Reference: Levites
American
All the descendants of Levi may be comprised under this name, Ex 6:16,25; Jos 3:3, (see LEVI;) but chiefly those who were employed in the lower services in the temple, by which they were distinguished from the priests, who were of the race of Levi by Aaron, and were employed in higher offices, Nu 3:6-10; 18:2-7. God chose the Levites for the service of his tabernacle and temple, instead of the firstborn of all Israel, to whom such duties naturally belonged, and who were already sacred to God in memory of the great deliverance in Egypt. Ex 13; Nu 3:12-13,39-51. In the wilderness, the Levites took charge of the tabernacle and its contents; and conveyed it from place to place, each of the three families having a separate portion, Nu 1:51; 4; 1Ch 15:2,27. After the building of the temple they took charge of the gates, of the sacred vessels, of the preparation of the showbread and other offerings, and of the singing and instrumental music, 1Ch 9; 23; 2Ch 29. They brought wood, water, etc., for the priests; aided them in preparing the sacrifices, and in collecting and disbursing the contributions of the people, 2Ch 30:16-17; 35:1. They were also the temple guards, Ne 13:13,22; and the salutation and response in Ps 134 are thought by Bishop Lowth to have been their song in the night. But besides their services in the temple, they performed a very important part in teaching the people, 2Ch 30:22; Ne 8:7, among whom they were scattered, binding the tribes together, and promoting virtue and piety. They studied the law, and were the ordinary judges of the country, but subordinate to the priests, 2Ch 17:9; 19:8-11. God provided for the subsistence of the Levites, by giving to them the tithe of corn, fruit, and cattle; but they paid to the priests the tenth of their tithes; and as the Levites possessed no estates in land, the tithes which the priests received from them were considered as the first fruits which they were to offer to the Lord, Nu 18:21-32. The payment of tithes to the Levites appears not to have been enforced, but depended on the goodwill of the people; hence the special charges laid on their brethren, not to forget them, De 2:12,18-19.
God assigned for the habitation of the Levites forty-eight cities, with fields, pastures, and gardens, Nu 35. Of these, thirteen were given to the priests, all in the tribes near Jerusalem. Six of the Levitical cities were appointed as cities of refuge, Jos 20-21. While the Levites were actually employed in the temple, they were supported out of the provisions kept in store there, and out of the daily offerings. The same privilege was granted to volunteers, drawn to Jerusalem by the fervor of their love to God's service, De 12:18-19; 18:6-8. The consecration of Levites was without much ceremony. See Nu 8:5-22; 2Ch 29:34.
The Levites wore no peculiar dress to distinguish them from other Israelites, till the time of Agrippa. His innovation in this matter is mentioned by Josephus, who remarked that the ancient customs of the country were never forsaken with impunity.
The Levites were divided into different classes: the Gershomites, Kohathites, and Merarites, Nu 3:17-20. They were still further divided into courses, like the priests, 1Ch 23-26. At first, they entered in full on their public duties at thirty years of age, Nu 4:3; 8:25; but David fixed the age for commencing at twenty years; and at fifty they were exempt, 1Ch 23:24-27. The different courses of porters, singers, guards, etc., were on duty in succession, one week at a time, 1Ch 23-26; 2Ch 23:4,8; 31:17; Ezr 3:8-12. After the revolt of the ten tribes, a large portion of the Levites abandoned their cities in Israel, and dwelt in Judah, 2Ch 11:12-14; 13:9-11. After the captivity, numbers of them returned from beyond the Euphrates to Judea, Ne 11:15-19; 12:24-31. In the New Testament they are not often mentioned, Lu 10:32; Joh 1:19; Ac 4:36. The "scribes" and "doctors," however, are supposed to have belonged chiefly to this class.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And these are the names of the sons of Levi in the order of their generations: Gershon and Kohath and Merari: and the years of Levi's life were a hundred and thirty-seven.
And Eleazar, Aaron's son, took as his wife one of the daughters of Putiel; and she gave birth to Phinehas. These are the heads of the families of the Levites, in the order of their families.
And when the Tent of meeting goes forward, the Levites are to take it down; and when it is to be put up, they are to do it: any strange person who comes near it is to be put to death.
Make the tribe of Levi come near, and put them before Aaron the priest, to be his helpers, In order that they may be responsible to him and to all Israel for the care of the Tent of meeting, and to do the work of the House; read more. And they will have the care of all the vessels of the Tent of meeting, and will do for the children of Israel all the necessary work of the House. Give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; so that they may be his without question from among the children of Israel. And give orders that Aaron and his sons are to keep their place as priests; any strange person who comes near is to be put to death.
See, I have taken the Levites out of the children of Israel to be mine in place of the first sons of the children of Israel; For all the first sons are mine; on the day when I put to death all the first sons in the land of Egypt, I took for myself every first male birth of man and beast. They are mine; I am the Lord.
These were the sons of Levi by name: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. And these are the names of the sons of Gershon, by their families: Libni and Shimei. read more. And the sons of Kohath, by their families: Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel. And the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites in the order of their fathers' houses.
All the Levites numbered by Moses and Aaron at the order of the Lord, all the males of one month old and over numbered in the order of their families, were twenty-two thousand. And the Lord said to Moses, Let all the first male children be numbered, and take the number of their names. read more. And give to me the Levites (I am the Lord) in place of the first sons of the children of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites in place of the first births among the cattle of the children of Israel. So Moses had all the first sons among the children of Israel numbered, as the Lord said to him. Every first son from a month old and over was numbered by name, and the number came to twenty-two thousand, two hundred and seventy-three. And the Lord said to Moses, Take the Levites in place of all the first sons of the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites in place of their cattle; the Levites are to be mine; I am the Lord. And the price you have to give for the two hundred and seventy-three first sons of the children of Israel which are in addition to the number of the Levites, Will be five shekels for every one, by the scale of the holy place (the shekel is twenty gerahs); And this money, the price of those over the number of the Levites, is to be given to Aaron and his sons. So Moses took the money, the price of those whose place had not been taken by the Levites; From the first sons of Israel he took it, a thousand, three hundred and sixty-five shekels, by the scale of the holy place; And he gave the money to Aaron and his sons, as the Lord had said.
All those from thirty to fifty years old who are able to do the work of the Tent of meeting.
And the Lord said to Moses, Take the Levites out from among the children of Israel and make them clean. read more. And this is how you are to make them clean: let the holy water which takes away sin be put on them, and let the hair all over their bodies be cut off with a sharp blade, and let their clothing be washed and their bodies made clean. Then let them take a young ox and its meal offering, crushed grain mixed with oil, and take another ox for a sin-offering. And make the Levites come forward in front of the Tent of meeting, and let all the children of Israel come together: And you are to take the Levites before the Lord: and the children of Israel are to put their hands on them: And Aaron is to give the Levites to the Lord as a wave offering from the children of Israel, so that they may do the Lord's work. And the Levites are to put their hands on the heads of the oxen, and one of the oxen is to be offered for a sin-offering and the other for a burned offering to the Lord to take away the sin of the Levites. Then the Levites are to be put before Aaron and his sons, to be offered as a wave offering to the Lord. So you are to make the Levites separate from the children of Israel, and the Levites will be mine. After that, the Levites will go in to do whatever has to be done in the Tent of meeting; you are to make them clean and give them as a wave offering. For they have been given to me from among the children of Israel; in place of every mother's first son, the first to come to birth in Israel, I have taken them for myself. For every mother's first son among the children of Israel is mine, the first male birth of man or beast: on the day when I sent death on all the first sons in the land of Egypt, I made them mine. And in place of the first sons among the children of Israel, I have taken the Levites. And I have given them to Aaron and to his sons, from among the children of Israel, to undertake for them all the work of the Tent of meeting, and to take away sin from the children of Israel so that no evil may come on them when they come near the holy place. All these things Moses and Aaron and the children of Israel did to the Levites; as the Lord gave orders to Moses about the Levites, so the children of Israel did. And the Levites were made clean from sin, and their clothing was washed, and Aaron gave them for a wave offering before the Lord; and Aaron took away their sin and made them clean. And then the Levites went in to do their work in the Tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons: all the orders which the Lord had given Moses about the Levites were put into effect.
But after they are fifty years old, they are to give up their work and do no more;
Let your brothers, the family of Levi, come near with you, so that they may be joined with you and be your servants: but you and your sons with you are to go in before the ark of witness. They are to do your orders and be responsible for the work of the Tent; but they may not come near the vessels of the holy place or the altar, so that death may not overtake them or you. read more. They are to be joined with you in the care of the Tent of meeting, doing whatever is needed for the Tent: and no one of any other family may come near you. You are to be responsible for the holy place and the altar, so that wrath may never again come on the children of Israel. Now, see, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel: they are given to you and to the Lord, to do the work of the Tent of meeting. And you and your sons with you are to be responsible as priests for the altar and everything on it, and everything inside the veil; you are to do the work of priests; I have given you your position as priests; and any other man who comes near will be put to death.
And to the children of Levi I have given as their heritage all the tenths offered in Israel, as payment for the work they do, the work of the Tent of meeting. In future the children of Israel are not to come near the Tent of meeting, so that death may not come to them because of sin. read more. But the Levites are to do the work of the Tent of meeting, and be responsible for errors in connection with it: this is a law for ever through all your generations; and among the children of Israel they will have no heritage. For the tenths which the children of Israel give as a lifted offering to the Lord I have given to the Levites as their heritage. and so I have said to them, Among the children of Israel they will have no heritage. And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the Levites, When you take from the children of Israel the tenth which I have given to you from them as your heritage, a tenth part of that tenth is to be offered as an offering lifted up before the Lord. And this lifted offering is to be put to your credit as if it was grain from the grain-floor and wine from the vines. So you are to make an offering lifted up to the Lord from all the tenths which you get from the children of Israel, giving out of it the Lord's lifted offering to Aaron the priest. From everything given to you, let the best of it, the holy part of it, be offered as a lifted offering to the Lord. Say to them, then, When the best of it is lifted up on high, it is to be put to the account of the Levites as the increase of the grain-floor and of the place where the grapes are crushed. It is to be your food, for you and your families in every place: it is your reward for your work in the Tent of meeting. And no sin will be yours on account of it, when the best of it has been lifted up on high; you are not to make a wrong use of the holy things of the children of Israel, so that death may not overtake you.
And the Horites in earlier times were living in Seir, but the children of Esau took their place; they sent destruction on them and took their land for themselves, as Israel did to the land of his heritage which the Lord gave them.)
You are about to go by Ar, the limit of the country of Moab; And when you come near the land of the children of Ammon, give them no cause of trouble and do not make war on them, for I will not give you any of the land of the children of Ammon for your heritage: because I have given it to the children of Lot.
But they will be your food before the Lord your God in the place of his selection, where you may make a feast of them, with your son and your daughter, and your man-servant and your woman-servant, and the Levite who is living with you: and you will have joy before the Lord your God in everything to which you put your hand. See that you do not give up caring for the Levite as long as you are living in your land.
