Priests and Levites were servants of God in the Old Testament.
There were three main kinds of religious leaders in ancient Israel:
Prophets
Wise men
Priests and Levites
The prophets spoke messages from God. They did not work for pay. They only spoke when God called them to do so.
The wise men gave advice in government and education. Some of their work was not religious. But they also taught people how to live in a way that pleased God.
The priests and Levites did many kinds of religious work. They helped the people worship God. They also taught the laws of God and cared for the holy place. They were like full-time church leaders today. The people gave them food and gifts so they could serve God full-time.
The role of the priesthood is best understood by looking at how Israelites practiced their religion. The most important part of Judaism was a relationship with God. Being an Israelite or a Jew meant staying close to the living God every day.
This relationship showed in many parts of life. It included:
Religion was both personal and shared with the whole community.
The priest helped take care of these connections between God and people. This was the most important part of Old Testament religion. Everything priests did was about helping people stay close to God. Prophets also helped with this special promise between God and people. While the priests did the regular religious work, prophets had a special job. When people stopped following God, prophets called them to come back to Him.
The Old Testament often talks about both priests and Levites. Sometimes it is hard to tell them apart like in Deuteronomy 18:1–8. Even today, people who study the Bible carefully are still trying to understand exactly how priests and Levites are different.
Usually, only Aaron's sons could be priests. Other Levites did religious work too, but they were not priests. Most Bible passages make this clear, but some do not. It is clear that both priests (Levites from Aaron's family) and Levites (not from Aaron's family) had important religious jobs. These jobs changed during Israel's history.
Preview
The Beginnings of the Priesthood
The High Priest
The Priests
The Levites
The History of the Priesthood
The Priesthood in New Testament Times
The Beginnings of the Priesthood in Israel
The priesthood in Israel began during the time of Moses and Aaron.
The book of Exodus tells the story of how God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. This was not only a rescue story. It was also the beginning of the nation of Israel.
Soon after this, God made a covenant with the people at Mount Sinai. This covenant gave them laws to follow. These laws became the foundation for Israel’s way of life.
The covenant also explained how the people could worship God. It included rules for the priests and Levites. These rules show us the three main groups of religious leaders:
The high priest (the most important priest)
The priests (who served in the temple)
The Levites (helpers who assisted the priests)
The High Priest
Every big group needs a leader. He was the leader of the other priests. In the early days, this was a small group, but his job was still very important. God chose Moses the prophet to give the covenant to the people. Then God chose Aaron as the first high priest to lead the religious life of the people.
At first, the high priest's job was simple. He was the leader of the other priests, but his job was still important. He had special ceremonies to make him a high priest, wore special clothes, and had special duties. The high priest did many of the same things as other priests, but he also had duties only he could do.
The high priest managed the other priests, but his job was more than just being a manager. All priests were the servants and guardians of the covenant relationship between God and Israel. The high priest was chief servant and chief guardian. He was responsible for the spiritual life of all God's people.
We can see how important the high priest was by looking at what he did. The best example is the Day of Atonement called Yom Kippur. Only on this day could the high priest go into the most holy place, the Holy of Holies. Standing there before the "mercy seat" he would ask God to forgive all the people of Israel (Leviticus 16:1–19).
This special day showed what Israel believed about God. They believed in having a close connection with God. When people did wrong things, it hurts this connection. While they worshiped God all year to keep this connection, the Day of Atonement was the most serious day of the year. All the people focused all of their attention on the meaning of life.
Life only had meaning if they stayed close to God. The high priest had the honor and heavy duty of asking God to forgive all Israel.
The high priest wore special clothes that showed how important his work was. While some of the meaning is unclear, the Bible explains some of the meaning behind the clothes. There were three main ideas shown in his clothing.
The first idea was beauty. His clothes were beautiful because of how they were made. They were made of different colors and precious stones. The most beautiful piece was his breastplate. The breastplate was a special piece worn over his chest. In the Hebrew language, the word for his breastplate actually means "beautiful" or "excellent." The clothing is a symbol of beauty. The other two themes bring out the excellence of the office.
