, iv., viii., nor
anywhere else in the Old Testament, is there a single trace of the
priesthood of the first-born), but as a gift due to the priests, as
such being even required to undergo the usual "waving" before the altar,
to symbolise their being cast into the altar flame (Numbers viii.).
The relationship between Aaron and Levi, and the circumstance that
precisely this tribe is set apart for the sanctuary in compensation
for the first-born, appears almost accidental, but at all events
cannot be explained by the theory that Aaron rose on the shoulders
of Levi; on the contrary, it rather means that Levi has mounted up
by means of Aaron, whose priesthood everywhere is treated as having
the priority. Equality between the two is not to be spoken of;
their office and their blood relationship separates them more than
it binds them together.
Now, the prophet Ezekiel, in the plan of the new Jerusalem which he
sketched in the year 573, takes up among other things the reform of
the relations of the _personnel_ of the temple, and in this
connection expresses himself as follows (xliv. 6-16):--
"Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Let it suffice you of all your
abominations, O house of Israel! in that ye have brought in strangers,
uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my
sanctuary, to pollute it, even my house, when ye offer my bread,
the fat and the blood, and have broken my covenant by all your
abominations.
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