Service of the Levites/0

Service of the Levites

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Overview

Bemidbar 8 describes the purification and consecration of the Levites to service of Hashem. When and why were they selected for this position?  What did it entail?  How did their role in the Tabernacle compare to that of the priests? Did their tasks change after arrival in Canaan, with the building of the Mikdash? The page below will survey several approaches to these questions, touching on various aspects of the Levites' service.

Chosen for Service

When was the Tribe of Levi designated to assume their special responsibilities and why did they merit them?  Is their elevated position a reward for some meritorious deed or were they simply best suited for the tasks required of them?  Commentators debate these issues, reaching different conclusion regarding both the timing and reason for the Levite appointment: [See Selection of the Priests and Levites for details.]

• Before the Exodus – According to Jubilees, the tribe of Levi was elevated already in the Patriarchal Period, as a reward for Levi's avenging of Dinah in Shekhem. [For elaboration on Jubilees' reading of the Shekhem story, see Sin and Slaughter of Shekhem.]
• Before the Sin of the Golden Calf –  The tribe was designated at the same time that Aharon was appointed priest, when construction of the Mishkan necessitated their service.  It is possible that they were selected due to the merits of the family of Moshe and Aharon rather than any specific deeds  performed by the tribe as a whole. R"Y Bekhor Shor posits that Hashem wanted the service to be centralized and confined to a family line (rather than be carried out by individual firstborns in every family), so that the laws of cultic service could be passed from father to son, facilitating their transmission and ensuring expertise.
• After the Sin of the Golden Calf – Rashi, Ibn Ezra and many others maintain that Levites merited their position as a reward for their loyalty to Hashem during the sin of the Golden Calf.

Age of Service

While Bemidbar 4 sets 30-50 as the age of Levite service, Bemidbar 8:23-26 instead sets 25 as the lower age limit. How can this contradiction be understood? How do both verses work with the fact that in the era of David (Divrei HaYamim I 23:24-28), Chizkiyahu (Divrei HaYamim II 31:17) and Ezra (Ezra 3:8-11), it appears that the Levites began working already at the age of twenty? Commentators resolve the contradiction in one of two ways: [For discussion, see Ages of Levite Workers.]

• Different levels of obligation – Sifre Bemidbar8:24About Sifre Bemidbar asserts that only Levites aged 30 and up were fully obligated to work in the Mishkan. Those aged 25-30 were in training.
• Different tasks – RashbamBemidbar 8:24-26About R. Shemuel b. Meir, Ibn EzraBemidbar 8:24About R. Avraham ibn Ezra and R. Yosef Bekhor ShorBemidbar 4:3About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, in contrast, suggest that there were different tasks assigned to the Levites at different ages.  The difficult task of transport was reserved for those 30 and up while other jobs were begun earlier.

Types of Work

What functions were carried out by the Levites in the Tabernacle and Mikdash? Which of these are attested to in Torah and which only in the rest of Tanakh?

Transport and Assembly

Bemidbar 1:50, Bemidbar 3:21-38 and Bemidbar 4 describe how the Levites were tasked with transporting the Tabernacle. The family of Kehat carried the various vessels, Gershon took the curtains, and Merari was in charge of the boards. The Levites were further responsible for the dismantling and erecting of the Mishkan throughout the travels in the Wilderness (see Bemidbar 1:51and Bemidbar 10:17-21).  Some aspects of these roles, though, are under debate:

• Who carried the ark?  Though Bemidbar 3-4¹ suggest that it was the Levites' job to carry the ark, other verses² imply that perhaps this was a task reserved for the priests. Yet other verses³ are ambiguous, mentioning both the priests and Levites. How can the differing portraits be reconciled? Whose job was it to carry the ark?
• Levites – According to R. Yose in Bavli SotahSotah 33bAbout the Bavli, the Levites were normally in charge of carrying the ark, but there were a few special occasions (crossing the Jordan, conquering Yericho and placing the ark in the Mikdash) when the priests were given the honor in their stead.⁴
• Priests – RambamPositive Commandments 34About Rambam Sefer HaMitzvot, in contrast, suggests that really the task of transporting the ark was reserved for the priests.  It was only in the Wilderness period, due to the small number of priests,⁵ that Levites were allowed to carry it.

• How did the ark travel?

Guard Duty

Bemidbar 1:53, 3:7-8, 8:26, and Bemidbar 18:1-5 all speak of the Levites' role in guarding the Tabernacle. See also the many verses in Ketuviim⁶ which speak of the Levites similarly serving as gate-keepers of the Mikdash.⁷

• Purpose of guarding – Commentators discuss the goal of this guard duty:
  
  • Practical function – Most commentators assume that the purpose of guarding was practical in nature, to prevent Israelites from approaching too close to the Mishkan.
  • Honor to the Mikdash – RalbagBemidbar 3:6About R. Levi b. Gershom adds that having guards serves to elevate the Mikdash in the eyes of the people, for palaces and mansions tend to have people standing guard in front.
• Placement in camp – Many commentators directly relate the Levites' placement in the camp closer to the Tabernacle, with their task of ensuring that no foreigners approached the Mishkan.⁸ NetzivBemidbar 1:50Bemidbar 18:4About R. Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin adds that proximity to the Tabernacle more easily allowed the Levites to care for it. RalbagBemidbar 18:2-3About R. Levi b. Gershom, however, suggests that the placement is meant to honor the Levites. The more elevated the tribe, the more honored a position they received around the Tabernacle.

