An Alternative View to the Development of Priesthood in Ancient Israel
Journal Title: Ankara Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi - Year 2017, Vol 58, Issue 2
Abstract
In the Torah, it is mentioned that God chose the Levites, among children of Israel in the Mount Sinai, to serve Himself and that the Kohens/Priests (descendants of Aaron), who represented a branch of the Levites, had priority for this service. So, the Jewish tradition affirms that the priesthood among children of Israel was formed with Aaron’s blessing by Moses in Mount Sinai. During the time of Zadok, the chief priest of the First Temple, the priesthood became institutionalized and acquired its mature form during the period of the Second Temple. However, the critical studies on the Holy Bible indicate that the phases of the system of priesthood in the history of children of Israel had a course different from what this traditional interpretation of the Tanakh entails. Relying on the findings of these studies, this article revisits the process of the development of the priesthood, as accepted in the Jewish tradition, and suggests that there were three priest hearths, namely, descendants of Zadok, Moses and Aaron. The article argues that the priests of the Second Temple, descendants of Zadok constructed the traditional narrative of the development of the priesthood based on lineage, which underlined the privileged status of this group, and suppressed the memory of the roles of descendants of Moses and Aaron for this service
Authors and Affiliations
Kürşad Demirci, Tolga Savaş Altınel
Keywords
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- DOI 10.1501/Ilhfak_0000001471
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An Alternative View to the Development of Priesthood in Ancient Israel
In the Torah, it is mentioned that God chose the Levites, among children of Israel in the Mount Sinai, to serve Himself and that the Kohens/Priests (descendants of Aaron), who represented a branch of the Levites, had pri...