And if a Levite, moved by a strong desire, comes from any town in all Israel where he is living to the place marked out by the Lord; Then he will do the work of a priest in the name of the Lord his God, with all his brothers the Levites who are there before the Lord. read more. His food will be the same as theirs, in addition to what has come to him as the price of his property.
Giving the people their orders, and saying, When you see the ark of the agreement of the Lord your God lifted up by the priests, the Levites, then get up from your places and go after it;
These were the sons of Levi, grouped by families, the heads of the families of those who were numbered by name, by heads, all those of twenty years old and over who did the work of the house of the Lord. For David said, The Lord, the God of Israel, has given his people rest, and he has made his resting-place in Jerusalem for ever; read more. And from now, there will be no need for the House of the Lord, and the vessels used in it, to be moved about by the Levites. So among the last acts of David was the numbering of the sons of Levi, from twenty years old and over.
And in every town he put stores of body-covers and spears, and made them very strong. And Judah and Benjamin were his. And the priests and Levites who were in all Israel came together to him from every part of their country. read more. For the Levites gave up their living-places and their property, and came to Judah and Jerusalem; for Jeroboam and his sons had sent them away, not letting them be priests to the Lord;
And after driving out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, have you not made priests for yourselves as the people of other lands do? so that anyone who comes to make himself priest by offering an ox or seven sheep, may be a priest of those who are no gods. But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not been turned away from him; we have priests who do the work of the Lord, even the sons of Aaron and the Levites in their places; read more. By whom burned offerings and perfumes are sent up in smoke before the Lord every morning and every evening; and they put out the holy bread on its table and the gold support for the lights with its lights burning every evening; for we keep the orders given to us by the Lord our God, but you have gone away from him.
And they gave teaching in Judah and had the book of the law of the Lord with them; they went through all the towns of Judah teaching the people.
Then in Jerusalem he gave authority to certain of the Levites and the priests and the heads of families of Israel to give decisions for the Lord, and in the causes of those living in Jerusalem. And he gave them their orders, saying, You are to do your work in the fear of the Lord, in good faith and with a true heart. read more. And if any cause comes before you from your brothers living in their towns, where the death punishment is in question, or where there are questions of law or order, or rules or decisions, make them take care that they are not in the wrong before the Lord, so that wrath may not come on you and on your brothers; do this and you yourselves will not be in the wrong. And now, Amariah, the chief priest, is over you in all questions to do with the Lord; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the head of the family of Judah, in everything to do with the king's business; and the Levites will be overseers for you. Be strong to do the work; and may the Lord be with the upright.
This is what you are to do: let a third of you, of the priests and Levites, who come in on the Sabbath, keep the doors
So the Levites and all Judah did as Jehoiada the priest had given them orders: every one took with him his men, those who were to come in and those who were to go out on the Sabbath; for Jehoiada had not sent away the divisions.
And they took their places in their right order, as it was ordered in the law of Moses, the man of God: the priests draining out on the altar the blood given them by the Levites. For there were still a number of the people there who had not made themselves holy: so the Levites had to put Passover lambs to death for those who were not clean, to make them holy to the Lord.
And Hezekiah said kind words to the Levites who were expert in the ordering of the worship of the Lord: so they kept the feast for seven days, offering peace-offerings and praising the Lord, the God of their fathers.
And the families of the priests were listed by their fathers' names, but the Levites, of twenty years old and over, were listed in relation to their work in their divisions;
And Josiah kept a Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem; on the fourteenth day of the first month they put the Passover lamb to death.
Now in the second year of their coming into the house of God in Jerusalem, in the second month, the work was taken in hand by Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come from the land where they were prisoners to Jerusalem: and they made the Levites, of twenty years old and over, responsible for overseeing the work of the house of the Lord. Then Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, Kadmiel with his sons, the sons of Hodaviah, together took up the work of overseeing the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad with their sons and their brothers, the Levites. read more. And when the builders put in position the base of the Temple of the Lord, the priests, dressed in their robes, took their places with horns, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with brass instruments, to give praise to the Lord in the way ordered by David, king of Israel. And they gave praise to the Lord, answering one another in their songs and saying, For he is good, for his mercy to Israel is eternal. And all the people gave a great cry of joy, when they gave praise to the Lord, because the base of the Lord's house was put in place. But a number of the priests and Levites and the heads of families, old men who had seen the first house, when the base of this house was put down before their eyes, were overcome with weeping; and a number were crying out with joy:
And Jeshua and Bani and Sherebiah and Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites made the law clear to the people: and the people kept in their places.
And of the Levites: Shemaiah, the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni, And Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the chiefs of the Levites, who were responsible for the outside business of the house of God; read more. And Mattaniah, the son of Mica, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, who had to give the first note of the song of praise in prayer, and Bakbukiah, the second among his brothers, and Abda, the son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun. All the Levites in the holy town were two hundred and eighty-four. In addition the door-keepers, Akkub, Talmon, and their brothers who kept watch at the doors, were a hundred and seventy-two.
And the chiefs of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua, the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers opposite them, to give blessing and praise as ordered by David, the man of God, watch against watch. Mattaniah, and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub, were door-keepers keeping the watch at the store-houses of the doors. read more. These were in the days of Joiakim, the son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the ruler and of Ezra the priest, the scribe. And when the time came for the wall of Jerusalem to be made holy, they sent for the Levites out of all their places to come to Jerusalem, to keep the feast with joy, and with praise and melody, with brass and corded instruments of music. And the sons of the music-makers came together from the lowland round about Jerusalem and from the daughter-towns of the Netophathites, And from Beth-gilgal and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth: for the music-makers had made daughter-towns for themselves round about Jerusalem. And the priests and the Levites made themselves clean; and they made the people clean, and the doorways and the wall. Then I made the rulers of Judah come up on the wall, and I put in position two great bands of them who gave praise, walking in ordered lines; one went to the right on the wall, in the direction of the doorway where the waste was put;
And I made controllers over the store-houses, Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah: and with them was Hanan, the son of Zaccur the son of Mattaniah: they were taken to be true men and their business was the distribution of these things to their brothers.
And I gave the Levites orders to make themselves clean and come and keep the doors and make the Sabbath holy. Keep this in mind to my credit, O my God, and have mercy on me, for great is your mercy.
And in the same way, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, went by on the other side.
And this is the witness of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to him with the question, Who are you?
And Joseph, who was given by the Apostles the name of Barnabas (the sense of which is, Son of comfort), a Levite and a man of Cyprus by birth,
Fausets
The men of Levi, the sacerdotal tribe, all ministers, out of whom the priests were taken, namely, Aaron's family. Levi's wild zeal against the defiler of Dinah was the forerunner of the Levites' zeal against impure idolaters. The antiquity and genuineness of Genesis are marked by the absence of all notice of Levi's subsequent greatness as the priest tribe. The genealogy (Ge 46:11) goes no further down than Levi's three sons; these too are named in their order of birth, not giving Kohath the prominence which his family had subsequently, He has four clans in Ex 6:16-25, Gershon and Merari but two each. Amram, Aaron, and Moses belonged to his stock (Ex 4:14). The firstborn "young men" of Israel were the priests to offer sacrifices (Ex 24:5) before the law, representing the priestly nation (Ex 19:6,22,24). (See LEVI on the Levites' promotion to be the priestly tribe for their zeal in the Lord's cause.)
Levi became "an Israel within an Israel," the witness and guard of the truth. Substituted for the firstborn males of all Israel whom Jehovah claimed as His when He saved Israel from the stroke on Egypt's firstborn; the Levites, 22,000; the firstborn males, 22,273; the odd 273 above were to be redeemed at five shekels each (Nu 3:45-51), the fixed price for redeeming a victim vowed in sacrifice (Nu 18:16; Le 27:6). The Levites' cattle were taken for the firstlings of Israel's cattle (compare Ex 13:12-13). The Levites marching from Sinai round the tabernacle were the heavenly King's royal guard; none else was to approach it on pain of death (Nu 1:51; 18:22; 4:3-30).
The priests occupied the eastern side of the tabernacle, inside Judah the leading camp; the Kohathites the southern side, inside Reuben; the Gershonites the western side, inside Ephraim; the Merarites the northern, inside Daniel The aggregate of Gershonites (Nu 3:22), Kohathites (Nu 3:28), and Merarites (Nu 3:34), is 22,300; but in the redemption 300 are deducted (probably the firstborn in Levi within the year that had elapsed since the command was issued, Nu 3:40-43), and 22,000 taken as substituted for Israel's male firstborn. Levi in this census was the fewest tribe in numbers, but in the other tribes servants not pure Israelites were enumerated, whereas in Levi only pure Israelites. The number of Israel's firstborn males (22,273) compared with the male adults (603,550) is disproportionately small, the proportion being usually one in four.
But the law of Ex 13:1-2, dedicated those alone who should be firstborn thenceforward (compare Exodus 2; Exodus 11-12; Nu 3:13; 8:17), for the duties of the firstborn referred to a ritual yet to be revealed, and the firstborn of cattle must mean those thereafter firstborn. Thus the proportion of firstborn sons in one year born of 2,000,000 of men is so large as can be explained only by the divine blessing, and the sudden development which the Exodus gave to the nation. The Levites stood midway between the people and the priesthood, which culminated in the high priest. They could not sacrifice, burn incense, or see the "holy things" until covered (Nu 4:15). Yet they came nearer than the people, and they alone struck the tent in marching, carried its parts, and pitched it again. Their work needed matured strength; so their service began not until 30 years old (with a previous probationary period of five years: Nu 8:24), whereas military service began at 20. At 50 their service ceased (Nu 8:25-26).
So, of 8,600 Kohathites, 2,750 were on duty, of 7,500 Gershonites 2,630, of 6,200 Merarites 3,200 (Numbers 4). The Kohathites held the highest office and bore the ark (except on solemn occasions when the priests bore it: Jos 3:3,15) and vessels, after the priest had covered them (Nu 4:15). The Gershonites bore the tent hangings and curtains; the Merarites the tabernacle boards, bars, and pillars; the Kohathites under Eleazar bore the vessels on their shoulders (Nu 7:9); the Gershonites and Merarites under Ithamar (Nu 4:28,33), because of their weighty charge, were allowed oxen and wagons. The Levites were Jehovah's and Israel's 1Ch 9:2; the Levites' subordinates) and "joined" (as Levi means) to the priests (Nu 3:9; 8:19; 18:2,4,6).
The Levites were purified for service with bathing, shaving, washing clothes, imposition of Israel' s hands, waving them as a wave offering to Jehovah (compare our gospel "living sacrifice," Ro 12:1) toward the four points of the compass, in token of entire consecration of all their powers; the Levite then laid hands on one bullock offered for a sin offering and another for a burnt offering. Korah's rebellion through seeking the priesthood was followed by a fresh defining of the Levites' office (Numbers 16; Nu 18:1-7). The Levites received a tithe or tenth of all produce, animal and vegetable, of which they had to pay the priests a tithe (Nu 18:20-32). A second tithe the Israelites used for the tabernacle feasts and free will offerings, and of this second tithe the Levites should receive a share (De 14:23,27), especially when ministering (De 18:7-8).
