40. The Levites. It is surprising to find the lower ecclesiastical workers returning in such small numbers—only 74 Levites, 128 singers, 139 gatekeepers, and 392 other Temple servants—a total of 733 men as compared with more than 4,000 priests who returned.
From the history of the kingdom of Judah we know that the Temple service had, at times, fallen into decay, and that many of the Temple personnel had been connected with the pagan high places (see on Judges 5:18) that had been established throughout the country. All of these were destroyed by Josiah as a part of his work of reform (2 Kings 23:5, 8, 13), and their priests taken to Jerusalem. But a place in the sanctuary and at the altar of the Temple was denied them, and they were apparently allowed to perform only the most menial tasks (see on 2 Kings 23:9).
Ezekiel refers to the misconduct of the Temple personnel prior to the Exile, but the Zadok priests seem to have remained at least comparatively free from idolatry, and, in the service of the Temple shown him in vision, were to have served as priests. Their Levitical brethren were to be allowed to perform only menial duties in the new Temple. The Levites could thus not expect positions of honor, and most of them may therefore have preferred to remain in exile.
Another possible reason for the small number of returning Levites may have been that relatively few of them had been taken into exile. Nebuchadnezzar at first deported only the higher officers, the nobility, and the armed forces. The Levites did not belong to any of these classes—at least not since the time of Josiah—and may therefore not have been deported in so great numbers as the priests. If but few Levites were in exile, the number of those returning would also be small.
