Textual scholars attribute the biblical genealogy to the Book of Generations, a document originating from a similar religiopolitical group and date to the priestly source.

According to Shammai Feldman, Zelophehad and his daughters are a fiction created simply to illustrate some of the legal rules of inheritance ; Jewish textual scholars regard the accounts concerning Zelophehad's daughters as accretions added to the earlier priestly source narrative by writers from the same pro-Aaronid religio-political group.

The tribe seems to have dwindled in size, and the size of the tribe dramatically drops by over half between the two census recorded in the Book of Numbers ; although the Bible places these census during the Exodus, textual scholars place them in the period of priestly source, roughly 700-600 BC.

According to 19th century textual scholars these rules originate from two different layers in the priestly source, thought by scholars to be one of the source texts of the Torah ; the priestly code within the priestly source is believed to be a series of additions to the text, from Aaronid editors, over a long period.

Certain religious and political functions were reserved for the Levites, and the early sources of the Torah — the Jahwist and Elohist — appear to treat the term Levi as just being a word meaning priest ; scholars therefore suspect that " levi " was originally a general term for a priest, and had no connection to ancestry, and that it was only later, for example in the priestly source and Blessing of Moses, that the existence of a tribe named Levi became assumed, in order to explain the origin of the priestly caste.

Scholars attribute the genealogy to the Book of Generations, a document originating from a similar religiopolitical group and date to the priestly source.

As the Priestly source is considered to be based on the JE source, albeit spun to the Aaronid priesthood's political viewpoint, the original JE ending, and priestly source beginning, can be expected to be fairly similar to the text that is currently present.

Textual scholars attribute the genealogy to the Book of Generations, a document originating from a similar religiopolitical group and date to the priestly source.

There is no description of the form of the Urim and Thummim in the passage describing the high priest's vestments, and a number of scholars believe that the author of the passage, which textual scholars attribute to the priestly source, wasn't actually entirely aware of what they were either.

Indeed, since the priestly source, which textual scholars date to a couple of centuries prior to the captivity, doesn't appear to know what the Urim and Thummim looked like, and there is no mention of the Urim and Thummim in the deuteronomic history beyond the death of David, scholars suspect that use of them decayed some time before the Babylonian conquest, probably as a result of the growing influence at the time of prophets.

According to the documentary hypothesis, the Holiness Code represents an earlier text that was edited and incorporated into the priestly source and the Torah as a whole.

However, it is believed, under the hypothesis, to have been an originally separate legal code ( referred to as " H ") which the priestly source chose to embed into their writing.

The hypothesis further asserts that the Holiness Code was subjected to editing by the priestly source.

Judaism does not have clergy as such, although according to the Torah there is a tribe of priests known as the Kohanim who were leaders of the religion up to the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem in 70AD when most Sadducees were wiped out ; each member of the tribe, a Kohen had priestly duties, many of which centered around the sacrificial duties, atonement and blessings of the Israelite nation.

Moreover, the Torah already provided some ways for all Jews to lead a priestly life: the precepts concerning unclean meat were perhaps intended originally for the priests, but were extended to the whole people ( Leviticus 11 ; Deuteronomy 14: 3 – 21 ); the prohibition of cutting the flesh in mourning for the dead ( Deuteronomy 14: 1 – 2, Leviticus 19: 28 ; comp.

Their high social status was reinforced by their priestly responsibilities, as mandated in the Torah.

The mitzvot in the Torah ( also called the Mosaic law after Moses ) pertain to nearly every aspect of human life ; some of these laws are directed only to men or to women, some only to the ancient priestly groups ( the Kohanim and Leviyim, members of the tribe of Levi, some only to farmers within the Land of Israel.

Since the Bible prohibits Kohanim ( descendants of Aaron ) from performing the priestly blessing while intoxicated, and there is concern that Kohanim may imbibe alcoholic beverages during the Simchat Torah festivities, the blessing was moved to before the time when alcohol would be served.

Examples of this include: the recital of the priestly benediction by Kohanim who do not have a religious lifestyle ; and a shaliach tzibur or person performing a Torah reading who shaves.

" This view is witnessed to by the prayers of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, when the priest says: " Accept, O God, our supplications, make us to be worthy to offer unto thee supplications and prayers and bloodless sacrifices for all thy people ," and " Remembering this saving commandment and all those things which came to pass for us: the cross, the grave, the resurrection on the third day, the ascension into heaven, the sitting down at the right hand, the second and glorious coming again, Thine own of Thine own we offer unto Thee on behalf of all and for all ," and "… Thou didst become man and didst take the name of our High Priest, and deliver unto us the priestly rite of this liturgical and bloodless sacrifice …"

In fact, we are all consecrated priests through Baptism, as St. Peter in 1 Peter 2 says, " You are a royal priesthood and a priestly kingdom ," and Revelation, " Through your blood you have made us into priests and kings.

If they recognize this they would know that they have no right to exercise power over us ( ius imperii, in what has not been committed to them ) except insofar as we may have granted it to them, for thus it says in 1 Peter 2, " You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a priestly kingdom.

The chazzan also says the priestly blessing before Shalom as he would at Shacharit, unlike the usual weekday Minchah when the priestly blessing is not said.

On the other hand, George T. Dennis SJ of Catholic University of America says: " There is simply no clear evidence of a general tradition or practice, much less of an obligation, of priestly celibacy-continence before the beginning of the fourth century " Peter Fink SJ agrees, saying that underlying premises used in the book, Apostolic Origins of Priestly Celibacy, " would not stand up so comfortably to historical scrutiny ".