Forty-eight cities were appointed them (four on the average from each tribe), including the six cities of refuge and (of suburbs, meadow for their cattle) 1,000 cubits out from the city walls, each of the four sides being 2,000 cubits long. (See GEZER.) The phrase "the Levite that is within thy gates" is appropriate (De 14:27), for the Levites' cities did not cease to belong to the tribes within which they lay. Thus Levites are occasionally spoken of as belonging to other tribes, namely, those within whose territory they resided (1 De 8:6; Jg 17:7; 1Sa 1:1). Elkanah a Levite is called an "Ephrathite," "Heman the Ezrahite," i.e. from Zerah of Judah (title Psalm 88; Psalm 89). "The priests the Levites" on the peculiar use of Levites without distinction from the priests) were to determine controversies and to preserve the law in the side of the ark, and in the seventh year at the feast of tabernacles read it before Israel, and pronounce the curses from Ebal (De 17:9-12; 31:9-13,26; 27:14). (See DEUTERONOMY.)
The Hivite Gibeonites (Jos 9:27) and the Nethinim relieved the Levites of their more burdensome duties subsequently. (See NETHINIM.) Micah's consecration of the homeless Levite as his household priest implies a relapse in dark times to the original household priesthood. It was a Korahlike usurpation on the part of the Levite (Judges 17). Samuel the Levite, adopted into the priesthood, revived the divine order. The Levites were among his schools of the prophets, whose training consisted in praise, prayer, and study of the law. Hence enlarged views of acceptable worship appear in the Levite Asaph's Psalm 50. The ark after its restoration from the Philistines was in charge of Abinadab in the hill, or Gibeah, or Kirjath Jearim (1Sa 7:1; 2Sa 6:3), probably an old Canaanite highplace sanctuary. David's words (1Ch 15:2) imply that heretofore Levites had not been in charge of the ark, therefore that Abinadab was not a Levite possibly (?). "None ought. to carry the ark of God but the Levites, for them hath Jehovah chosen."
Saul's assumption of sacrificing, his slaughter of the priests at Nob and of the serving Gibeonites, imply his self-willed impatience of the prominence of the priest tribe. Accordingly, at Hebron, 4,600 Levites joined David, besides 3,700 priests (1Ch 12:26-27). He honoured them at his succession, and once even wore their robe (2Sa 6:14). The duties of the Levites are defined by him (1Ch 23:24-32), "to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of Jehovah," etc., "and to stand every morning to thank and praise Jehovah, and likewise at even, and to offer (i.e. assist the priests in offering) all burnt sacrifices," etc.
The Levites supplied "officers and judges" (1Ch 26:30), "in all the business of the Lord and the service of the king." Korah's sons of the Levites, headed by Heman, played upon psalteries and harps (1Ch 9:19,32); the Kohathites prepared the shewbread every sabbath; the Gershonites were headed by Asaph's son in the temple choir (1Ch 6:39,44; 15:17), the Merarites by Ethan or Jeduthun. The heavier work being no longer needed of transporting the tabernacle, and psa
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And the Lord was angry with Moses, and said, Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? To my knowledge he is good at talking. And now he is coming out to you: and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart.
And these are the names of the sons of Levi in the order of their generations: Gershon and Kohath and Merari: and the years of Levi's life were a hundred and thirty-seven. The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, in the order of their families. read more. And the sons of Kohath: Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel: and the years of Kohath's life were a hundred and thirty-three. And the sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi: these are the families of the Levites, in the order of their generations. And Amram took Jochebed, his father's sister, as wife; and she gave birth to Aaron and Moses: and the years of Amram's life were a hundred and thirty-seven. And the sons of Izhar: Korah and Nepheg and Zichri. And the sons of Uzziel: Mishael and Elzaphan and Sithri. And Aaron took as his wife Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon; and she gave birth to Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. And the sons of Korah: Assir and Elkanah and Abiasaph: these are the families of the Korahites. And Eleazar, Aaron's son, took as his wife one of the daughters of Putiel; and she gave birth to Phinehas. These are the heads of the families of the Levites, in the order of their families.
And the Lord said to Moses, Let the first male child of every mother among the children of Israel be kept holy for me, even the first male birth among man or beast; for it is mine.
You are to put on one side for the Lord every mother's first male child, the first-fruit of her body, and the first young one of every beast; every male is holy to the Lord. And for the young of an ass you may give a lamb in payment, or if you will not make payment for it, its neck is to be broken; but for all the first sons among your children, let payment be made.
And you will be a kingdom of priests to me, and a holy nation. These are the words which you are to say to the children of Israel.
And let the priests who come near to the Lord make themselves holy, for fear that the Lord may come on them suddenly.
And the Lord said to him, Go down, and you and Aaron may come up; but let not the priests and the people make their way through to the Lord, or he will come on them suddenly.
And he sent some of the young men of the children of Israel to make burned offerings and peace-offerings of oxen to the Lord.
And if the person is from one month to five years old, then the value for a male will be five shekels of silver, and for a female three shekels.
And when the Tent of meeting goes forward, the Levites are to take it down; and when it is to be put up, they are to do it: any strange person who comes near it is to be put to death.
Give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; so that they may be his without question from among the children of Israel.
For all the first sons are mine; on the day when I put to death all the first sons in the land of Egypt, I took for myself every first male birth of man and beast. They are mine; I am the Lord.
Those who were numbered of them, the males from one month old and over, were seven thousand, five hundred.
Those who were numbered of them, the males from one month old and over, were eight thousand, six hundred, who were responsible for the care of the holy place.
Those who were numbered of them, the males of a month old and over, were six thousand, two hundred.
And the Lord said to Moses, Let all the first male children be numbered, and take the number of their names. And give to me the Levites (I am the Lord) in place of the first sons of the children of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites in place of the first births among the cattle of the children of Israel. read more. So Moses had all the first sons among the children of Israel numbered, as the Lord said to him. Every first son from a month old and over was numbered by name, and the number came to twenty-two thousand, two hundred and seventy-three.
Take the Levites in place of all the first sons of the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites in place of their cattle; the Levites are to be mine; I am the Lord. And the price you have to give for the two hundred and seventy-three first sons of the children of Israel which are in addition to the number of the Levites, read more. Will be five shekels for every one, by the scale of the holy place (the shekel is twenty gerahs); And this money, the price of those over the number of the Levites, is to be given to Aaron and his sons. So Moses took the money, the price of those whose place had not been taken by the Levites; From the first sons of Israel he took it, a thousand, three hundred and sixty-five shekels, by the scale of the holy place; And he gave the money to Aaron and his sons, as the Lord had said.
All those from thirty to fifty years old who are able to do the work of the Tent of meeting. And this is to be the work of the sons of Kohath in connection with the most holy things. read more. When all the people go forward, Aaron is to go in with his sons, and take down the veil of the curtain, covering the ark of witness with it; And putting over it the leather cover and over that a blue cloth; and putting its rods in place. And on the table of the holy bread they are to put a blue cloth, and on it all the vessels, the spoons and the basins and the cups; and the holy bread with them; And over them they are to put a red cloth, covering it with a leather cover, and putting its rods in their places. And they are to take a blue cloth, covering with it the light-support with its lights and its instruments and its trays and all the oil vessels which are used for it: All these they are to put in a leather cover, and put it on the frame. On the gold altar they are to put a blue cloth, covering it with a leather cover; and they are to put its rods in their places. All the vessels which are used in the holy place they are to put in a blue cloth, covering them with a leather cover, and put them on the frame. And they are to take away the burned waste from the altar, and put a purple cloth on it; Placing on the cloth all its vessels, the fire-baskets, the meat-hooks, the spades, and the basins; all the vessels of the altar; they are to put a leather cover over all these, and put its rods in their places. And after the holy place and all its vessels have been covered up by Aaron and his sons, when the tents of the people go forward, the sons of Kohath are to come and take it up; but the holy things may not be touched by them for fear of death.
And after the holy place and all its vessels have been covered up by Aaron and his sons, when the tents of the people go forward, the sons of Kohath are to come and take it up; but the holy things may not be touched by them for fear of death.
And after the holy place and all its vessels have been covered up by Aaron and his sons, when the tents of the people go forward, the sons of Kohath are to come and take it up; but the holy things may not be touched by them for fear of death. And Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, is to be responsible for the oil for the light, and the sweet perfumes for burning, and the regular meal offering, and the holy oil; the House and the holy place and everything in it will be in his care. read more. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Do not let the family of the Kohathites be cut off from among the Levites; But do this to them, so that life and not death may be theirs when they come near the most holy things; let Aaron and his sons go in and give to every one his work and that which he is to take up; But they themselves are not to go in to see the holy place, even for a minute, for fear of death. And the Lord said to Moses, Let the sons of Gershon be numbered by families, in the order of their fathers' houses; All those from thirty to fifty years old who are able to do the work of the Tent of meeting. This is to be the work of the Gershonites, the things they are to do and take up. They are to take up the curtains of the House, and the Tent of meeting with its cover and the leather cover over it, and the hangings for the door of the Tent of meeting; And the hangings for the open space round the House and the altar, and the curtain for its doorway, with the cords and all the things used for them; whatever is necessary for these, they are to do. From the mouth of Aaron and his sons the Gershonites will have word about all the things they are to do and take up; you are to give them their orders. This is the work of the family of the Gershonites in the Tent of meeting, and they will be under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.
This is the work of the family of the Gershonites in the Tent of meeting, and they will be under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest. The sons of Merari are to be numbered by families, in the order of their fathers' houses; read more. Every one from thirty to fifty years old who is able to do the work of the Tent of meeting.
This is the work which the sons of Merari are to do in connection with the Tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.
But to the sons of Kohath he gave nothing; because they had the care of the holy place, taking it about on their backs.
For every mother's first son among the children of Israel is mine, the first male birth of man or beast: on the day when I sent death on all the first sons in the land of Egypt, I made them mine.
And I have given them to Aaron and to his sons, from among the children of Israel, to undertake for them all the work of the Tent of meeting, and to take away sin from the children of Israel so that no evil may come on them when they come near the holy place.
This is the rule for the Levites: those of twenty-five years old and over are to go in and do the work of the Tent of meeting; But after they are fifty years old, they are to give up their work and do no more; read more. But be with their brothers in the Tent of meeting, taking care of it but doing no work. This is what you are to do in connection with the Levites and their work.
And the Lord said to Aaron, You and your sons and your father's family are to be responsible for all wrongdoing in relation to the holy place: and you and your sons are to be responsible for the errors which come about in your work as priests. Let your brothers, the family of Levi, come near with you, so that they may be joined with you and be your servants: but you and your sons with you are to go in before the ark of witness.
Let your brothers, the family of Levi, come near with you, so that they may be joined with you and be your servants: but you and your sons with you are to go in before the ark of witness. They are to do your orders and be responsible for the work of the Tent; but they may not come near the vessels of the holy place or the altar, so that death may not overtake them or you. read more. They are to be joined with you in the care of the Tent of meeting, doing whatever is needed for the Tent: and no one of any other family may come near you.
They are to be joined with you in the care of the Tent of meeting, doing whatever is needed for the Tent: and no one of any other family may come near you. You are to be responsible for the holy place and the altar, so that wrath may never again come on the children of Israel. read more. Now, see, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel: they are given to you and to the Lord, to do the work of the Tent of meeting.
