In ail probability the publication of the Law was vou IV. — 6
preceded by the appearance of tlie short jirophetiial writing which has come down to us under the name Malachi, which is derived from one of its catch-words, or may even be a title of honour given to its author. It was probably WTitten after the arrival of Ezra, as it occupies itself with the question of the mixed marriages, which, so far as we know, was first agitated by him. The covenant with the priests is called in Malachi the covenant with Levi or with the Levites (2*-*), which does not agree with the terminology of the Priests' Codex, and hence appears to pomt to a date prior to its publication. It cannot, surely, be supposed that, with reference to an oppression of the serving Levites by the priests, the latter are reminded by Malachi that Jahweh has entered into covenant with the whole tribe of Levi (Vogel- stein, p. 24 f.), for what Malachi complains of is not ill-treatment of the Levites by the priests, but that the priests handle the tdrdk wrongly and with respect of persons (2'"-), i.e. of course in their dealings with the community. Malachi calls those who present the offerings ' sons of I^evi ' (3^), and betrays no acquaintance with the term ' Levites ' in the special sense of the Priests' Code, namely as the appellation of a cljuss of inferior ministers of the sanctuary. The terminology of the Priests' Codex had thus, at all events, not become current in the time of Malachi. It is true that in Malachi the payin^ of the tithes is demanded, not for the holding of feasts, as in Dt, but for the store-house of the temple, as ' food,' i.e. for those who live by their temple service (38.10) Tills agrees with the requirement of the Priests' Code published by Ezra, but tliis par- ticular ordinance may have come into force even prior to the publication of tlie Code. 8. The Priesthood according to the Law
CONTAINED IN THE ' PRIESTLV WriTINC;.'— We do not know what was the compass of the law- book which obtained recognition under Ezra. Probably we should understand by it the whole Pentateuch. The narrative of the reading of the law and the binding of the people to obey it is scarcely, it is true, taken directly from the Memoirs of Ezra, but certain traces indicate that it goes back to these. The indications whidi the narrative of the reading of the law gixos as to its contents point in ]iart (the prohibition of marriage with the Canaanites, Neh 10^') to Deuteronomy, or even to tlie still older legislation contained in the Jehovistic book, but fn great measure to enactments which are to be found only in the code contained in that source of the Pentateuch which it lias become customary to call as a whole the ' Priestly Writing' (Neh 8"'- '» IQW. soir.) This portion of the law of Ezra is a new factor which, at whatever time it may have originated, had not hitlicrto obtained public recog- nition or been generally known. It is true that in certain new ordinances regarding the situation of the priests, introduced in the period between the First Return and the arrival of Ezra (see above, § 7), influences are to be traced which pro- ceeded from this code, whether already in existence or in process of coming into being.
The Priestly Writing occupies itself more than any of the collections of laws that had hitherto obtained validity, with tlie relations of the priest- hood, and, on this account and because of its having undeniably originated in the circle of the priests, may be called after them. Its legislation, which deals mainly with ritual, is not, indeed, specially designed for the priests. It is not meant to bo a manual of rules for the discharge of the priestly service. These, indeed, are not fully given on many points ; rather are the readers or hearers it has m view, primarily the members of the con-
82
PRIESTS AN'D LEVITES
PRIESTS AND LEVITES
grcjiation. The latter, however, are instructed mainly ahout the organization of the holy ser- vice and of those who perform it, about the rights and duties appertaining to the priests. Neverthe- less, for the sake of brevity, the law contained in the ' Priestly Writing ' may be called, after the example of others, the Priests' Code.
a. The priests in the LaiB of Holiness and in particular 't6r6th.' — It is owing only to redaction by a single hand that the Priests' Code has reache<l a harmonious character ; this redaction has clearly welded it together from a variety of con)ponents. Even the vieAvs it rives of the priestly relations have not been all cast in one mould. In those components of the Priests' Code «liich manitestly are to be recognized as the oldest, the so-called ' Law of Holiness,' i.e. the main stock of Lv 17-26, as well as particular tOrdth akin to this, which were perhaps originally combined with it or may have had currency by themselves (Lv 6f., 11 [12-15. 27], Nu 5""- 6'-''' 15^'"*'), we hear onlyof ' the priests ' or ' the priest,' namely the one officiating ; but the priests are not more clearly defined as to their descent, and there is no mention of Levites or other sanctuary servants alon^ with them. It is a later process of redaction that lias introduced into these passages the designa- tion of the priests with reference to Aaron and his sons. In Lv 6' (Eng.") 'sons of Aaron ' appears to stand in the place of an original ' the priest,' for this subject is followed in y.^W by the singular of the verb. The quite isolated mention of the Levites in these portions (Lv 25'="**) is certainly an interpolation. On the other hand, even the original Law of Holiness probably contained very minute prescriptions as to purity on the part of the priests (Lv 21"'-). This law appears, further, to have been acquainted with a chief priest, for the connexion of tiie section which hays down special rules for hi- .Jritj' (Lv 21"'*'-) with the Law of Holiness scarcely admits of a doubt (it is doubted, indeed, by H. Weinel, 'nu'D und seine Denvate,' in ZATlV, 1898, p. 28 AT.). In favour of this connexion is the expression, not used else- where in tlie Priests' Code, " the priest who is greater than his brethren ' (v.'"). To the older elements probably belongs also the prescription that this Hrst priest is not to leave the sanctuary in the event of a bereavement (Lv 21''''), whicli presujiposes that he lives in the sanctuary (as Eli did), a view which is taken nowhere el.se in the Priests' Code.