There Moses stripped Aaron of his priestly garments and transferred them to Eleazar.

A Christian came to Abbahu with the quibbling question: " How could your God in His priestly holiness bury Moses without providing for purificatory rites, yet oceans are declared insufficient?

God gave Moses instructions for the construction of the tabernacle so that God could dwell permanently among his chosen people, as well as instructions for the priestly vestments, the altar and its appurtenances, the procedure to be used to ordain the priests, and the daily sacrifices to be offered.

The two powerful groups making up the community — the priestly families who controlled the Temple and who traced their foundation-myth to Moses and the wilderness wanderings, and the major landowning families who made up the " elders " and who traced their own origins to Abraham, who had " given " them the land — were in conflict over many issues, and each had its own " history of origins ", but the Persian promise of greatly increased local autonomy for all provided a powerful incentive to cooperate in producing a single text.

Moses set up a senatorial priestly aristocracy, which, like that of Rome, resisted monarchy.

The reference to Mount Gerizim derives from the biblical story of Moses ordering Joshua to take the Twelve Tribes of Israel, ( the number of which did not include the priestly tribe of Levi ) to the mountains by Nablus and place half of the tribes, six in number, on the top of Mount Gerizim, the Mount of the Blessing, and the other half in Mount Ebal, the Mount of the Curse.

The status of priest kohen was conferred on Aaron, the brother of Moses, and his sons as an everlasting covenant During the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness and until the Holy Temple was built in Jerusalem, the priests performed their priestly service in the portable Tabernacle (,,,) Their duties involved offering the daily and Jewish holiday sacrifices, and blessing the people in a Priestly Blessing, later also known as Nesiat Kapayim (" Raising of the hands ").

Aaron's sons came for the priestly share, but Korah and his people refused to give the prescribed portions to them, saying that it was not God but Moses who commanded those things.

) a criticism of Aaron, as the founder of one priestly house that rivaled the priestly house of Moses, and / or 2.

Josephus also writes that Abraham taught science to the Egyptians, who in turn taught the Greeks, and that Moses set up a senatorial priestly aristocracy, which like Rome resisted monarchy.

Although a literal interpretation of the Book of Exodus would conclude that the mercy seat, along with the remainder of the Ark, was constructed according to the commands of Yahweh at the time of Moses, textual scholars regard the passages referring to its construction as originating from the priestly source, which they date to the 7th Century BCE.

Olive oil was used for not only food and cooking, but also lighting, sacrificial offerings, ointment, and anointment for priestly or royal office.

When his colleague Lepidus died, Augustus assumed his office as pontifex maximus, took priestly control over the State oracles ( including the Sibylline books ), and used his powers as censor to suppress the circulation of " unapproved " oracles.

Spock's Vulcan salute references a sacred hand position used by the ancient Jewish priestly class.

This usage is seen by some Protestant Christians as stripping the laity of its priestly status, while those who use the term defend its usage by saying that, while they do believe in the priesthood ( Greek ἱερεύς hiereus-a different word altogether, used in Rev 1: 6, 1 Pet 2: 9 ) of all believers, they do not believe in the eldership of all believers.

The lituus was also used as a symbol of office for the college of the augurs to mark them out as a priestly group, similar wands were also used by the priests and pharaohs in ancient Egypt and are associated with some deities.

It derives from the Greek phrase ( grammata hieratika ; literally " priestly writing "), as at that time hieratic was used only for religious texts, as had been the case for the previous thousand years.

Around 660 BC, the Demotic script ( and later Greek ) replaced hieratic in most secular writing, but hieratic continued to be used by the priestly class for several more centuries, at least into the 3rd century AD.

Due to their priestly aesthetic, they are often shown wielding the Shakujo, a distinct staff used by Buddhist monks.

Mills divides the priests of Tir na nÓg into two factions: the good Druids, the well known priestly class of Celtic Europe, and the evil Drunes, which name derives from the Galatian place-name Drunemeton (" oak-sanctuary "), used in the story " The Bride of Crom " as the name of the Drunes ' capital.

The term goði is often used as a priestly title by modern adherents of various denominations of Germanic Neopaganism, especially in Ásatrú.

During the Eastern Roman Empire ( Byzantine Empire ) the emperor used to be permitted to offer incense on the Feast of the Nativity ( no doubt as a memorial of the gifts of the Magi ), but was permitted to perform no other priestly function.

Seeds of Mexican morning glory ( tlitliltzin, I. tricolor ) were thus used by Aztecs and Zapotecs in shamanistic and priestly divination rituals, and at least by the former also as a poison, to give the victim a " horror trip " ( see also Aztec entheogenic complex ).

The Ahom language, only known by approximately 100-200 members of the Ahom priestly class, is extinct as a spoken language and only used for ritualistic purposes.

On 30 April 1914, with a group of young men that had been in formation ( as a seminarian, Justin used to teach catechism to some young boys of his town and he found in some of them some true signs of priestly of religious vocations and he continued to give them formation even after becoming a priest ), he tried to set up a community life.

The Greek word νεωκορειν meant literally a temple-sweeper ( νεως, temple, κορειν, to sweep ), and was thence used both of a temple attendant and of a priestly holder of high rank who was in charge of a temple.