Now, see, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel: they are given to you and to the Lord, to do the work of the Tent of meeting. And you and your sons with you are to be responsible as priests for the altar and everything on it, and everything inside the veil; you are to do the work of priests; I have given you your position as priests; and any other man who comes near will be put to death.
Payment is to be made for these when they are a month old, at the value fixed by you, a price of five shekels by the scale of the holy place, that is, twenty gerahs to the shekel.
And the Lord said to Aaron, You will have no heritage in their land, or any part among them; I am your part and your heritage among the children of Israel. And to the children of Levi I have given as their heritage all the tenths offered in Israel, as payment for the work they do, the work of the Tent of meeting. read more. In future the children of Israel are not to come near the Tent of meeting, so that death may not come to them because of sin.
In future the children of Israel are not to come near the Tent of meeting, so that death may not come to them because of sin. But the Levites are to do the work of the Tent of meeting, and be responsible for errors in connection with it: this is a law for ever through all your generations; and among the children of Israel they will have no heritage. read more. For the tenths which the children of Israel give as a lifted offering to the Lord I have given to the Levites as their heritage. and so I have said to them, Among the children of Israel they will have no heritage. And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the Levites, When you take from the children of Israel the tenth which I have given to you from them as your heritage, a tenth part of that tenth is to be offered as an offering lifted up before the Lord. And this lifted offering is to be put to your credit as if it was grain from the grain-floor and wine from the vines. So you are to make an offering lifted up to the Lord from all the tenths which you get from the children of Israel, giving out of it the Lord's lifted offering to Aaron the priest. From everything given to you, let the best of it, the holy part of it, be offered as a lifted offering to the Lord. Say to them, then, When the best of it is lifted up on high, it is to be put to the account of the Levites as the increase of the grain-floor and of the place where the grapes are crushed. It is to be your food, for you and your families in every place: it is your reward for your work in the Tent of meeting. And no sin will be yours on account of it, when the best of it has been lifted up on high; you are not to make a wrong use of the holy things of the children of Israel, so that death may not overtake you.
Then keep the orders of the Lord your God, fearing him and walking in his ways.
And make a feast before the Lord your God, in the place which is to be marked out, where his name will be for ever, of the tenth part of your grain and your wine and your oil, and the first births of your herds and your flocks; so that you may have the fear of the Lord your God in your hearts at all times.
And give a thought to the Levite who is living among you, for he has no part or heritage in the land.
And give a thought to the Levite who is living among you, for he has no part or heritage in the land.
And come before the priests, the Levites, or before him who is judge at the time: and they will go into the question and give you a decision: And you are to be guided by the decision they give in the place named by the Lord, and do whatever they say: read more. Acting in agreement with their teaching and the decision they give: not turning to one side or the other from the word they have given you. And any man who, in his pride, will not give ear to the priest whose place is there before the Lord your God, or to the judge, is to be put to death: you are to put away the evil from Israel.
Then he will do the work of a priest in the name of the Lord his God, with all his brothers the Levites who are there before the Lord. His food will be the same as theirs, in addition to what has come to him as the price of his property.
Then Moses put all this law in writing, and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who take up the ark of the Lord's agreement, and to all the responsible men of Israel.
Then Moses put all this law in writing, and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who take up the ark of the Lord's agreement, and to all the responsible men of Israel. And Moses said to them, At the end of every seven years, at the time fixed for the ending of debts, at the feast of tents,
And Moses said to them, At the end of every seven years, at the time fixed for the ending of debts, at the feast of tents, When all Israel has come before the Lord your God in the place named by him, let a reading be given of this law in the hearing of all Israel.
When all Israel has come before the Lord your God in the place named by him, let a reading be given of this law in the hearing of all Israel. Make all the people come together, men and women and children, and anyone from another country who is with you, so that hearing they may become wise in the fear of the Lord your God, and take care to do all the words of this law;
Make all the people come together, men and women and children, and anyone from another country who is with you, so that hearing they may become wise in the fear of the Lord your God, and take care to do all the words of this law; And so that your children, to whom it is new, may give ear and be trained in the fear of the Lord your God, while you are living in the land which you are going over Jordan to take for your heritage.
And so that your children, to whom it is new, may give ear and be trained in the fear of the Lord your God, while you are living in the land which you are going over Jordan to take for your heritage.
Take this book of the law and put it by the ark of the Lord's agreement, so that it may be a witness against you.
Giving the people their orders, and saying, When you see the ark of the agreement of the Lord your God lifted up by the priests, the Levites, then get up from your places and go after it;
And when those who took up the ark came to Jordan, and the feet of the priests who took up the ark were touching the edge of the water (for the waters of Jordan are overflowing all through the time of the grain-cutting),
And that day Joshua made them servants, cutting wood and getting water for the people and for the altar of the Lord, in the place marked out by him, to this day.
Now there was a young man living in Beth-lehem-judah, of the family of Judah and a Levite, who was not a townsman of the place.
So the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the ark of the Lord to the house of Abinadab in Gibeah, and they made his son Eleazar holy and put the ark in his care.
And David, clothed in a linen ephod, was dancing before the Lord with all his strength.
And his brother Asaph, whose place was at his right hand, Asaph, the son of Berechiah, the son of Shimea,
And on the left their brothers, the sons of Merari: Ethan, the son of Kishi, the son of Abdi, the son of Malluch,
Now the first to take up their heritage in their towns were: Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the Nethinim.
And Shallum, the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his brothers, of his family, the Korahites, were responsible for everything which had to be done in connection with the order of worship, keepers of the doors of the Tent; their fathers had had the care of the tents of the Lord, being keepers of the doorway.
And some of their brothers, sons of the Kohathites, were responsible for the holy bread which was put in order before the Lord, to get it ready every Sabbath.
Of the children of Levi, four thousand, six hundred. And Jehoiada, chief of the family of Aaron, and with him three thousand, seven hundred men;
Then David said, The ark of God may not be moved by any but the Levites, for they have been marked out by God to take the ark of God, and to do his work for ever.
So Heman, the son of Joel, and, of his brothers, Asaph, the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brothers, Ethan, the son of Kushaiah, were put in position by the Levites;
And the Levites, all those of thirty years old and over, were numbered; and the number of them, by heads, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand.
These were the sons of Levi, grouped by families, the heads of the families of those who were numbered by name, by heads, all those of twenty years old and over who did the work of the house of the Lord.
These were the sons of Levi, grouped by families, the heads of the families of those who were numbered by name, by heads, all those of twenty years old and over who did the work of the house of the Lord. For David said, The Lord, the God of Israel, has given his people rest, and he has made his resting-place in Jerusalem for ever;
For David said, The Lord, the God of Israel, has given his people rest, and he has made his resting-place in Jerusalem for ever; And from now, there will be no need for the House of the Lord, and the vessels used in it, to be moved about by the Levites.
And from now, there will be no need for the House of the Lord, and the vessels used in it, to be moved about by the Levites. So among the last acts of David was the numbering of the sons of Levi, from twenty years old and over.
So among the last acts of David was the numbering of the sons of Levi, from twenty years old and over. Their place was by the side of the sons of Aaron in all the work of the house of the Lord, in the open spaces and in the rooms, in the making clean of all the holy things, in doing all the work of the house of the Lord, read more. The holy bread was in their care, and the crushed grain for the meal offering, of unleavened cakes or meal cooked over the fire or in water; they had control of all sorts of weights and measures; They had to take their places every morning to give praise and make melody to the Lord, and in the same way at evening; At every offering of burned offerings to the Lord, on Sabbaths, and at the new moons, and on the regular feasts, in the number ordered by the law, at all times before the Lord; And they had the care of the Tent of meeting and the holy place, under the direction of the sons of Aaron their brothers, for the work of the house of the Lord.
Further, David and the chiefs of the servants of the holy place made selection of certain of the sons of Asaph and of Heman and of Jeduthun for the work of prophets, to make melody with corded instruments and brass; and the number of the men for the work they had to do was: Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur and Joseph and Nethaniah and Asharelah, sons of Asaph; under the direction of Asaph, acting as a prophet under the orders of the king; read more. Of Jeduthun: the six sons of Jeduthun, Gedaliah and Zeri and Jeshaiah, Hashabiah and Mattithiah; under the direction of their father Jeduthun who, acting as a prophet, with corded instruments gave praise and glory to the Lord. Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti and Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, Mahazioth; All these were sons of Heman, the king's seer in the words of God. And to make great his power God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. All these, under the direction of their father, made music in the house of the Lord, with brass and corded instruments, for the worship of the house of God; Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman being under the orders of the king. And the number of them, with their brothers who were trained and expert in making melody to the Lord, was two hundred and eighty-eight. And selection was made of them for their special work, all having equal chances, small as well as great, the teacher as the learner.
Of the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his brothers, seventeen hundred able men, were overseers of Israel on the other side of the Jordan, to the west, being responsible for all the work of the Lord's house and for the work done by the king's servants.
And the priests and Levites who were in all Israel came together to him from every part of their country. For the Levites gave up their living-places and their property, and came to Judah and Jerusalem; for Jeroboam and his sons had sent them away, not letting them be priests to the Lord;
But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not been turned away from him; we have priests who do the work of the Lord, even the sons of Aaron and the Levites in their places; By whom burned offerings and perfumes are sent up in smoke before the Lord every morning and every evening; and they put out the holy bread on its table and the gold support for the lights with its lights burning every evening; for we keep the orders given to us by the Lord our God, but you have gone away from him. read more. And now God is with us at our head, and his priests with their loud horns sounding against you. O children of Israel, do not make war on the Lord, the God of your fathers, for it will not go well for you.
Then in Jerusalem he gave authority to certain of the Levites and the priests and the heads of families of Israel to give decisions for the Lord, and in the causes of those living in Jerusalem. And he gave them their orders, saying, You are to do your work in the fear of the Lord, in good faith and with a true heart. read more. And if any cause comes before you from your brothers living in their towns, where the death punishment is in question, or where there are questions of law or order, or rules or decisions, make them take care that they are not in the wrong before the Lord, so that wrath may not come on you and on your brothers; do this and you yourselves will not be in the wrong. And now, Amariah, the chief priest, is over you in all questions to do with the Lord; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the head of the family of Judah, in everything to do with the king's business; and the Levites will be overseers for you. Be strong to do the work; and may the Lord be with the upright.
And the Levites, the children of the Kohathites and the Korahites, got to their feet and gave praise to the Lord, the God of Israel, with a loud voice. And early in the morning they got up and went out to the waste land of Tekoa: and when they were going out, Jehoshaphat took his station and said to them, Give ear to me, O Judah and you people of Jerusalem: have faith in the Lord your God and you will be safe; have faith in his prophets and all will go well for you. read more. And after discussion with the people, he put in their places those who were to make melody to the Lord, praising him in holy robes, while they went at the head of the army, and saying, May the Lord be praised, for his mercy is unchanging for ever. And at the first notes of song and praise the Lord sent a surprise attack against the children of Ammon and Moab and the people of Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were overcome.