"וְשֵׁרְתוּ אֹתוֹ" – Service of the Mishkan / Priests

Bemidbar 1:50 speaks of the Levites serving the Tabernacle ("וְהֵם יְשָׁרְתֻהוּ"), while Bemidbar 3:6 and 18:1-3 speak of them serving Aharon ("וִישָׁרְתוּךָ").⁹ What is included in this "service"?

• General service – R. HirschBemidbar 1:50About R. Samson Raphael Hirsch explains that the service of the Tabernacle spoken of in Bemidbar 1 is explained by the surrounding verses and refers to the Tabernacle's transportation and assembly.  NetzivBemidbar 1:50About R. Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin suggests that it might refer to repairs as well.
• Guard duty – RashiBemidbar 3:6Bemidbar 18:2About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki, R. Yosef KaraBemidbar 3:6About R. Yosef Kara, R. Yosef Bekhor ShorBemidbar 3:6About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, RalbagBemidbar 3:6Bemidbar 18:2-3About R. Levi b. Gershom all explain that the service refers to assisting to guard the Tabernacle (and later Mikdash), lest a foreigner come close.  This is supported by the context, as each of the verses mentioning "שירות" is followed by a variation of the command "וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֵת מִשְׁמֶרֶת הַקֹּדֶשׁ".
• Song – MalbimBemidbar 3:6Bemidbar 18:2About R. Meir Leibush Weiser, following R. Yehuda in Bavli ArakhinArakhin 11aAbout the Bavli, understands "service" to refer to singing during the sacrificial service. According to him, the verse is referring to a service that is unique to the Levites, hence singing. This understanding of "service" might be supported by Divrei HaYamim I 6:16-17 which mentions that the Levites "מְשָׁרְתִים לִפְנֵי מִשְׁכַּן אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד בַּשִּׁיר".
• Assist in sacrificial service – R. Yosef Bekhor ShorBemidbar 3:6About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor posits that the service might also include helping the priests with the sacrificial service: slaughtering and skinning, jobs which were allowed to non-priests.¹⁰

Miscellaneous Jobs Not Explicit in Torah

There are several roles played by the Levites in later books of Tanakh which are not mentioned explicitly in Torah:

• Music – Though no verses in Torah explicitly mention that the Levites were supposed to function as singers or musicians,¹¹ verses throughout Divrei HaYamim attest to this role.¹²
• Preparation of Bread – Divrei HaYamim I 9:32 speaks of Kehat being n charge pf baking the showbread.  It is not clear, though, if this refers to the Levites or Priests.
• Purification of Mikdash –

Teachers of Torah

Supervisors

Was Elazar or Itamar assigned to supervise the Levites?

¹ See also Devarim 31:25 and Divrei HaYamim II 35:3.

² See, for example, Devarim 31:9, Yehoshua 3-4 and Melakhim I 8:1-6.

³ See Yehoshua 8:33, Shemuel II 15:24 and Divrei HaYamim I 15:11-12.

⁴ Ramban points out that since the task of carrying the ark was given to the family of Kehat, of whom the priests are a part, the priests, too, are always allowed to carry the ark. Normally, though, it is the Levites who do so.

⁵ As there were only three priests in the Wilderness period and the ark required four people to carry it, it was impossible for them to carry out the job.

⁶ Ezra 2:42, 7:7 and 10:2, Nechemyah 7:45, Divrei HaYamim I 9:17-26 and Divrei HaYamim II 23:19 and Divrei HaYamim II 34:13.

⁷ RambanBemidbar 1:53About R. Moshe b. Nachman points to Bemidbar 1:53 as the source for the obligation that the Levites guard the Mikdash as well, pointing to Divrei HaYamim I 24:19 which suggests that David's division of the Levites into groupings of guards was instituted already by Aharon.

⁸ This would seem to be the simple understanding of Bemidbar 1:53, which speaks of both the Levites' encampment around the Tabernacle and the need for guarding the Mikdash, so that Hashem's wrath will not fall on Israel: וְהַלְוִיִּם יַחֲנוּ סָבִיב לְמִשְׁכַּן הָעֵדֻת וְלֹא יִהְיֶה קֶצֶף עַל .עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְשָׁמְרוּ הַלְוִיִּם אֶת מִשְׁמֶרֶת מִשְׁכַּן הָעֵדוּת

⁹ Bemidbar 8:26 also uses the verb "שרת" but this verse is speaking of the older Levites serving (with) the other Levites in the Tabernacle.  This service is contrasted with "working" in the Tabernacle.

¹⁰ As evidence he points to Divrei HaYamim II 30:17 and Divrei HaYamim II 29:34, where the Levites assist the priests in sacrificing and skinning the Pesach sacrifice. See also the commentary attributed to RashiDivrei HaYamim I 23:31About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki who understands Divrei HaYamim I 23:31 to refer to work done by the Levites relating to the sacrificial service (bringing of the animals and skinning them).

¹¹ Various verses have been proposed as the source for the Levites' obligation to sing during the sacrificial service, but each is unclear.  See the discussion in Bavli Arakhin 11a-b.

¹² See, for instance, Ezra 2:42, 7:7 and Ezra 10:2, Nechemyah 7:45, Divrei HaYamim I 9:17-26 and Divrei HaYamim II 23:19 and 34:13.