 22:10, 2 Kings 22:12, 2 Kings 22:14, 2 Kings 23:2, 2 Kings 23:4, 2 Kings 23:24, 1 Chronicles 9:2, 1 Chronicles 9:10, 1 Chronicles 9:30, 1 Chronicles 13:2, 1 Chronicles 15:11, 1 Chronicles 15:14, 1 Chronicles 15:24, 1 Chronicles 16:6, 1 Chronicles 16:39, 1 Chronicles 23:2, 1 Chronicles 24:2, 1 Chronicles 24:6, 1 Chronicles 24:31, 1 Chronicles 27:5, 1 Chronicles 28:13, 1 Chronicles 28:21, 2 Chronicles 4:6, 2 Chronicles 4:9, 2 Chronicles 5:5, 2 Chronicles 5:7, 2 Chronicles 5:11, 2 Chronicles 5:14, 2 Chronicles 7:2, 2 Chronicles 7:6, 2 Chronicles 8:14, 2 Chronicles 8:15, 2 Chronicles 11:13, 2 Chronicles 13:9, 2 Chronicles 13:14, 2 Chronicles 17:8, 2 Chronicles 22:11, 2 Chronicles 23:6, 2 Chronicles 23:8, 2 Chronicles 23:9, 2 Chronicles 23:14, 2 Chronicles 23:18, 2 Chronicles 24:2, 2 Chronicles 24:5, 2 Chronicles 24:20, 2 Chronicles 24:25, 2 Chronicles 26:17, 2 Chronicles 26:18, 2 Chronicles 26:19, 2 Chronicles 26:20, 2 Chronicles 29:4, 2 Chronicles 29:16, 2 Chronicles 29:21, 2 Chronicles 29:22, 2 Chronicles 29:24, 2 Chronicles 29:26, 2 Chronicles 29:34, 2 Chronicles 30:3, 2 Chronicles 30:15, 2 Chronicles 30:16, 2 Chronicles 30:21, 2 Chronicles 30:24, 2 Chronicles 30:25, 2 Chronicles 30:27, 2 Chronicles 31:2, 2 Chronicles 31:4, 2 Chronicles 31:9, 2 Chronicles 31:15, 2 Chronicles 31:17, 2 Chronicles 31:18, 2 Chronicles 31:19, 2 Chronicles 34:5, 2 Chronicles 34:14, 2 Chronicles 34:18, 2 Chronicles 34:30, 2 Chronicles 35:2, 2 Chronicles 35:8, 2 Chronicles 35:10, 2 Chronicles 35:11, 2 Chronicles 35:14, 2 Chronicles 35:18, Ezra 1:5, Ezra 2:36, Ezra 2:61, Ezra 2:62, Ezra 2:70, Ezra 3:8, Ezra 3:10, Ezra 3:12, Ezra 6:9, Ezra 6:16, Ezra 6:18, Ezra 6:20, Ezra 7:7, Ezra 7:11, Ezra 7:12, Ezra 7:16, Ezra 7:21, Ezra 7:24, Ezra 8:15, Ezra 8:30, Ezra 8:33, Ezra 9:1, Ezra 10:10, Ezra 10:16, Ezra 10:18, Nehemiah 2:16, Nehemiah 3:1, Nehemiah 3:22, Nehemiah 3:28, Nehemiah 5:12, Nehemiah 7:39, Nehemiah 7:63, Nehemiah 7:64, Nehemiah 7:73, Nehemiah 8:2, Nehemiah 8:9, Nehemiah 8:13, Nehemiah 10:8, Nehemiah 10:28, Nehemiah 10:34, Nehemiah 10:36, Nehemiah 10:37, Nehemiah 10:38, Nehemiah 10:39, Nehemiah 11:3, Nehemiah 11:10, Nehemiah 11:20, Nehemiah 12:1, Nehemiah 12:7, Nehemiah 12:22, Nehemiah 12:26, Nehemiah 12:30, Nehemiah 12:35, Nehemiah 12:41, Nehemiah 12:44, Nehemiah 13:4, Nehemiah 13:5, Nehemiah 13:13, Nehemiah 13:29, Nehemiah 13:30, Hosea 6:9, Joel 1:9, Joel 2:17, Haggai 2:11, Haggai 2:12, Haggai 2:13, Zechariah 7:3, Zechariah 7:5, Malachi 2:7, Matthew 8:4, Matthew 12:4, Matthew 12:5, Mark 1:44, Mark 2:26, Luke 1:9, Luke 5:14, Luke 6:4, Luke 17:14, Acts 4:1, Acts 6:7, Acts 14:13, Romans 15:16, Hebrews 7:5, Hebrews 7:11, Hebrews 7:12, Hebrews 9:6, Tobit 1:6, Judith 4:14, Judith 11:13, Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 7:31, Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 45:7, Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 45:24, Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 50:12, Baruch 1:7, Bel and the Dragon 1:11, Bel and the Dragon 1:15, Bel and the Dragon 1:21, Bel and the Dragon 1:28, 1 Maccabees 1:46, 1 Maccabees 3:49, 1 Maccabees 4:38, 1 Maccabees 4:57, 1 Maccabees 7:33, 1 Maccabees 7:36, 1 Maccabees 10:42, 1 Maccabees 11:23, 1 Maccabees 12:6, 1 Maccabees 14:20, 1 Maccabees 14:28, 1 Maccabees 15:1, 2 Maccabees 1:13, 2 Maccabees 1:15, 2 Maccabees 1:20, 2 Maccabees 1:21, 2 Maccabees 1:23, 2 Maccabees 1:30, 2 Maccabees 3:15, 2 Maccabees 4:14, 2 Maccabees 14:31, 2 Maccabees 14:34, 2 Maccabees 15:31, 3 Maccabees 1:11, 3 Maccabees 1:16, 3 Maccabees 6:1, 4 Maccabees 4:9, 4 Maccabees 4:16, 4 Maccabees 7:6, 1 Esdras 1:2, 1 Esdras 1:7, 1 Esdras 1:8, 1 Esdras 1:10, 1 Esdras 1:13, 1 Esdras 1:14, 1 Esdras 1:21, 1 Esdras 1:49, 1 Esdras 2:8, 1 Esdras 4:53, 1 Esdras 4:54, 1 Esdras 5:5, 1 Esdras 5:24, 1 Esdras 5:38, 1 Esdras 5:46, 1 Esdras 5:56, 1 Esdras 5:59, 1 Esdras 5:63, 1 Esdras 6:30, 1 Esdras 7:6, 1 Esdras 7:9, 1 Esdras 7:10, 1 Esdras 7:12, 1 Esdras 8:5, 1 Esdras 8:8, 1 Esdras 8:9, 1 Esdras 8:10, 1 Esdras 8:19, 1 Esdras 8:22, 1 Esdras 8:42, 1 Esdras 8:54, 1 Esdras 8:59, 1 Esdras 8:60, 1 Esdras 8:62, 1 Esdras 8:69, 1 Esdras 8:96, 1 Esdras 9:16, 1 Esdras 9:18, 1 Esdras 9:37, 1 Esdras 9:40, 1 Esdras 9:42
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