And said to them, Give ear to me, O Levites: now make yourselves holy, and make holy the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and take away everything unclean from the holy place. For our fathers have done evil, sinning in the eyes of the Lord our God, and have given him up, turning away their faces from the house of the Lord, and turning their backs on him. read more. The doors of his house have been shut and the lights put out; no perfumes have been burned or offerings made to the God of Israel in his holy place. And so the wrath of the Lord has come on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has given them up to be a cause of fear and wonder and shame, as your eyes have seen. For see, our fathers have been put to death with the sword, and our sons and daughters and wives have been taken away prisoners because of this. Now it is my purpose to make an agreement with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that the heat of his wrath may be turned away from us. My sons, take care now: for you have been marked out by the Lord to come before him and to be his servants, burning offerings to him. Then the Levites took their places; Mahath, the son of Amasai, and Joel, the son of Azariah, among the Kohathites; and of the sons of Merari, Kish, the son of Abdi, and Azariah, the son of Jehallelel; and of the Gershonites, Joah, the son of Zimmah, and Eden, the son of Joah; And of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; And of the sons of Heman, Jehuel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel. And they got their brothers together and made themselves holy, and went in, as the king had said by the word of the Lord, to make the house of the Lord clean. And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to make it clean, and everything unclean which was to be seen in the Temple of the Lord they took out into the outer square of the Lord's house, and the Levites got it together and took it away to the stream Kidron. On the first day of the first month the work of making the house holy was started, and on the eighth day they came to the covered way of the Lord; in eight days they made the Lord's house holy, and on the sixteenth day of the first month the work was done. Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, We have made all the house of the Lord clean, as well as the altar of burned offerings with all its vessels, and the table for the holy bread, with all its vessels. And all the vessels which were turned out by King Ahaz in his sin while he was king, we have put in order and made holy, and now they are in their places before the altar of the Lord. Then Hezekiah the king got up early, and got together the great men of the town, and went up to the house of the Lord. And they took with them seven oxen and seven male sheep and seven lambs and seven he-goats as a sin-offering for the kingdom and for the holy house and for Judah. And he gave orders to the sons of Aaron, the priests, that these were to be offered on the altar of the Lord. So they put the oxen to death and their blood was given to the priests to be drained out against the altar; then they put the male sheep to death, draining out their blood against the altar, and they put the lambs to death, draining out their blood against the altar. Then they took the he-goats for the sin-offering, placing them before the king and the meeting of the people, and they put their hands on them: And the priests put them to death, and made a sin-offering with their blood on the altar, to take away the sin of all Israel: for the king gave orders that the burned offering and the sin-offering were for all Israel. Then he put the Levites in their places in the house of the Lord, with brass and corded instruments of music as ordered by David and Gad, the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for the order was the Lord's, given by his prophets. So the Levites took their places with David's instruments, and the priests with their horns. And Hezekiah gave the word for the burned offering to be offered on the altar. And when the burned offering was started, then the song of the Lord was started, with the blowing of horns and with all the instruments of David, king of Israel. And all the people gave worship, to the sound of songs and the blowing of horns; and this went on till the burned offering was ended. And at the end of the offering, the king and all who were present with him gave worship with bent heads. Then King Hezekiah and the captains gave orders to the Levites to give praise to God in the words of David and Asaph the seer. And they made songs of praise with joy, and with bent heads gave worship. Then Hezekiah made answer and said, Now that you have given yourselves to the Lord, come near and take offerings and praise-offerings into the house of the Lord. So all the people took in offerings and praise-offerings: and those whose hearts were moved, took in burned offerings. The number of burned offerings which the people took in was seventy oxen, a hundred male sheep, and two hundred lambs: all these were for burned offerings to the Lord. And the holy things were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep. There were not enough priests for the work of cutting up all the burned offerings; so their brothers the Levites gave them help till the work was done and the priests had made themselves holy: for the Levites were more upright in heart to make themselves holy than the priests.
Then on the fourteenth day of the second month they put the Passover lambs to death: and the priests and the Levites were shamed, and made themselves holy and took burned offerings into the house of the Lord. And they took their places in their right order, as it was ordered in the law of Moses, the man of God: the priests draining out on the altar the blood given them by the Levites. read more. For there were still a number of the people there who had not made themselves holy: so the Levites had to put Passover lambs to death for those who were not clean, to make them holy to the Lord. For a great number of the people from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not made themselves clean, but they took the Passover meal, though not in the right way. For Hezekiah had made prayer for them, saying, May the good Lord have mercy on everyone Who, with all his heart, is turned to God the Lord, the God of his fathers, even if he has not been made clean after the rules of the holy place. And the Lord gave ear to Hezekiah, and made the people well. So the children of Israel who were present in Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread for seven days with great joy: and the Levites and the priests gave praise to the Lord day by day, making melody to the Lord with loud instruments. And Hezekiah said kind words to the Levites who were expert in the ordering of the worship of the Lord: so they kept the feast for seven days, offering peace-offerings and praising the Lord, the God of their fathers.
Then the priests and the Levites gave the people a blessing: and the voice of their prayer went up to the holy place of God in heaven.
And he said to the Levites, the teachers of all Israel, who were holy to the Lord, See, the holy ark is in the house which Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel, made; it will no longer have to be transported on your backs: now be the servants of the Lord your God and his people Israel, And make yourselves ready in your divisions, by your families, as it is ordered in the writings of David, king of Israel, and of Solomon his son; read more. And take your positions in the holy place, grouped in the families of your brothers, the children of the people, and for every division let there be a part of a family of the Levites. And put the Passover lamb to death, and make yourselves holy, and make it ready for your brothers, so that the orders given by the Lord through Moses may be done. And Josiah gave lambs and goats from the flock as Passover offerings for all the people who were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand oxen: these were from the king's private property. And his captains freely gave an offering to the people, the priests, and the Levites. Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, the rulers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings two thousand, six hundred small cattle and three hundred oxen. And Conaniah and Shemaiah and Nethanel, his brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, the chiefs of the Levites, gave to the Levites for the Passover offerings five thousand small cattle and five hundred oxen. So everything was made ready and the priests took their places with the Levites in their divisions, as the king had said. And they put the Passover lambs to death, the blood being drained out by the priests when it was given to them, and the Levites did the skinning. And they took away the burned offerings, so that they might give them to be offered to the Lord for the divisions of the families of the people, as it is recorded in the book of Moses. And they did the same with the oxen. And the Passover lamb was cooked over the fire, as it says in the law; and the holy offerings were cooked in pots and basins and vessels, and taken quickly to all the people. And after that, they made ready for themselves and for the priests; for the priests, the sons of Aaron, were offering the burned offerings and the fat till night; so the Levites made ready what was needed for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron. And the sons of Asaph, the makers of melody, were in their places, as ordered by David and Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, the king's seer; and the door-keepers were stationed at every door: there was no need for them to go away from their places, for their brothers the Levites made ready for them.
The priests: the children of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred and seventy-three. The children of Immer, a thousand and fifty-two. read more. The children of Pashhur, a thousand, two hundred and forty-seven. The children of Harim, a thousand and seventeen. The Levites: the children of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the children of Hodaviah, seventy-four. The music-makers: the children of Asaph, a hundred and twenty-eight The children of the door-keepers: the children of Shallum, the children of Ater, the children of Talmon, the children of Akkub, the children of Hatita, the children of Shobai, a hundred and thirty-nine.
And when the builders put in position the base of the Temple of the Lord, the priests, dressed in their robes, took their places with horns, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with brass instruments, to give praise to the Lord in the way ordered by David, king of Israel. And they gave praise to the Lord, answering one another in their songs and saying, For he is good, for his mercy to Israel is eternal. And all the people gave a great cry of joy, when they gave praise to the Lord, because the base of the Lord's house was put in place.
And they put the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their order, for the worship of God at Jerusalem; as it is recorded in the book of Moses.
And I made them come together by the river flowing to Ahava; and we were there in tents for three days: and after viewing the people and the priests I saw that no sons of Levi were there.
And by the help of our God they got for us Ish-sechel, one of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah with his sons and brothers, eighteen; And Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty; read more. And of the Nethinim, to whom David and the captains had given the work of helping the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim, all of them specially named.
And Jeshua and Bani and Sherebiah and Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites made the law clear to the people: and the people kept in their places. And they gave out the words of the book the law of God, clearly, and gave the sense of it, so that their minds were able to take it in.
And that we would take the first of our rough meal, and our lifted offerings, and the fruit of every sort of tree, and wine and oil, to the priests, to the rooms of the house of our God; and the tenth of the produce of our land to the Levites; for they, the Levites, take a tenth in all the towns of our ploughed land. And the priest, the son of Aaron, is to be with the Levites, when the Levites take the tenths: and the Levites are to take a tenth of the tenths into the house of our God, to the rooms, into the store-house; read more. For the children of Israel and the children of Levi are to take the lifted offering of the grain and wine and oil into the rooms where the vessels of the holy place are, together with the priests and the door-keepers and the makers of music: and we will not give up caring for the house of our God.
The Levites in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan, and Jaddua, were listed as heads of families; and the priests, when Darius the Persian was king.
And when the time came for the wall of Jerusalem to be made holy, they sent for the Levites out of all their places to come to Jerusalem, to keep the feast with joy, and with praise and melody, with brass and corded instruments of music. And the sons of the music-makers came together from the lowland round about Jerusalem and from the daughter-towns of the Netophathites, read more. And from Beth-gilgal and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth: for the music-makers had made daughter-towns for themselves round about Jerusalem. And the priests and the Levites made themselves clean; and they made the people clean, and the doorways and the wall.
And some of them will I take for priests and Levites, says the Lord.
But as for the Levites, who went far from me, when Israel went out of the right way, turning away from me to go after their images; their punishment will come on them. But they may be caretakers in my holy place, and overseers at the doors of the house, doing the work of the house: they will put to death the burned offering and the beasts offered for the people, and they will take their place before them as their servants. read more. Because they did this work for them before their images, and became a cause of sin to the children of Israel; for this cause my hand has been lifted up against them, says the Lord, and their punishment will be on them. And they will not come near me to do the work of priests to me, or come near any of my holy things, or the things which are most holy: but their shame will be on them, and the punishment for the disgusting things which they have done. But I will make them responsible for the care of the house and all its work and everything which is done in it.
For the priests who have been made holy, those of the sons of Zadok who kept the orders I gave them, who did not go out of the right way when the children of Israel went from the way, as the Levites did,
My agreement with him was on my side life and peace, and I gave them to him; on his side fear, and he had fear of me and gave honour to my name. True teaching was in his mouth, and no evil was seen on his lips: he was walking with me in peace and righteousness, turning numbers of people away from evil-doing.
He will take his seat, testing and cleaning the sons of Levi, burning away the evil from them as from gold and silver; so that they may make offerings to the Lord in righteousness.
And in the same way, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, went by on the other side.
And this is the witness of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to him with the question, Who are you?
And Joseph, who was given by the Apostles the name of Barnabas (the sense of which is, Son of comfort), a Levite and a man of Cyprus by birth,
For this reason I make request to you, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you will give your bodies as a living offering, holy, pleasing to God, which is the worship it is right for you to give him.