The second idea showed how the high priest spoke to God for all Israel. This important part of the office of the high priest is shown in two ways. First, the priest wore two onyx stones on his ephod (a special outer garment). His breastplate also had 12 precious stones attached to it. When the high priest went to God, these stones reminded God of His people. The breastplate was linked to God's judgment (Exodus 28:15). It was intended to constantly remind God of his people (Exodus 28:12).
The third idea is the role of the high priest as God's representative to his people. This role of the office is seen by two special objects called the Urim and Thummim. They were kept in the breastpiece (a chest covering worn by the priest). Through the Urim and Thummim, God told the people what he wanted them to do. When Aaron wore all his special clothes, he looked magnificent. His beautiful clothes showed how important his job was.
The position of high priest was meant to stay in the family. The high priest had to be married, and when he died, his son would become the next high priest. But later in Israel's history, people did not always follow this rule. Aaron had four sons. When Aaron died, his son Eleazar became the high priest.
The Priests
People became priests because they were born into a priest family, not because they chose to be priests. The first priests were Aaron's four sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. They became priests at the same time Aaron became the high priest (Exodus 28:1).
Like Aaron, they wore special clothes. Their clothes were similar to the high priest's, but they did not wear his most special items. The special ephod, the chest piece, and the crown were only for the high priest. When the priests had sons, their sons would also become priests.
The job of the priest was very holy, so there were special rules to keep it pure. A man had to be from Aaron's family to be a priest, but that was not enough. There were other rules too. A priest could not marry a woman who had been divorced or who had been a prostitute (Leviticus 21:7).
Some health problems could stop a man from being a priest. If he was blind, could not walk well, was missing body parts, had a curved back, or was very short, he could not be a priest (Leviticus 21:16–23). This was like the rule about animals used in sacrifice. They had to be perfect to serve God.
The Bible tells us what some of the first priests did. Eleazar was in charge of the tabernacle (the holy tent) and its offerings (Numbers 4:16). He helped Moses with a few jobs. He counted the people and divided the land (26:1–2; 32:2). Later, he gave advice to Joshua.
Ithamar watched the building of the tabernacle (Exodus 38:21). He was also in charge of two groups of families called the Gershonites and Merarites (Numbers 4:28–33).
Nadab and Abihu died soon after becoming priests. They did something wrong while doing their priestly duties (Leviticus 10:1–7). The Bible suggests they may have been drunk when this happened (Leviticus 10:8–9).
Priests had three main jobs (Deuteronomy 33:8–10). First, they worked with the high priest to tell people what God wanted them to do. Second, they taught people about God's rules and laws (Deuteronomy 33:10). Third, they served in the tabernacle, helping with sacrifices and worship. They shared some other duties with the Levites.
Unlike other Israelite tribes, priests and Levites did not own any land. Their only job was to serve God directly. Because they had no land to grow food or raise animals, they needed help to live.
So God made a rule that the people should support the priests. When people brought animals to the tabernacle for worship, the priests got to keep some parts of the animals. People also gave them grain, wine, oil, and wool.
The Levites
The word "Levites" can mean all people from the tribe of Levi. Usually, "Levites" means the people from Levi's tribe who were not priests. Levites helped at the tabernacle, but they had less important jobs than priests.
Like priests, Levites worked full-time in religious service and got paid with money and food. Though they did not own land as a tribe, they had special cities to live in (Numbers 35:1–8). Outside these cities, they had fields where their animals could eat.
The Levites had three main family groups: Kohath's family, Gershon's family, and Merari's family (Numbers 4:1–49). Each family had different jobs caring for the tabernacle when it moved:
The sons of Kohath carried the tabernacle furniture after priests covered it
Gershon's sons took care of the coverings and curtains
Merari's sons carried and put up the frame of the tabernacle
The priests, not the Levites, carried the ark of the covenant. The ark was the special box containing God's law. Levites could only work between ages 25 and 50 (Numbers 8:24–26).
Though some Levite jobs were ordinary, they had an important religious meaning. God's law said all firstborn sons belonged to God, remembering when God saved Israel's firstborn in Egypt. God accepted the Levites to serve him instead of Israel's firstborn sons (Numbers 3:11–13). Their animals also replaced Israel's firstborn animals.
