Priestly Source - Background

Background

The history of exilic and post-exilic Judah is little known, but a summary of current theories can be made as follows:

• Religion in monarchic Judah centred around ritual sacrifice in the Temple. There, worship was in the hands of priests known as Zadokites (meaning that they traced their descent from an ancestor called Zadok, allegedly high priest under David). There was also a lower order of religious officials called Levites, who were not permitted to perform sacrifices and were restricted to menial functions.
• While the Zadokites were the only priests in Jerusalem, there were other priests at other centres. One of the most important of these was a temple at Bethel, north of Jerusalem. Bethel, the centre of the "golden calf" cult, was one of the main religious centres of the northern kingdom of Israel and had royal support until Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians in 721. Aaron was in some way associated with Bethel.
• In 587 the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem and took most of the Zadokite priesthood into exile, leaving behind the Levites, who were too poor and marginalised to represent a threat to their interests. The temple at Bethel now assumed a major role in the religious life of the inhabitants of Judah, and the non-Zadokite priests, under the influence of the Aaronite priests of Bethel, began calling themselves "sons of Aaron" to distinguish themselves from the "sons of Zadok".
• When the Zadokite priests returned from exile after c.538 and began re-establishing the temple in Jerusalem they came into conflict with the Aaronite priests. The Zadokites won the conflict but adopted the Aaronite name, whether as part of a compromise or in order to out-flank their opponents by co-opting their ancestor.
• The Zadokites simultaneously found themselves in conflict with the Levites, who objected to their subordinate position. The priests also won this battle, writing into the Priestly document stories such as the rebellion of Korah, which paints the challenge to priestly prerogative as unholy and unforgivable.