Kohathites

The Kohathites were one of the four main divisions among the Levites in Biblical times. The Bible claims that the Kohathites were all descended from the eponymous "Kohath", a son of Levi [] . This differentiation of religious activity between the Kohathites and other Levites, even the Aaronids, is found only in the Priestly Code, and not in passages that textual scholars attribute to other authors ["Peake's commentary on the Bible"] [Cheyne and Black, "Encyclopedia Biblica"] .

According to the Book of Joshua, rather than possessing a continuous territory, the Kohathites possessed several cities scattered throughout the geographic region in the Kingdom of Israel south of the Jezreel Valley, and in the region north of the Galilee, the latter being an extremely large distance apart from the former [] :
*in the territory of Ephraim: Shechem, Gezer, Kibzaim, and Beth-horon
*in the territory of Manasseh: Tanach, Gath-rimmon
*in the territory of Dan: Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon

The narrative in Joshua argues that the territory was taken by the Levites right after Joshua's conquest of Canaan, but this cannot be correct ["Jewish Encyclopedia"] , as it is contradicted not only by archaeological evidence, but also by narratives in the Book of Judges, Books of Samuel, and Books of Kings [ibid] [Israel Finkelstein, "The Bible Unearthed"] ; Gezer, for example, is portrayed in the narrative of the Book of Kings as only coming into the possession of the Levites during the reign of Solomon [bibleverse|1|Kings|9:16|] ["Jewish Encyclopedia"] , and archaeological excavation of the site has shown that shortly prior to the Babylonian captivity it was still the site of a large temple to the Canaanite deity Astarte ["Palestine Exploration Fund, Quarterly Statement January 1903"] . The conclusion of most biblical scholars is thus that the whole system of Levite cities, in the Torah and deuteronomic history, is an attempt to explain the fact that important early sanctuaries existed at these locations, and thus were places where members of the priesthood naturally came to reside in large numbers ["Jewish Encyclopedia"] ; scholars believe that the priesthood was originally open to any tribe, but gradually became seen as a distinct tribe to themselves - the Levites ["Jewish Encyclopedia"] ["Peake's commentary on the bible"] .

ee also

*Gershonite
*Merarite

Notes and citations