When Moses counted the people, there were more firstborn Israelites than Levites. Each extra person had to pay five shekels (a type of money) to the priests (Numbers 3:40–51). The Levites represented the people before God like the priests did.
The book of Deuteronomy lists other jobs that both priests and Levites might have done:
Being judges in court, especially for religious crimes (Deuteronomy 17:8–9)
Taking care of God's law book (Deuteronomy 17:18)
Checking people with skin diseases (Deuteronomy 24:8)
Helping with special ceremonies when people renewed their promise to follow God (Deuteronomy 27:9).
The History of the Priesthood
In theory, the covenant law of Moses determined the nature and course of the offices of priests and Levites for the future history of Israel. In practice, however, changing historical circumstances and changes in the shape of Israel’s religion and culture altered the shape of the priesthood and the role of the Levites from time to time. Even more significantly, the people who held the offices shaped them and their effectiveness through their faithfulness or unfaithfulness.
The Priesthood before the Monarchy
In Joshua's time, the priests continued their important work of carrying the special holy box known as the ark of the covenant. The members of the tribe of Levi helped divide the new land among the tribes of Israel. Joshua 21 gives a detailed list of which cities were given to the priests and Levites, following God's earlier instructions. After the Israelites settled in the land, some records show that the Levites began carrying the ark (1 Samuel 6:15; 2 Samuel 15:24).
The book of Judges tells two stories about specific Levites. The first story is about Micah (Judges 17–18). Micah set up a place of worship and made his son a priest, even though his son was not from the tribe of Levi or Aaron's family. Later, Micah hired a traveling Levite to be his priest at his shrine. This Levite later left to be a priest for the tribe of Dan.
This story does not fit well with the normal rules about priests and Levites, but it shows how confused religious practices were at the time. What is important to note is that this Levite-priest's main job was to ask God for guidance (Judges 18:5–6).
The second story in Judges is a disturbing account of a Levite and his concubine (Judges 19). A concubine is a woman a man lives with who is not his wife. The story shows how morally wrong things were in Israel. It shows no one was enforcing the laws. However, it does not tell us much about what the Levites did.
We know more about the priests during the 1100s BC, just before Israel had its first king. The tabernacle became more permanent. The ark of the covenant and the tabernacle were placed in Shiloh.
Eli was the priest in charge of the sanctuary in Shiloh. He probably came from the family of Aaron’s son Ithamar. Eli had two sons Hophni and Phinehas. They also served as priests. This shows that being a priest was still passed down in families. Eli was a good priest, but his sons misused their role as priests.
It is hard to know exactly what role Samuel had during this time. He was mainly a judge and a prophet. Judges were the leaders of Israel before the Israel had kings. Prophets spoke God's messages. We are not sure if he was also a priest. The history books of the Bible do not call him a priest. However, Psalm 99:6 might suggest he was one.
Several passages show Samuel doing things priests usually did. He offered sacrifices (1 Samuel 7:9–10). When he was young, he served at Shiloh and wore an ephod (1 Samuel 2). Ephods were special priestly clothing. Also, one of the family records in the Bible suggests he came from a priestly family (1 Chronicles 6:23–30).
However, people do not normally call Samuel a priest. His story begins by saying he was from the tribe of Ephraim, like his father (1 Samuel 1:1), not from the tribe of Levi. If a priest always worked in the sanctuary like Eli, then it is clear that Samuel was not a priest. However, Samuel's priestly role may be connected to how his mother gave him to God (1 Samuel 1:28) while he was young.
The Priesthood during the Time of David and Solomon
Many big changes happened when David and Solomon were kings. These changes came mainly because they built a permanent temple in Jerusalem and put the holy chest there called the ark of the covenant.
During the time when Saul was the first king of Israel, society was similar to the way it was during the time of the judges. King Saul was a military leader. His relationship to religion and the priesthood was not clearly determined.
David changed the situation in many important ways. After he captured the city of Jerusalem, he made it the government center and the religious center of his nation.
