Then Ezra hears the report that the people, the priests and the Levites have married into the surrounding peoples:
His prayer names the damage: "they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites" (Nehemiah 13:29).
"Of them I will also select priests and Levites," says YHWH, about people gathered from the nations.
On how priests and Levites split the work, see Levites vs priests.
Only Isaiah 66:21 looks ahead to priests and Levites taken from the nations.
Levites vs priests: who serves at the altar and who carries the tent.
Below YHWH come Moses, the priests, the Levites, the tribes of Israel and, at the bottom, the nations.
The Levites stand below the priests, not above them.
YHWH tells Moses to “give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons” (Numbers 3:9).
On how priests and Levites split the work, see Levites vs priests.
The Levites are the tribe of Levi.
Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn who open the womb among the children of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine, for all the firstborn are mine.
The Levites camp in a ring around the tent:
When the tabernacle is to move, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall set it up.
But the Levites shall encamp around the Tabernacle of the Testimony, that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel.
The Levites own no land.
Instead the Levites receive “all the tithe in Israel” (Numbers 18:21).
The Ark was moved on “a new cart” (2 Samuel 6:3) instead of on Levite shoulders.
David drew the lesson: “No one ought to carry God’s ark but the Levites” (1 Chronicles 15:2).
The second time, the Levites carried it “on their shoulders with its poles, as Moses commanded” (1 Chronicles 15:15).
The Levites are the guard, transport and maintenance crew of the tent.
I read the Levites as a guard and handling corps around a dangerous object.
The tribes camp each “by his own standard” around the Levite ring (Numbers 1:52).
In practice they stand outside two rings: first the Levites, then the priests.
Of them I will also select priests and Levites,” says YHWH.
In Isaiah 66, people from the far edges of the map are chosen as priests and Levites.
A man from Tarshish can be made a Levite.
The nations of Isaiah 66:18–21 are brought in, and some become priests and Levites.
Levites vs priests: the priest and Levite split, and Isaiah 66:21.
1. And Jesus stood again within the temple courts and taught.2. A master of the law was sent to question him that he might find a cause to censure and accuse him of a crime.3. He said, Lord, tell me what to do that I may have eternal life?4. And Jesus said, You know the law; what does it say?5. The lawyer answered, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your mind, and you shall love your neighbour as yourself.6. And Jesus said, Lo, you have answered well; this do and you shall live.7. The lawyer said, My neighbour, who is he?8. And Jesus said, A man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho, and lo, he met with robbers on the way, who beat him, robbed him of his goods, and left him bleeding by the way.9. A Pharisee was going down that way; he saw the wounded man; but then he had no time to lose; he passed by on the other side.10. A Levite came and saw the man; but he was loath to soil his sacerdotal robes, and he passed by.11. A lawyer on his way to Jericho observed the dying man, and then he said, If I could make a shekel I might help the man; but he has nothing left to give, I have no time for charity; and he passed on.12. And then a stranger from Samaria came that way; he saw the wounded man; his heart was touched with pity, and he stopped, dismounted from his horse,13. Revived the man, and placed him on his horse and took him to an inn and charged the keeper of the inn to nurse him back to strength.14. He gave the keeper all the money that he had and said, Your charges may be more than this, but care for this unfortunate, and when I come again I will pay all; and then he went his way.15. Now, master of the law, which of these four was neighbour unto him who fell among the thieves?16. The lawyer said, The man who showed him mercy; he who cared for him.17. And Jesus said, Go on your way and likewise do, and you shall live.18. Now, Jesus, Peter, James and John went out to Bethany where Lazarus lived.19. And Mary sat at Jesus' feet and heard him speak the words of life while Martha served.20. And Martha called, but Mary would not leave the Lord to help her serve.21. And Martha said to Jesus, Do you not care that Mary makes me bear the burdens of the serving all the day?
Levites help explain it so the people understand (Nehemiah 8:7–8).
It remains protected and hidden by the Levites, dangerous to impure hearts, and cannot be destroyed except by divine will.
Sons of Levi (בְּנֵי לֵוִי, benei Levi) are the Levites, with 27 cases.
At sunrise, 3.75 million Israelites and 400,000 Levites (uncircumcised allies) fled westward from Sukkoth.
(The lower heavens.) But that the Levites may be friendly with me suffer them to worship the Lord their God.