Hastings
Morish
Le'vites
The tribe that descended from Levi, son of Jacob. When Moses came down from the mount and saw the golden calf which the people had made, he asked, "Who is on the Lord's side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him." He bade them gird on their swords and slay every man his brother, his companion, and his neighbour. And there fell of the people that day about three thousand. Moses spoke of it as consecrating themselves to the Lord, every man upon his son, and upon his brother, that God might bestow a blessing upon them. Ex 32:26-29.
The Levites were chosen by God as a redemption for all the firstborn of Israel, which God claimed for Himself. They thus became wholly His, and they were given to Aaron to minister in all that pertained to the service of the tabernacle, except the priesthood, which was restricted to Aaron and his descendants. Nu 3:5-51.
Of the Levites there were three main branches: the GERSHONITES, the KOHATHITES, and the MERARITES. Moses and Aaron were descendants of Kohath. When the camp of Israel rested, this tribe surrounded the tabernacle. When it moved they had to carry its various parts and the sacred things belonging thereto. According to Nu 4:3, etc., the Levites appear to have commenced their tabernacle service at the age of thirty; but in Nu 8:24-26 the age is given as twenty-five. It may be that they spent the first five years on probation, learning their duties. When Israel had settled in Canaan and the labour of carrying the tabernacle was over, they commenced their service at the age of twenty. They laboured till they were fifty years of age. 1Ch 23:24-27.
Before the Levites entered upon any service they were thoroughly cleansed and consecrated. The children of Israel put their hands upon them, and Aaron offered them "before the Lord for an offering of the children of Israel" that they might execute the service of the Lord. An atonement was made for them. Nu 8:5-26.
The Levites had no inheritance in the land, and in order that they might be free to serve the Lord, tithes were given them. Nu 18. Forty-eight cities were given to them as places to dwell in, and the suburbs thereof for their cattle. Six of these cities were to be CITIES OF REFUGE. Nu 35:1-8. The names of the cities are given in Jos 20:7-9; 21:1-42.
In the time of David the Levites were set over 'the service of song;' others were door-keepers: some were singers and others played on various instruments. 1Ch 6:31; 15:16,26. In the days of Hezekiah after the temple had been cleansed, the Levites apparently helped to flay the sacrifices, being found "more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests." 2Ch 29:34. At the Passover that followed, the Levites had the charge of killing the passover lambs for the people who were unclean. 2Ch 30:17. On the return from exile the Levites helped to explain the law to the people. Ne 8:7-8. In the N.T. the Levites are mentioned only in Lu 10:32; Joh 1:19; Ac 4:36.
The Levites are typical of Christians, who are redeemed, cleansed, and consecrated to the service of the Lord, and have no inheritance on earth.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Then Moses took his place at the way into the tents, and said, Whoever is on the Lord's side, let him come to me. And all the sons of Levi came together to him. And he said to them, This is the word of the Lord, the God of Israel: Let every man take his sword at his side, and go from one end of the tents to the other, putting to death his brother and his friend and his neighbour. read more. And the sons of Levi did as Moses said; and about three thousand of the people were put to death that day. And Moses said, You have made yourselves priests to the Lord this day; for every one of you has made the offering of his son and his brother; the blessing of the Lord is on you this day.
And the Lord said to Moses, Make the tribe of Levi come near, and put them before Aaron the priest, to be his helpers, read more. In order that they may be responsible to him and to all Israel for the care of the Tent of meeting, and to do the work of the House; And they will have the care of all the vessels of the Tent of meeting, and will do for the children of Israel all the necessary work of the House. Give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; so that they may be his without question from among the children of Israel. And give orders that Aaron and his sons are to keep their place as priests; any strange person who comes near is to be put to death. And the Lord said to Moses, See, I have taken the Levites out of the children of Israel to be mine in place of the first sons of the children of Israel; For all the first sons are mine; on the day when I put to death all the first sons in the land of Egypt, I took for myself every first male birth of man and beast. They are mine; I am the Lord. And the Lord said to Moses in the waste land of Sinai, Let all the children of Levi be numbered by their families and their fathers' houses; let every male of a month old and over be numbered. So Moses did as the Lord said, numbering them as he had been ordered. These were the sons of Levi by name: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. And these are the names of the sons of Gershon, by their families: Libni and Shimei. And the sons of Kohath, by their families: Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel. And the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites in the order of their fathers' houses. From Gershon come the Libnites and the Shimeites; these are the families of the Gershonites. Those who were numbered of them, the males from one month old and over, were seven thousand, five hundred. The tents of the Gershonites are to be placed at the back of the House, to the west. The chief of the Gershonites is Eliasaph, the son of Lael. In the Tent of meeting, the Gershonites are to have the care of the House, and the Tent with its cover, and the veil for the door of the Tent of meeting, And the hangings for the open space round the House and the altar, and the curtain for its doorway, and all the cords needed for its use. From Kohath come the Amramites and the Izharites and the Hebronites and the Uzzielites; these are the families of the Kohathites. Those who were numbered of them, the males from one month old and over, were eight thousand, six hundred, who were responsible for the care of the holy place. The tents of the Kohathites are to be placed on the south side of the House. Their chief is Elizaphan, the son of Uzziel. In their care are the ark, and the table, and the lights, and the altars, and all the vessels used in the holy place, and the veil, and all they are used for. Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, will be head over all the Levites and overseer of those responsible for the care of the holy place. From Merari come the Mahlites and the Mushites; these are the families of Merari. Those who were numbered of them, the males of a month old and over, were six thousand, two hundred. The chief of the families of Merari was Zuriel, the son of Abihail: their tents are to be placed on the north side of the House. And in their care are to be all the boards of the Tent, with their rods and pillars and bases, and all the instruments, and all they are used for, And the pillars of the open space round it, with their bases and nails and cords. And those whose tents are to be placed on the east side of the House in front of the Tent of meeting, looking to the dawn, are Moses and Aaron and his sons, who will do the work of the holy place for the children of Israel; and any strange person who comes near will be put to death. All the Levites numbered by Moses and Aaron at the order of the Lord, all the males of one month old and over numbered in the order of their families, were twenty-two thousand. And the Lord said to Moses, Let all the first male children be numbered, and take the number of their names. And give to me the Levites (I am the Lord) in place of the first sons of the children of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites in place of the first births among the cattle of the children of Israel. So Moses had all the first sons among the children of Israel numbered, as the Lord said to him. Every first son from a month old and over was numbered by name, and the number came to twenty-two thousand, two hundred and seventy-three. And the Lord said to Moses, Take the Levites in place of all the first sons of the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites in place of their cattle; the Levites are to be mine; I am the Lord. And the price you have to give for the two hundred and seventy-three first sons of the children of Israel which are in addition to the number of the Levites, Will be five shekels for every one, by the scale of the holy place (the shekel is twenty gerahs); And this money, the price of those over the number of the Levites, is to be given to Aaron and his sons. So Moses took the money, the price of those whose place had not been taken by the Levites; From the first sons of Israel he took it, a thousand, three hundred and sixty-five shekels, by the scale of the holy place; And he gave the money to Aaron and his sons, as the Lord had said.
All those from thirty to fifty years old who are able to do the work of the Tent of meeting.
And the Lord said to Moses, Take the Levites out from among the children of Israel and make them clean. read more. And this is how you are to make them clean: let the holy water which takes away sin be put on them, and let the hair all over their bodies be cut off with a sharp blade, and let their clothing be washed and their bodies made clean. Then let them take a young ox and its meal offering, crushed grain mixed with oil, and take another ox for a sin-offering. And make the Levites come forward in front of the Tent of meeting, and let all the children of Israel come together: And you are to take the Levites before the Lord: and the children of Israel are to put their hands on them: And Aaron is to give the Levites to the Lord as a wave offering from the children of Israel, so that they may do the Lord's work. And the Levites are to put their hands on the heads of the oxen, and one of the oxen is to be offered for a sin-offering and the other for a burned offering to the Lord to take away the sin of the Levites. Then the Levites are to be put before Aaron and his sons, to be offered as a wave offering to the Lord. So you are to make the Levites separate from the children of Israel, and the Levites will be mine. After that, the Levites will go in to do whatever has to be done in the Tent of meeting; you are to make them clean and give them as a wave offering. For they have been given to me from among the children of Israel; in place of every mother's first son, the first to come to birth in Israel, I have taken them for myself. For every mother's first son among the children of Israel is mine, the first male birth of man or beast: on the day when I sent death on all the first sons in the land of Egypt, I made them mine. And in place of the first sons among the children of Israel, I have taken the Levites. And I have given them to Aaron and to his sons, from among the children of Israel, to undertake for them all the work of the Tent of meeting, and to take away sin from the children of Israel so that no evil may come on them when they come near the holy place. All these things Moses and Aaron and the children of Israel did to the Levites; as the Lord gave orders to Moses about the Levites, so the children of Israel did. And the Levites were made clean from sin, and their clothing was washed, and Aaron gave them for a wave offering before the Lord; and Aaron took away their sin and made them clean. And then the Levites went in to do their work in the Tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons: all the orders which the Lord had given Moses about the Levites were put into effect. And the Lord said to Moses, This is the rule for the Levites: those of twenty-five years old and over are to go in and do the work of the Tent of meeting;
This is the rule for the Levites: those of twenty-five years old and over are to go in and do the work of the Tent of meeting; But after they are fifty years old, they are to give up their work and do no more;
But after they are fifty years old, they are to give up their work and do no more; But be with their brothers in the Tent of meeting, taking care of it but doing no work. This is what you are to do in connection with the Levites and their work.
But be with their brothers in the Tent of meeting, taking care of it but doing no work. This is what you are to do in connection with the Levites and their work.
And the Lord said to Moses in the lowlands of Moab by Jordan at Jericho, Give orders to the children of Israel to give to the Levites, from the heritage which is theirs, towns for themselves, with land on the outskirts of the towns. read more. These towns are to be their living-places, with land round them for their cattle and their food and all their beasts, Stretching from the wall of the towns a distance of a thousand cubits all round. The measure of this space of land is to be two thousand cubits outside the town on the east, and two thousand cubits on the south and on the west and on the north, the town being in the middle. This space will be the outskirts of their towns. And the towns which you give the Levites are to be the six safe places to which the taker of life may go in flight; and in addition you are to give them forty-two towns. Forty-eight towns are to be given to the Levites, all with land round them. And these towns are to be given out of the heritage of the children of Israel, taking the greater number from those who have much, and a smaller number from those who have little: everyone, in the measure of his heritage, is to give of his property to the Levites.
So they made selection of Kedesh in Galilee in the hill-country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill-country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (which is Hebron) in the hill-country of Judah. And on the east side of Jordan at Jericho, they made selection of Bezer in the waste land, in the table-land, out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh. read more. These were the towns marked out for all the children of Israel and for the man from a strange country living among them, so that anyone causing the death of another in error, might go in flight there, and not be put to death by him who has the right of punishment for blood till he had come before the meeting of the people.
