Appendix 8A
The Tribe
of Levi:
(A section of the (Hebrew) book of On Zayit “The Yisraeli People – the Lost Culture”, chapter 11 section 4).
1. The Fit between its Structure to the Origin of its People
There were factions that could not join easily to on of the tribes of Yisrael. People from the outside who sought to join a tribe after the allocation of its lands among the conquerors’ families already could not get an estate since the allocation of the lands was a once-only affair {note – the writer is not aware here of the Jubilee laws – Y. H}
The builders of the Yisraeli Nation sought to allow also the joining of such accompaniers, devoid of estate. For these accompaniers it was more appropriate to settle in (non agricultural) cities, assuming that their residents would be less dependent on a land estate for their subsistence.
It is therefore quite possible that the passages in the Book of Joshu’a, about the allocation of a number of cities for the Levites at each tribal estate, issue from evens or plans that actually occurred.
But a large number of the cities in the list of the cities of the Levites, perhaps the majority, did not become such because of in-migration of Levites, old or new. They became Cities of the Levites through a different process, a process of the joining of alien cities to the Yisraeli People.
Not all the old-timer alien cities in the land were able, when they desired so, to join the tribes they dwelled among them. The tribe was not inclined to receive into it an alien city that for a long time was inimical to the tribe and at times even fought it. N such a case, the town was joined to the Yisraeli People through “The Tribe of Levi” (namely “accompanier”) and as long the city was counted among the Levites it had no status within the tribe it dwelled within.
In this way, it became possible to assimilate into the Yisraeli nation also alien groups that were not liked by their Yisraeli environment. Over the years and with the passage of generations such groups became integrated in their environment and assimilated into it and were no longer recognized as “Levite”.
2. The Tribe of the Local Aliens
Support for this reconstruction comes from the comparison of two lists of cities in the Bible. The one list is the list of cities that the Israelites did not suuceed in conquering when they invaded the land after the death of Moses-Moshe, this list comes in the beginning of the Book of the Judges. The second list is the list of the cities of the Levites. This list comes in two versions, in the Book of Joshu’a (21:11-37) and the Chronicles (6:40-66). Here I shall relate to the union of the two Levite lists.
The cities of Ta’anakh, Bil’am, Gezer, Ayalon, Nahallal and Rehov appear both in the list of the cities of the Levites and the list of the unconquered cities. Conclusion: when these cities were conquered in a later period, their residents were not destroyed and not expelled but were joined to the Yisraeli People as “Levites”.
In the same manner were neither destroyed nor expelled the Hivite residents of Giv’on, who made a covenant with the Israelites. Over the years, they became Levites, and therefore their city is mentioned in the list of the Levite cities.
There is also no story of conquest on the Hivite city of Shekhem, also the archeological finds testify to a continuation of the Hivite settlement in the times of the Israelite conquest. Shekhem appears in the list of the Levite cities.
Devir was conquered by Atniel son of Qenaz, it too became a Levite city. Here too the archeological finds point to a continuous settlement of the site.
Joshu’a, according to the accounts, conquered Yarmut, Livnab, Qadesh an Yoqne’am. Their residents were not destroyed. These cities became Levite cities.
In the last year of the life of Moses, according to the Bible, the Israelites fought under his guidance against the Emorite kingdom of Sihon, situated east of the Jordan river, in the large area between the Arnon river and the Yaboq river. They conquered it, along with its main cities, Yahetz, Heshbon and Ya’azar. Their residents were not destroyed, these cities became Levite cities.
Other Levite cities reveal their alien origin through their idolaterous names: Beit Shmesh (house of Shemes – the Son god), Anatot (like the goddess Anat), Ashtarot (the goddess Ashtoret), Hamon, Beir Horon.
In the list of the cities of the Levites, the biggest group is the group of Levite cities in the Land of Judah-Yehudah. Tis is an additional sign to testify about the large extent of the alien element in the Tribe of Judah, which assimilated into it, apart from the cities of the Levites, also many local families, something that research has already pointed out. .
To what extend did the Levites adopt the Yisraeli culture?” It is likely that the degree of adoption was different from one place to another, and that in certain places it was accepted only for appearance. When the accompaniers-Levites stayed long enough in the Yisraeli environment, they eventually adopted the Yisraeli culture in earnest.
During the Sinai period, the Levites were connected to the Yisraeli Torah even more than the Hebrews. These Levites, perhaps all of them, were of Egyptian origin and joined the Yisraeli covenant because of ideological reasons; in that period they were the most fanatic for the Yisraeli Torah. According to what we have seen {in the former chapter – Y.H}, it is reasonable to assume that they were from the circles of the Egyptian priesthood, and this explained still more their fanaticism. It is reasonable to assume that also their descendents continued in their way.
Moshe-Moss himself and his sons were included in among the Levite tribe (1 Chronicles 23:14). My reconstruction thus supports the Greek tradition that related that Moses was originally an Egyptian priest.
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The Yisraeli settlers did not build large cities, but many small agricultural settlements through the length and breadth of the area they caught. This manner of living was more natural and fitting for people who sought to actualize the culture of YHWH, this way they had the most individual freedom.
The larger cites were Levite cities, they were the heritage of the Canaanite culture. The Canaanite accompaniers sought to continue their urban mnner of living. Moreover, most of the agricultural lands of the Levites were taken from them when they were conquered. The rural and nomadic accompaniers, who joined the Yisraeli covenant at their own initiative, were more easily assimilated in their Yisraeli environment within the tribes themselves. This way the Levite tribe became an “urban” tribe.
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All the cities of sanctuary, which were ready to give a sanctuary for the inadvertent killers, were Levite cities, namely, cities of foreign origin. The conclusions of chapter thirteen suggest that these cities were designated for this by the administration of the Solomonic kingdom.