And the number of other people who accompanied them was four hundred thousand; and because they were of the uncircumcised tribes of ancients, the Hebrews named them Levites, i.e., imperfect flesh.
And Moses commanded the Levites to camp aside, and not to mix with the Israelites, and they obeyed him in all things; maintaining that they were the true descendents of Abraham.
The Temple became the sole legitimate place of sacrifice, and the Levite priests were given exclusive rights to conduct the rituals.
All Levites were members of the tribe of Levi, which had been chosen by God to serve Him
The Levites and the priests worked inside a hierarchy:
Every Levite belonged to the tribe of Levi.
Unlike the other tribes, the Levites received no land.
Among the Levites, only the descendants of Aaron were priests.
Supporting Levites.
The Levites who were not priests assisted the priests.
Each Levite clan had its own duties:
Isaiah 66:21 reads: “And I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites, says YHWH”.
Many scholars read the verse as God opening the priesthood and Levite duties beyond the old bloodline.
Here “Levites” may not mean a family line at all.
The Levites started as a tribe.
Yet the priests (kohanim) among them held privileges the other Levites did not have.
The split between priests and Levites shows a detailed system of rank and service in ancient Israel:
Levites carried out the wider sacred tasks and gave support.
So the Levites were tied by bloodline, but their real job was a function.
The Levites and the priests (kohanim) each had set duties around it.
The Levites carried the Ark when the Israelites traveled.
With the poles, the Levites could move the Ark without touching it.
The Levites could not look at the Ark or touch it while the Tabernacle was taken down and packed for travel.
The Levites and the priests guarded it and made sure it was used rightly.
Levites (specifically the Kohathites):
The Levites and priests had to keep that link pure and unbroken.
The Levites, above all the Kohathites, moved the Ark and protected it.
Gadites, Reubenites, Manassites, Ephraimites, Danites, Benjamites, Levites, Asherites, Zebulunites, Issacharites, Simeonites, Judahites, Naphtalites: The tribes of Israel, from the Exodus through the time of the Kings and beyond.
21 And I will select some of them also to be priests and Levites,” says YHWH.
21 "And I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites, says YHWH."
And all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the ark.
And they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, these did the priests and the Levites bring up.
Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:)
47 The ancestral tribe of the Levites, however, was not counted along with the others.
50 Instead, appoint the Levites to be in charge of the tabernacle of the covenant law—over all its furnishings and everything belonging to it.
51 Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall do it. Anyone else who approaches it is to be put to death.
The Levites were like specialized engineers tasked with the tabernacle’s assembly, maintenance, and transport.
53 The Levites, however, are to set up their tents around the tabernacle of the covenant law so that my wrath will not fall on the Israelite community.
The Levites are to be responsible for the care of the tabernacle of the covenant law.”
17 Then the tent of meeting and the camp of the Levites will set out in the middle of the camps.
33 The Levites, however, were not counted along with the other Israelites, as the YHWH Elohim commanded Moses.
9 Give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to him.
12 “I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites in place of the first male offspring of every Israelite woman.
The Levites are mine,
14 The YHWH Elohim said to Moses in the Desert of Sinai, 15 “Count the Levites by their families and clans.
These were the Levite clans, according to their families.
32 The chief leader of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest.
39 The total number of Levites counted at YHWH Elohim’s command by Moses and Aaron according to their clans, including every male a month old or more, was 22,000.
41 Take the Levites for me in place of all the firstborn of the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites in place of all the firstborn of the livestock of the Israelites.
45 “Take the Levites in place of all the firstborn of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of their livestock.
The Levites are to be mine. I am the YHWH Elohim.
46 To redeem the 273 firstborn Israelites who exceed the number of the Levites,
49 So Moses collected the redemption money from those who exceeded the number redeemed by the Levites.
2 “Take a census of the Kohathite branch of the Levites by their clans and families.
17 YHWH Elohim said to Moses and Aaron, 18 “See that the Kohathite tribal clans are not destroyed from among the Levites. 19 So that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons are to go into the sanctuary and assign to each man his work and what he is to carry. 20 But the Kohathites must not go in to look at the holy things, even for a moment, or they will die.”
46 So Moses, Aaron and the leaders of Israel counted all the Levites by their clans and families.
Handling Instructions: Carried by the Levites, specifically the Kohathites, without touching it directly to avoid divine retribution (Numbers 4:15, Joshua 3:3-4).