He made Jerusalem the religious center by moving the ark of the covenant and the tabernacle there. Jerusalem was now the permanent location of the ark. This made it the permanent home of the religion. At the same time, many local places of worship that had grown up before Israel had kings slowly disappeared.
These changes affected the priests and Levites in many ways. Abiathar and Zadok were the two main priests during David’s time as king. Abiathar was first a priest in a place called Nob. He joined David before he became king. Abiathar came from Eli's family. Eli came from Aaron's son Ithamar.
We know less about Zadok’s background. It seems he came from the family of Aaron’s other son, Eleazar. When the old writings talk about David's time as king, they always name these two priests together with Zadok first.
The old writings do not clearly call either one "high priest" or the top priest. There are signs that Abiathar worked as the high priest (1 Kings 2:35). Later, in New Testament times, (Mark 2:26) calls him high priest. It seems Zadok was responsible for taking care of the ark of the covenant during David’s time as king (2 Samuel 15:24–25).
These two priests had important positions in David’s royal government. They probably shared the job of leading all the priests, who now worked at the temple in Jerusalem.
David spent much time planning to build a permanent temple for God. As they prepared for and built the temple during King Solomon's time, the Levites got new jobs.
When they built the permanent temple, the Levites no longer needed to care for and carry the tabernacle. Many Levites worked as builders to construct the temple. Other Levites found new ways to serve God, first at the tabernacle during David's time, then at the temple when it was finished.
Three Levites were put in charge of music for worship. Their names were Heman, Asaph, and Ethan. These music leaders led both singing and a group of people who played many different kinds of instruments, like an orchestra. The Levites had many other jobs too.
They worked as guards at the holy place. They helped the priests prepare for sacrifices. They kept the holy place clean. They also worked as officials who helped run things and make decisions (1 Chronicles 23:1–32). Other Levites worked like bankers. They took care of the money stored in the temple (1 Chronicles 26:20–28).
After David died, people argued about who should be the next king. Solomon won and became king. During Solomon's time as king, they finished building the temple. The nation now worshiped regularly at the temple.
During the fight over who would be king, Abiathar had supported someone else, not Solomon. When Solomon became king, he took away Abiathar's important position in the royal court. During Solomon’s time as king, Zadok took control of all the priests.
The Priesthood during the Divided Monarchy
The great nation that David and Solomon built fell apart after Solomon died. Two smaller nations formed from what was left. The southern nation was called Judah. It kept Jerusalem as its capital and the temple as its worship center. The northern kingdom was called Israel. Its first capital was at Shechem. Later they moved it to Tirzah.
In the southern state of Judah, the priests and Levites continued their normal work at the Jerusalem temple. The position of high priest stayed in Zadok's family. Zadok was the high priest when Solomon was king.
This job continued to be passed down through Zadok's family until the time of the second temple about 171 BC. Even though worship continued in Jerusalem, there were problems with religion in Judah.
These problems started with their first king, Rehoboam. The problems continued with the kings after Rehoboam. During Rehoboam’s time as king, religion got worse. People brought in ways of worship from other countries (1 Kings 14:22–24).
Throughout Judah's history, religion would get worse and better through reforms. The reforms were changes made by prophets to make things right.
The priests rarely led people in spiritual matters as they should have. The prophets often criticized the priests for doing wrong things (Jeremiah 2:8, 26).
Israel's first king was Jeroboam I. He had to make some big changes in religion. Jeroboam could not recognize the temple of Jerusalem. First, the temple was outside of Israel in Judah. Second, it was associated with the family of King David of Judah.
Jeroboam made two principal places of worship in his kingdom. Both places were important during the life of the northern kingdom. It lasted about 200 years. The first place of worship was at Bethel. It was located in the southern part of Israel near the border of Judah. It was only about 19.3 kilometers (12 miles) north of Jerusalem. The second place of worship was at Dan. It was in the far northern part of his kingdom.
Both these places of worship had long histories and traditions. As early as the time of Abram (Genesis 12:8), Bethel is known. The worship place at Dan is known from the history of the judges (Judges 18). Priests and Levites may have still been living and working in both places.
