Ezekiel portrays the Levites as guilty of leading Israel into idolatry, stripping them of priestly status and reserving the priesthood in the future Temple for the sons of Zadok, בְּנֵי צָדוֹק. In response, Levitical groups preserved alternative traditions, most notably a counter-narrative in the Golden Calf story, where the Levites alone answer Moses’ call to execute the worshippers of the golden calf, and through this act of loyalty to YHWH, receive ordination.Ah, the Zadokites (and Aaronids) and Levites (and Mushites?). The biblical texts clearly preserve narratives by competing priestly groups, but who exactly was doing what, where, and when remains debated. This essay has good coverage of some of the main issues.
For some PaleoJudaica posts on the mystery of the Zadokite and Levite priestly lines, see here (summarizing the hypothesis of my doctoral supervisor, the late Frank Moore Cross), as well as the links collected here, plus here.
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