Then the heads of the families of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest and Joshua, the son of Nun, and to the heads of families of the tribes of the children of Israel; And said to them in Shiloh in the land of Canaan, The Lord gave orders by Moses that we were to have towns for living in, with their grass-lands for our cattle. read more. And the children of Israel out of their heritage gave to the Levites these towns with their grass-lands, by the order of the Lord. And the heritage came out for the families of the Kohathites: the children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, were given thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. The rest of the children of Kohath by their families were given ten towns from the tribes of Ephraim and Dan and the half-tribe of Manasseh. The children of Gershon by their families were given thirteen towns from the tribes of Issachar and Asher and Naphtali and the half-tribe of Manasseh which was in Bashan. The children of Merari by their families were given twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben and Gad and Zebulun. All these towns with their grass-lands the children of Israel gave by the decision of the Lord to the Levites, as the Lord had given orders by Moses. From the tribes of the children of Judah and the children of Simeon they gave these towns, listed here by name: These were for the children of Aaron among the families of the Kohathites, of the children of Levi: for they came first in the distribution. They gave them Kiriath-arba, the town of Arba, the father of Anak, (which is Hebron) in the hill-country of Judah, with its grass-lands. But the open country round the town, and its unwalled places, they gave to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, as his property. And to the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Libnah with its grass-lands; And Jattir with its grass-lands, and Eshtemoa with its grass-lands; And Holon with its grass-lands, and Debir with its grass-lands; And Ain, and Juttah, and Beth-shemesh, with their grass-lands; nine towns from those two tribes. And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave Gibeon and Geba with their grass-lands; Anathoth and Almon with their grass-lands, four towns. Thirteen towns with their grass-lands were given to the children of Aaron, the priests. The rest of the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, were given towns from the tribe of Ephraim. And they gave them Shechem with its grass-lands in the hill-country of Ephraim, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Gezer with its grass-lands; And Kibzaim and Beth-horon with their grass-lands, four towns. And from the tribe of Dan, Elteke and Gibbethon with their grass-lands; Aijalon and Gath-rimmon with their grass-lands, four towns. And from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and Gath-rimmon with their grass-lands, two towns. All the towns of the rest of the families of the children of Kohath were ten with their grass-lands. And to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, they gave from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Ashtaroth with its grass-lands, two towns. And from the tribe of Issachar, Kishion and Daberath with their grass-lands; Jarmuth and En-gannim with their grass-lands, four towns. And from the tribe of Asher, Mishal and Abdon, with their grass-lands: Helkath and Rehob with their grass-lands, four towns. And from the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Hammoth-dor and Kartan with their grass-lands, three towns. All the towns of the Gershonites with their families were thirteen with their grass-lands. And to the rest of the Levites, that is, the families of the children of Merari, they gave from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam and Kartah with their grass-lands; Dimnah and Nahalal with their grass-lands, four towns. And from the tribe of Reuben, Bezer and Jahaz with their grass-lands; Kedemoth and Mephaath with their grass-lands, four towns. And from the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Mahanaim with their grass-lands; Heshbon and Jazer with their grass-lands, four towns. All these towns were given to the children of Merari by their families, that is, the rest of the families of the Levites; and their heritage was twelve towns. All the towns of the Levites, among the heritage of the children of Israel, were forty-eight towns with their grass-lands. Every one of these towns had grass-lands round it.
And these are those whom David made responsible for the music in the house of the Lord, after the ark had rest.
And David gave orders to the chief of the Levites to put their brothers the music-makers in position, with instruments of music, corded instruments and brass, with glad voices making sounds of joy.
And when God gave help to the Levites who were lifting up the ark of the agreement of the Lord, they made an offering of seven oxen and seven sheep.
These were the sons of Levi, grouped by families, the heads of the families of those who were numbered by name, by heads, all those of twenty years old and over who did the work of the house of the Lord. For David said, The Lord, the God of Israel, has given his people rest, and he has made his resting-place in Jerusalem for ever; read more. And from now, there will be no need for the House of the Lord, and the vessels used in it, to be moved about by the Levites. So among the last acts of David was the numbering of the sons of Levi, from twenty years old and over.
There were not enough priests for the work of cutting up all the burned offerings; so their brothers the Levites gave them help till the work was done and the priests had made themselves holy: for the Levites were more upright in heart to make themselves holy than the priests.
For there were still a number of the people there who had not made themselves holy: so the Levites had to put Passover lambs to death for those who were not clean, to make them holy to the Lord.
And Jeshua and Bani and Sherebiah and Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites made the law clear to the people: and the people kept in their places. And they gave out the words of the book the law of God, clearly, and gave the sense of it, so that their minds were able to take it in.
And in the same way, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, went by on the other side.
And this is the witness of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to him with the question, Who are you?
And Joseph, who was given by the Apostles the name of Barnabas (the sense of which is, Son of comfort), a Levite and a man of Cyprus by birth,
Smith
Le'vites
(descendants of Levi). Sometimes the name extends to the whole tribe, the priests included,
Ex 6:25; Le 25:32; Nu 35:2; Jos 21:3,41
etc; sometimes only to those members of the tribe who were not priests, and as distinguished from them. Sometimes again it is added as an epithet of the smaller portion of the tribe, and we read of "the priests the Levites."
The history of the tribe and of the functions attached to its several orders is essential to any right apprehension of the history of Israel as a people. It will fall naturally into four great periods:-- I. The time of the exodus. --There is no trace of the consecrated character of the Levites till the institution of a hereditary priesthood in the family of Aaron, during the first withdrawal of Moses to the solitude of Sinai.
The next extension of the idea of the priesthood grew out of the terrible crisis of Exod 32. The tribe stood forth separate and apart, recognizing even in this stern work the spiritual as higher than the natural. From this time they occupied a distinct position. The tribe of Levi was to take the place of that earlier priesthood of the first-born as representatives of the holiness of the people. At the time of their first consecration there were 22,000 of them, almost exactly the number of the first-born males in the whole nation. As the tabernacle was the sign of the presence among the people of their unseen King, so the Levites were, among the other tribes of Israel, as the royal guard that waited exclusively on him. It was obviously essential for their work as the bearers and guardians of the sacred tent that there should be a fixed assignment of duties; and now accordingly we meet with the first outlines of the organization which afterward became permanent. The division of the tribe into the three sections that traced their descent from the sons of Levi formed the groundwork of it. The work which they all had to do required a man's full strength, and therefore, though twenty was the starting-point for military service, Numb 1, they were not to enter on their active service till they were thirty.
At fifty they were to be free from all duties but those of superintendence.
(1) The Kohathites, as nearest of kin to the priests, held from the first the highest offices. They were to bear all the vessels of the sanctuary, the ark itself included.
(2) the Gershonites had to carry the tent-hangings and curtains.
(3) The heavier burden of the boards, bars and pillars of the tabernacle fell on the sons of Merari. The Levites were to have no territorial possessions. In place of them they were to receive from the others the tithes of the produce of the land, from which they, in their turn, offered a tithe to the priests, as a recognition of their higher consecration.
Distinctness and diffusion were both to be secured by the assignment to the whole tribe of forty-eight cities, with an outlying "suburb,"
of meadowland for the pasturage of their flocks and herds. The reverence of the people for them was to be heightened by the selection of six of these as cities of refuge. Through the whole land the Levites were to take the place of the old household priests, sharing in all festivals and rejoicings.
De 12:19; 14:26-27; 26:11
Every third year they were to have an additional share in the produce of the land.
De 14:28; 26:12
To "the priests the Levites" was to belong the office of preserving, transcribing and interpreting the law.
De 17:9-12; 31:26
II. The period of the judges. --The successor of Moses, though belonging to another tribe, did all that could be done to make the duty above named a reality. The submission of the Gibeonites enabled him to relieve the tribe-divisions of Gershon and Merari of the most burdensome of their duties. The conquered Hivites became "hewers of wood and drawers of water" for the house of Jehovah and for the congregation.
As soon as the conquerors had advanced far enough to proceed to a partition of the country, the forty-eight cities were assigned to them. III. The monarchy. --When David's kingdom was established, there came a fuller organization of the whole tribe. Their position in relation to the priesthood was once again definitely recognized. In the worship of the tabernacle under David, as afterward in that of the temple, the Levites were the gatekeepers, vergers, sacristans, choristers, of the central sanctuary of the nation. They were, in the language of
to which we may refer as almost the locus classicus on this subject, "to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of Jehovah, in the courts, and the chambers, and the purifying of all holy things." They were, besides this, "to stand every morning to thank and praise Jehovah, and likewise at even." They were, lastly, "to offer" --i.e. to assist the priest in offering-- "all burnt sacrifices to Jehovah in the sabbaths and on the set feasts." They lived for the greater part of the year in their own cities, and came up at fixed periods to take their turn of work.
1-Chronicles/25/1/type/bbe'>1Ch 25:1,1; 26:1
... The educational work which the Levites received for their peculiar duties, no less than their connection, more or less intimate, with the schools of the prophets, would tend to make them the teachers of the others, the transcribers and interpreters of the law, the chroniclers of the times in which they lived. (Thus they became to the Israelites what ministers and teachers are to the people now, and this teaching and training the people in morality and religion was no doubt one of the chief reasons why they were set apart by God from the people, and yet among the people. --ED.) The revolt of the ten tribes, and the policy pursued by Jeroboam, who wished to make the priests the creatures and instruments of the king, and to establish a provincial and divided worship, caused them to leave the cities assigned to them in the territory of Israel, and gather round the metropolis of Judah.
In the kingdom of Judah they were, from this time forward, a powerful body, politically as well as ecclesiastically. IV. After the captivity. --During the period that followed the captivity of the Levites contributed to the formation of the so-called Great Synagogue. They, with the priests, formed the majority of the permanent Sanhedrin, and as such had a large share in the administration of justice even in capital cases. They appear but seldom in the history of the New Testament.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Eleazar, Aaron's son, took as his wife one of the daughters of Putiel; and she gave birth to Phinehas. These are the heads of the families of the Levites, in the order of their families.
And he said to Moses, Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, and Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the chiefs of Israel; and give me worship from a distance.
But the houses in the towns of the Levites may be got back by the Levites at any time.
In their care are the ark, and the table, and the lights, and the altars, and all the vessels used in the holy place, and the veil, and all they are used for.
And after the holy place and all its vessels have been covered up by Aaron and his sons, when the tents of the people go forward, the sons of Kohath are to come and take it up; but the holy things may not be touched by them for fear of death.
Let the sons of Gershon be numbered by families, in the order of their fathers' houses; All those from thirty to fifty years old who are able to do the work of the Tent of meeting.
All those from thirty to fifty years old who are able to do the work of the Tent of meeting. This is to be the work of the Gershonites, the things they are to do and take up. read more. They are to take up the curtains of the House, and the Tent of meeting with its cover and the leather cover over it, and the hangings for the door of the Tent of meeting; And the hangings for the open space round the House and the altar, and the curtain for its doorway, with the cords and all the things used for them; whatever is necessary for these, they are to do.
Every one from thirty to fifty years old who is able to do the work of the Tent of meeting.
