The Role of the Levites in Chronicles: Past, Present, or Utopia?

The importance of the Levites to the Chronicler, as a class distinct from the priests, has long been recognized. The Chronicler inserts mention of Levites in texts taken from his sources in which they originally were not mentioned, and emphasizes their role in the cult and administration of the kingdom of David and his successors. It has often been claimed, that this centrality is a reflection of the situation in the Chronicler's own period, that of early Second Temple. On the other hand, in recent decades a growing awareness has developed, that the Levites were actually quite marginal, almost non-existent, in the Judaism of this period. This paper is an attempt to re-examine the historical background of the role of Levites in Chronicles and their role in the late First and early Second Temple periods.