Jeroboam created a priesthood that was not related to the family of Levi to work in these two places and other shrines. This separated the religion of Israel from the religion of Judah. The worship place for the king was at Bethel, near the Jerusalem temple. This location may have been used to compete with the temple in Judah.
The priesthood in Israel was often just as bad as the one in Judah. Many of God's messengers called prophets spoke strongly against Israel's places of worship and their priests. These prophets included Amos, Hosea, and Jeremiah.
Hosea spoke very strongly against them, saying: “Like raiders who lie in ambush, so does a band of priests; they murder on the way to Shechem; surely they have committed atrocities.” (Hosea 6:9).
The priests were supposed to take care of the spiritual lives of God's chosen people, but they rarely did their job well.
Priests and Levites during and after the Exile
The northern kingdom of Israel ended in 722 BC when the Assyrian army defeated them. The southern nation of Judah continued worshiping God for a while longer.
Finally, in 586 BC, the Babylonian army defeated Judah. They destroyed Jerusalem and its temple (Lamentations 2:20). The Babylonian commander took Seraiah (the high priest) and Zephaniah (his assistant) to Riblah. At Riblah, they killed Seraiah, Zephaniah, and the other leaders (2 Kings 25:18–21).
Then Babylonians made a plan. They forced the most important people of Judah to move to Babylon. The less important people stayed in Judah because these people probably would not cause trouble. Many of those forced to move to Babylon were priests (Jeremiah 29:1) because priests were powerful leaders.
However, it seems fewer Levites were forced to move to Babylon. This might show that Levites were less important in society than priests.
The time when people were forced to live in Babylon was called the exile. During the exile, there was little normal worship in Jerusalem. The altar had been destroyed and was not rebuilt until after the exile.
Some form of worship probably continued, but it was very limited. Most priests were in Babylon, but they could not do their work because there was no temple. Ezekiel said that God himself was the only “sanctuary” for the people in exile (Ezekiel 11:16). The priests and the Levites could not do their work until the people returned from exile and rebuilt Jerusalem and its temple.
When the Persian army defeated Babylon, they let the Hebrew people return home. Of those who returned, 4,289 were priests and their families, but only 341 were Levites (Ezra 2:36–42). These numbers were probably similar to how many were forced into exile at first.
They began rebuilding under the leadership of Joshua the priest (also called Jeshua) and Zerubbabel. The priests helped rebuild the altar in Jerusalem during the first year of the return. This let people start offering sacrifices and worshiping God again.
After they rebuilt the altar, they started rebuilding the temple in the second year. Both the priests and the Levites helped with this work. When they finished the temple's foundation, they had a special ceremony.
At the ceremony, the priests wore their special clothes, and the Levites sang and played music (Ezra 3:8–13). When the temple was finished, both priests and Levites joined in another special ceremony (Ezra 6:16–18).
The rebuilding was not just about buildings. It was also about fixing moral and religious problems. Priests and Levites helped with this, but they also had problems themselves. For example, many had married women from other nations (9:1), so they had to follow Ezra’s new rules.
After returning from exile, the priests and Levites started doing their normal duties in worship. The priests led worship at the temple.
The Levites helped as temple servants (Nehemiah 11:3). They managed valuable things and collected tithes (gifts for God) (10:37–39). They also taught people God's law (8:7–9).
But even after the exile, the priests still did wrong things. The prophet Malachi spoke strongly against how they misused their position (Malachi 1:6–2:9). The bad things the priests did were like what the evil priests had done when Israel had kings.
After the exile, Zadok's family continued to provide the high priests. The high priest was the top priest in charge. Joshua was the first high priest after they returned (Haggai 1:1).
But things were different politically now, and this changed what it meant to be high priest. Before the exile, the high priest had to obey the king. After the exile, there was no real king anymore.
Politically, the Jewish people were now part of a province or colony. In practice, they were a group of people connected by their shared religion.
The high priest no longer had to obey a Jewish king. He had a lot of religious power. In some ways, he did things like kings used to do before the exile.
The Priesthood in the Maccabean Period
From 200–100 BC, some changes took place in the priesthood. This was especially true of the office of high priest. These changes ended the Old Testament time and set up how things would be in New Testament times.
