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In Jubilees, Isaac takes Levi by his right hand and blesses him before Judah, ranking the priesthood above the king. The Testament of Judah makes this explicit, with Judah saying God set the kings beneath the priesthood.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Jubilees 31:13
Pseudepigrapha
12 A spirit of prophecy descended into his mouth. He took Levi by his right hand and Judah by his left hand. 13 He turned to Levi first and began to bless him first. He said to him: ‘May the Lord of everything — he is the Lord of all ages — bless you and your sons throughout all ages. 14 May the Lord give you and your descendants extremely great honor; may he make you and your descendants alone out of all humanity approach him to serve in his temple like the angels of the presence and like the holy ones. The descendants of your sons will be like them in honor, greatness, and holiness. May he make them great throughout all ages.’
Testament of Judah 21:2
Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs
Pseudepigrapha
1 Now, my children, I command you: love Levi, so that you may endure, and do not exalt yourselves against him, or you will be utterly destroyed. 2 For the Lord gave the kingship to me and the priesthood to him, and he set the kingship beneath the priesthood. 3 To me he gave the things on the earth, and to him the things in the heavens. 4 As heaven is higher than the earth, so the priesthood of God is higher than the earthly kingdom, unless it falls away from the Lord through sin and is dominated by the earthly kingdom.
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Notes and References
... According to Testament of Judah 21:2-4a, Judah himself recognized the situation: “For to me the Lord gave the kingship and to him the priesthood, and he set the kingship beneath the priesthood. To me he gave the things upon the earth, to him the things in the heavens. As heaven is higher than the earth, so is the priesthood of God higher than the kingship on the earth” (compare 25:1-2). ...
VanderKam, James C.
Jubilees 2: A Commentary on the Book of Jubilees Chapters 22-50
(p. 858) Fortress Press, 2018
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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