RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Priest
Manner of Life.
long tunic provided with arms of byssus in one piece, woven probably in a checker pattern; (3) a
girdle also of byssus, inwoven with «^?J?™ -* threads of blue, purple, and scarlet.
According to Josephus (Ant., III., vii.
2) there were inwoven flowers, and the ends of the girdle hung down to the ground, being thrown over the left shoulder during the service; (4) a sort of cap, also of byssus, of uncertain form; a conical shape is usually assumed. The color of the dress, excepting the girdle, was white throughout, symbolizing purity. No shoes were worn. The hereditary priests were under all circumstances assured of support from the legally provided income; but actual priestly service was permitted only to the physically faultless. In Lev. xxi. 17-20, are enumerated twelve blemishes that disqualify a priest for officiating. Priestly ordination must therefore have been preceded by a thorough examination. Those who passed it clothed themselves in white; those who failed, in black (Middoth v. 4). No age limits are given in the codes, but traditionally the minimum age was twenty.
The rules for purification laid down for the people in general were more strict as applied to the priests. They were not to arouse the suspicion of adherence to other divinities by any peculiarities in method of wearing the hair or by using heathen rites of mourning, were to avoid defilement from the dead, excepting for father, mother, son, daughter, brother, unmarried sister, and wife. The priest's marriage was restricted in certain respects — he might not marry a woman of immoral character, a sickly or a divorced woman, or a widow, unless perhaps her former husband had been a priest. Adultery by a priest's daughter was punishable with death by fire. Especial strictness in observing the rules of purification was required during the period of actual service — perfect continence, abstinence from wine, and washing before the beginning of the service, and the sacred dress was not to be worn at any other time (Lev. x.; Ezek. xliv. 17 sqq., xxi v. 44).
6. Perquisites: The income of the priest consisted of his portion from sacrifices, other religious assessments, and income from private sources. The priest who officiated at a sacrifice received a share of the common sacrificial meal (I Sam. ii. 13 sqq.). The consecrated bread usually fell to him (I Sam. xxi. 5, 7); and to him, in general, everything fell that had once been hallowed and excluded from profane use, in so far as it was not eaten at the common sacrificial meal, or, because of high sanctity, destroyed. In the period of the kings the priests received money given as trespass and sinofferings (II Kings xii. 16). According to D the tribe of Levi received all the burnt-offerings of Yahweh (Deut. xxiii. 1). The intensification of ritualistic zeal, as witnessed by the prophets, redounded to the advantage of the priests. According to P the priest received the hide from the burntoffering and all the sin and guilt offerings for individual Israelites. The sin and guilt-offerings brought for the people as a whole and for the high-priest were burned outside the camp (Ex. xxix. 14; Lev.
iv. 21). Of all sacrifices such as peace offerings the priest received the breast and the right thigh, and a cake as a by-gift. Of the meat-offering he received all that was not cast into the altar-fire as heave-offering; as also the showbread, the meat of lambs brought at Pentecost, and definite impost on the sacrifices of the Nazarites (Lev. vii. 31 sqq., ii. 3, 10; Num. vi. 20). All firstlings of the flocks were brought as solemn sacrifices to God and the priest received his share (Ex. xxii. 29). All that was unclean and unserviceable was to be redeemed, as also the first-born of men. Everything under the ban fell to the priests (Lev. xxvii. 21, 28; Num. xviii. 14). The first-fruits of grain, new wine, and oil belonged to Yahweh (Ex. xxiii. 19). The magnitude of the offering of first-fruits is not stated. According to Deut. xiv. 22 sqq., the custom seems to have been a tenth of the total produce every third year. In P the first-fruits includes that of the threshing-floor and new flour (dough; Num. xv. 17-21). In addition there were firstlings of fruit which were brought in baskets in solemn procession to the temple. According to Neh. x. 37-39, these offerings were stored up in the chambers of the temple. The priest received also firstlings at the feasts of unleavened bread and of Pentecost (Lev. xxiii. 10, 20).
The Tithe (q.v.), perhaps originally and even in D identical with the first-fruits, was to be eaten as a sacrificial meal at the central sanctuary (Deut. xiv. 22 sqq.) . It might be converted into money but w as to be used only in the form of a sacrificial meal, at which the Levite must not be forgotten. At the end of three years the whole tithe was to be made over to the poor of the locality, including again the Levite. In P the tithe is a fixed tribute to the Levites, who in turn have to give a tenth to the priests (Num. xviii. 21, 25 sqq., 30). This legislalation was never carried out in practise. The highpriestly families, even under the regime of the law, monopohzed the tithe, while the lower priests suffered privation (Josephus, Ant., XX., viii. 8, ix. 2). The prescriptions of P and D were so combined by the pious Jew that he offered the tithe of Num. xviii. 21 as a " first tithe," that of Deut. xiv. 22- 27 as a " second," and that of Deut. xiv. 28-29 as a " third " (Tob. i. 7-8; Josephus, Ant., IV., viii. 22). A considerable part of the income of the priests was derived from ownership of real estate. Instances of individual priests owning land may be found in I Kings ii. 26; Jer. xxxii. 7 sqq., xxxvii. 12; Ezek. xiv. 1 sqq., xlviii. 10 sqq. Many priests as well as Levites in the first years after the exile must have supported themselves from the products of the land near Jerusalem. In Josh. xxi. and I Chron. vi. 39 sqq., thirteen of the forty-eight Levite cities, all lying near Jerusalem, are apportioned to the priests. The apportionment never actually took place, but the texts indicate how the subject was considered. (J. KoBERLEf.)
II. In the Christian Church: Offerings and priests are essential factors in all pre-Christian religions, the one as means of securing the divine favor, the other as mediators between suppliants and the deity by presenting the offerings of the former to the latter. It was a striking characteristic
Priest