Numbering all those from thirty to fifty years old who were able to do the work in the Tent of meeting;
But after they are fifty years old, they are to give up their work and do no more; But be with their brothers in the Tent of meeting, taking care of it but doing no work. This is what you are to do in connection with the Levites and their work.
And to the children of Levi I have given as their heritage all the tenths offered in Israel, as payment for the work they do, the work of the Tent of meeting.
For the tenths which the children of Israel give as a lifted offering to the Lord I have given to the Levites as their heritage. and so I have said to them, Among the children of Israel they will have no heritage.
Say to the Levites, When you take from the children of Israel the tenth which I have given to you from them as your heritage, a tenth part of that tenth is to be offered as an offering lifted up before the Lord.
Give orders to the children of Israel to give to the Levites, from the heritage which is theirs, towns for themselves, with land on the outskirts of the towns.
Give orders to the children of Israel to give to the Levites, from the heritage which is theirs, towns for themselves, with land on the outskirts of the towns.
See that you do not give up caring for the Levite as long as you are living in your land.
And with the money get whatever you have a desire for, oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your soul's desire may be: and make a feast there before the Lord your God, and be glad, you and all your house; And give a thought to the Levite who is living among you, for he has no part or heritage in the land. read more. At the end of every three years take a tenth part of all your increase for that year, and put it in store inside your walls:
And come before the priests, the Levites, or before him who is judge at the time: and they will go into the question and give you a decision: And you are to be guided by the decision they give in the place named by the Lord, and do whatever they say: read more. Acting in agreement with their teaching and the decision they give: not turning to one side or the other from the word they have given you. And any man who, in his pride, will not give ear to the priest whose place is there before the Lord your God, or to the judge, is to be put to death: you are to put away the evil from Israel.
And you will have joy in every good thing which the Lord your God has given to you and to your family; and the Levite, and the man from a strange land who is with you, will take part in your joy. When you have taken out a tenth from the tenth of all your produce in the third year, which is the year when this has to be done, give it to the Levite, and the man from a strange land, and the child without a father, and the widow, so that they may have food in your towns and be full;
Take this book of the law and put it by the ark of the Lord's agreement, so that it may be a witness against you.
Then in the hearing of all the meeting of Israel, Moses said the words of this song, to the end.
Giving the people their orders, and saying, When you see the ark of the agreement of the Lord your God lifted up by the priests, the Levites, then get up from your places and go after it;
And that day Joshua made them servants, cutting wood and getting water for the people and for the altar of the Lord, in the place marked out by him, to this day.
And the children of Israel out of their heritage gave to the Levites these towns with their grass-lands, by the order of the Lord.
All the towns of the Levites, among the heritage of the children of Israel, were forty-eight towns with their grass-lands.
These were the sons of Levi, grouped by families, the heads of the families of those who were numbered by name, by heads, all those of twenty years old and over who did the work of the house of the Lord. For David said, The Lord, the God of Israel, has given his people rest, and he has made his resting-place in Jerusalem for ever; read more. And from now, there will be no need for the House of the Lord, and the vessels used in it, to be moved about by the Levites. So among the last acts of David was the numbering of the sons of Levi, from twenty years old and over. Their place was by the side of the sons of Aaron in all the work of the house of the Lord, in the open spaces and in the rooms, in the making clean of all the holy things, in doing all the work of the house of the Lord, The holy bread was in their care, and the crushed grain for the meal offering, of unleavened cakes or meal cooked over the fire or in water; they had control of all sorts of weights and measures; They had to take their places every morning to give praise and make melody to the Lord, and in the same way at evening; At every offering of burned offerings to the Lord, on Sabbaths, and at the new moons, and on the regular feasts, in the number ordered by the law, at all times before the Lord; And they had the care of the Tent of meeting and the holy place, under the direction of the sons of Aaron their brothers, for the work of the house of the Lord.
Further, David and the chiefs of the servants of the holy place made selection of certain of the sons of Asaph and of Heman and of Jeduthun for the work of prophets, to make melody with corded instruments and brass; and the number of the men for the work they had to do was:
Further, David and the chiefs of the servants of the holy place made selection of certain of the sons of Asaph and of Heman and of Jeduthun for the work of prophets, to make melody with corded instruments and brass; and the number of the men for the work they had to do was:
For the divisions of the door-keepers: of the Korahites, Meshelemiah, the son of Kore, of the sons of Ebiasaph.
And the priests and Levites who were in all Israel came together to him from every part of their country. For the Levites gave up their living-places and their property, and came to Judah and Jerusalem; for Jeroboam and his sons had sent them away, not letting them be priests to the Lord;
And that we would take the first of our rough meal, and our lifted offerings, and the fruit of every sort of tree, and wine and oil, to the priests, to the rooms of the house of our God; and the tenth of the produce of our land to the Levites; for they, the Levites, take a tenth in all the towns of our ploughed land.
But as for the priests, the sons of Zadok, who took care of my holy place when the children of Israel were turned away from me, they are to come near me to do my work, they will take their places before me, offering to me the fat and the blood, says the Lord;
Watsons
LEVITES. Under this name may be comprised all the descendants of Levi; but it principally denotes those who were employed in the lowest ministries of the temple, by which they were distinguished from the priests, who, being descended from Aaron, were likewise of the race of Levi by Kohath, but were employed in higher offices. The Levites were descendants of Levi, by Gershom, Kohath, and Merari, excepting the family of Aaron; for the children of Moses had no part in the priesthood, and were only common Levites. God chose the Levites instead of the first-born of all Israel, for the service of his tabernacle and temple, Nu 3:6, &c. They obeyed the priests in the ministrations of the temple, and brought to them wood, water, and other things necessary for the sacrifices. They sung and played on instruments, in the temple, &c; they studied the law, and were the ordinary judges of the country, but subordinate to the priests. God provided for the subsistence of the Levites, by giving them the tithe of corn, fruit, and cattle; but they paid to the priests the tenth of their tithes; and as the Levites possessed no estates in the land, the tithes which the priests received from them were looked upon as the first-fruits which they were to offer to the Lord, Nu 18:21-24. God assigned them for their habitations forty-eight cities, with fields, pastures, and gardens, Numbers 35. Of these thirteen were given to the priests, six of which were cities of refuge, Jos 20:7; 21:19-20, &c. While the Levites were actually employed in the temple, they were subsisted out of the provisions in store there, and out of the daily offerings there made; and if any Levite quitted the place of his abode, to serve the temple, even out of the time of his half-yearly or weekly waiting, he was received there, kept and provided for, in like manner as his other brethren, who were regularly in waiting, De 18:6-8. The consecration of Levites was without much ceremony. They wore no particular habit to distinguish them from the other Israelites, and God ordained nothing particularly for their mourning, 2Ch 29:34. The manner of their consecration may be seen in Nu 8:5-7, &c.
Josephus says, that in the reign of Agrippa, king of the Jews, about A.D. 62, six years before the destruction of the temple by the Romans, the Levites desired permission from that prince to wear the linen tunic like the priests; and this was granted. This innovation was displeasing to the priests; and the Jewish historian remarks, that the ancient customs of the country were never forsaken with impunity. He adds, that Agrippa permitted likewise the families of the Levites, whose duty it was to guard the doors, and perform other troublesome offices, to learn to sing and play on instruments, that they might be qualified for the temple service as musicians. The Levites were divided into different classes: Gershonites, Kohathites, Merarites, and Aaronites or priests, Numbers 3, &c. The Gershonites, whose number was seven thousand five hundred, were employed in the marches through the wilderness in carrying the veils and curtains of the tabernacle; the Kohathites, whose number was eight thousand six hundred, in carrying the ark and sacred vessels of the tabernacle; the Merarites, whose number was six thousand two hundred, in carrying the several pieces of the tabernacle which could not be placed upon the chariots; and the Aaronites were the priests who served the sanctuary. When the Hebrews encamped in the wilderness, the Levites were placed around the tabernacle; Moses and Aaron at the east, Gershon at the west, Kohath at the south, and Merari at the north. Moses ordained that the Levites should not begin in the service of the tabernacle till they were five-and-twenty years of age, Nu 8:24-26; or, as he says elsewhere, from thirty to fifty years old, Nu 4:3. But David, finding that they were no longer employed in these grosser offices of transporting the vessels of the tabernacle, appointed them to enter on service at the temple at twenty years of age. The priests and Levites waited by turns, weekly, in the temple. They began their weeks on one Sabbath day, and on the Sabbath day in the following week went out of waiting, 1Ch 23:24; 2Ch 21:17; Ezr 3:8. When an Israelite made a religious entertainment in the temple, God required that the Levites should be invited to it, De 12:18-19.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Make the tribe of Levi come near, and put them before Aaron the priest, to be his helpers,
All those from thirty to fifty years old who are able to do the work of the Tent of meeting.
And the Lord said to Moses, Take the Levites out from among the children of Israel and make them clean. read more. And this is how you are to make them clean: let the holy water which takes away sin be put on them, and let the hair all over their bodies be cut off with a sharp blade, and let their clothing be washed and their bodies made clean.
This is the rule for the Levites: those of twenty-five years old and over are to go in and do the work of the Tent of meeting; But after they are fifty years old, they are to give up their work and do no more; read more. But be with their brothers in the Tent of meeting, taking care of it but doing no work. This is what you are to do in connection with the Levites and their work.
And to the children of Levi I have given as their heritage all the tenths offered in Israel, as payment for the work they do, the work of the Tent of meeting. In future the children of Israel are not to come near the Tent of meeting, so that death may not come to them because of sin. read more. But the Levites are to do the work of the Tent of meeting, and be responsible for errors in connection with it: this is a law for ever through all your generations; and among the children of Israel they will have no heritage. For the tenths which the children of Israel give as a lifted offering to the Lord I have given to the Levites as their heritage. and so I have said to them, Among the children of Israel they will have no heritage.
But they will be your food before the Lord your God in the place of his selection, where you may make a feast of them, with your son and your daughter, and your man-servant and your woman-servant, and the Levite who is living with you: and you will have joy before the Lord your God in everything to which you put your hand. See that you do not give up caring for the Levite as long as you are living in your land.
And if a Levite, moved by a strong desire, comes from any town in all Israel where he is living to the place marked out by the Lord; Then he will do the work of a priest in the name of the Lord his God, with all his brothers the Levites who are there before the Lord. read more. His food will be the same as theirs, in addition to what has come to him as the price of his property.
So they made selection of Kedesh in Galilee in the hill-country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill-country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (which is Hebron) in the hill-country of Judah.
Thirteen towns with their grass-lands were given to the children of Aaron, the priests. The rest of the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, were given towns from the tribe of Ephraim.
These were the sons of Levi, grouped by families, the heads of the families of those who were numbered by name, by heads, all those of twenty years old and over who did the work of the house of the Lord.
There were not enough priests for the work of cutting up all the burned offerings; so their brothers the Levites gave them help till the work was done and the priests had made themselves holy: for the Levites were more upright in heart to make themselves holy than the priests.
Now in the second year of their coming into the house of God in Jerusalem, in the second month, the work was taken in hand by Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come from the land where they were prisoners to Jerusalem: and they made the Levites, of twenty years old and over, responsible for overseeing the work of the house of the Lord.