During this time, the Seleucid kings ruled Judea. The Seleucids received part of Alexander the Great's large Greek empire. Judea was controlled by the high priesthood. The high priest got his power from the Seleucid kings.
From 200 BC to 170 BC , the high priests still came from the family line of Zadok. The high priests were from the Oniad family which was part of the Zadokite family. Onias III was high priest from 198–174 BC. Onias's brother Jason was high priest from 174–171 BC. During Jason's time, things started happening that would end the tradition of high priests coming from Zadok's family.
Onias III had fought against Antiochus IV's plan to make Jewish people follow Greek ways. This threatened their faith. Antiochus replaced Onias with Jason, who basically bought the job of high priest from the Seleucid king. Even though Jason was a part of the Zadok family, buying the job of high priest showed that the family line was not the most important thing anymore.
Jason's enemies were called the Tobiads. They removed him and put one of their own priests Menelaus. He was not from Zadok's family. This act led to a war between Jason's supporters and Menalaus's supporters.
The war led to Antiochus IV doing terrible things. He killed many people in Jerusalem and made descreated the temple (made it unclean) in 167 BC. This led to the Maccabean revolt, which gave the Jews freedom for a short time.
Menelaus stayed high priest until 161 BC. Then Alcimus became the high priest from 161–159 BC. After that, there was no high priest for seven years.
The situation made it unlikely that Zadok's family would ever be high priests again. The Zadok family began ruling in the time of King Solomon. Jonathan, a Maccabean leader, took control of Jerusalem. In 152 BC, with the Seleucid king's approval, Jonathan was given the robes and job of the high priest.
Jonathan's brother Simon became the high priest and ruler in 143 BC, also with Seleucid approval (Demetrius II).
In the third year of his reign 140 BC, a big religious meeting approved Simon as high priest, and his family became "high priests forever" (1 Maccabees 14:41–47). This officially ended the tradition of the high priests coming from Zadok's family and started the Hasmonean family line of high priests.
Not everyone accepted changing the family line of the office of the high priest. A Jewish group called the Essenes probably started because they opposed Simon being high priest. The Essenes were known for writing and preserving the Dead Sea Scrolls. They were probably started by a priest from Zadok's family who said Simon was not a real high priest. So, in a small way, priests from Zadok's family continued to exist.
The Priesthood in New Testament Times
In early New Testament times, both priests and Levites kept working in the Jewish religion. Zechariah, John the Baptist's father, was a priest from the group of Abijah (Luke 1:5). His wife also came from a priestly family.
When an angel visited Zechariah, he was working as a priest in the Jerusalem temple. Different groups of priests took turns doing temple work and then went home (Luke 1:23).
The New Testament still shows the difference between priests and Levites (John 1:19). Jesus talks about both in his story about the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:31–32). Some of the first Christians were priests and Levites.
Barnabas was a Levite from Cyprus (Acts 4:36). Many priests became Christians (6:7).
The New Testament often mentions the high priest. Several high priests are named. There were many high priests because it had become a political job, not passed from father to son like before.
The two most important high priests in the New Testament lived during Jesus's life. Annas was high priest from around AD 6 to 15. Even after he stopped being high priest, he still had power through his son-in-law Caiaphas who was high priest from around AD 18–36.
Both Annas and Caiaphas were important in Jesus's trial. Later, Ananias was the high priest from around AD 47–58. He led the Sanhedrin (the Jewish council) during Paul's trial.
The priests had a lot of power in New Testament times. The Sanhedrin controlled most of the religious matters in Judea, though Rome limited some of their power. The Sanhedrin included current and former high priests and many members from many important priestly families who were members of a Jewish group called the Sadducees. This showed how important the temple was to Jewish life in the first century AD.
In AD 70, when the Romans destroyed the temple in Jerusalem, the priesthood changed completely. Without the temple, priests had no real purpose. Although priests continued until the Bar-Kochba rebellion in AD 135, their time was ending after AD 70.
Since the end of the first century AD, Judaism has developed without priests. Instead, Jewish teachers known as rabbis have led Judaism until today. The rabbis come from another Jewish group called the Pharisees.