Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 9.djvu/240

 LftyiTIOUS

207

thirty. In the distribution of the Land of Chanaan after the conouest, Josue, acting according to instruc- tions receivea from Moses, excluded the tribe of Levi from sharing like the others in the territory. " But to the tribe of Levi he gave no possession: because the Lord the God of Israel himself is their possession'' (Jos., xiii, 33.) It may be noted that a very different reason for this exception is mentioned in Gen., xlix, 5-7. In lieu of a specified territory, the members of the tribe of Levi received permission to dwell scat- tered among the other tribes, special provision being made for their maintenance. Besides the tithes of the produce of land and cattle, and other sacerdotal dues already granted by Moses, the Levites now received from each of the other tribes four cities with suburban pasture lands, or forty-eight in all (Jos., xxi). Among these were included the six cities of refuse, three on each side of the Jordan, which were set aside to check the barbarous custom of blood revenge, still existing among the Arab tribes, and in virtue of which the kinamen^of a man put to death consider it a duty to avenge him by the killing of his intentional or even un- intentional slayer. It is probable, however, that these administrative dispositions concerning the Levites were not fully carried out until some time after the conquest, for, during the long period of transition be- tween the wandering life of the desert and the fully organised civilization of later times, the priests and Levites seem to have had a rather precarious mode of existence. Taking the stoiy of Michas (Judges, xvii) as illustrative of the condition of the Levitical order durine that early period, it would appear that the priestly functionaries were inadequately provided for and had to wander about to secure a livelihood.

The elaborate and highly differentiated organiza- tion of the priestly or Levitical system, described with such abimaance of detail in the priestly writings of the Old Testament, was doubtless the result of a long pro- cess of religious and ritualistic development which at- tained its fullness in the post-Exilic period. As else- ^ere in the history of ancient religions, there appears in the beeinnin^ of Hebrew history a period when no priestly class existed. The functions of the priesthood were performed generally by the head of the family or clan without need of a special 8anctuar>', and there is abundant evidence to show that for a long time after the death of Moses the priestly office was exercised, not only occasionally, but even permanently, by men of non-Levitical descent. The Deuteronomic legisla- tion insists on tiie unity of sanctuary, and recognizes the descendants of Levi as the sole le^timatc mem- bers of the priesthood, but it ignores the sharply de- fined distinction between priests and simple Levites which appears in the later writings and legislation, for the whole class is constantly referred to as the "levite priests". This category excludes the purely lay priest who is no longer tolerated, but if any Levite be willing to leave his residence in any part of the land and come to Jerusalem, *'He shall minister in the name of the Lord his God, as all his brethren the Le- vites do. that shall stand at that time before the Lord. He shall receive the same portion of food that the rest do; besides that which is due him in his own city, by succession from his fathers" (Deut. xviii, 6-8)' In the post-Exilic writings the detailed organization and workings of the levitical system then in its full vigour are adec|uately described, and a certain nunilx?r of the regulations pertaining thereto arc a^crilwd to King David. Thus, it is to the pc»riot of the Lovites, to tlio number of thirty-eight thousand, mnging from the

age of thirty years and upwards receive a special or- ganization (I Par., xxiii-xxvi). Levites are men- tioned only three times in the New Testament (Luke, X, 32; John, i, 19; Acts, iv, 36), and these references throw no li^ht on their status in the time of Christ.

Leqendris m Vio., Did. de la Bible, 8. v. I^vt, Tribu de (III); Baudissin in Haat., Did. of the Bible, n. v. PrieHa and Levitet; GiooT, Outline* ofJewith Hidory, vui, |2, etc.

James F. Driscoll.

Leviticus, the third book of the Pentateuch, so called because it treats of the offices, ministries, rites, and ceremonies of the priests and Levites (see Pentateuch).

Lewis, David. See Baker, Charles, Venerable.

Lex (Law). — ^The etymology of the Latin word lex is a subject of controversy. Some authorities derive it from the Old Norse log, neuter plural of lagf which would be the root of the English laWf signifying '* to put in order", " put in place". Others derive it from the Latin legere, "to reiad", thus giving it an exclusively Latin origin (Br^l, "Sur Torigine aes mots d^ignant le droit et la loi en latin" in "Nouvelle Revue his- torique de droit franyais et stranger'', VII, Paris, 1883, 610-1 1). We shall not examine here the divers meaning of the word laWf but merely treat of certain expressions beginningwith the word lex or leges.

(1) Roman Use. — The word lex followed by a per- sonal name in the feminine gender (Lex Julia, Lex Papia Poppsa) signified, in Itoman Law, a lex rogakif i. e. a legislative enactment that was the outeome of an interrogation (from rogare) by the magistrate of the Roman people: the magistrate proposed the law to the citizens, and they declared tneir acceptance. The law was called by the family name of the author or authors of the proposal.

(2) Leges Romance of Teutonic Peoples. — ^While offi- cial or priyate collections of Roman Law made under the Empire are dalled codiceSf e. g. "Codex Theodosi- anus", probably because they were written on parch- ment sheets bound together in book form, the title lex was given to collections of Roman Law made by order of the barbarian kings for such of their subjects as fol- lowed that legislation. When the Teutonic tribes occupied territories that had once belonged to the empire, the natives of these territories continued to follow the Ronmn Law. It was for them that Alaric II, King of the Visigoths, published, probably in 506, the "l2x Romana Wisigothorum" (Roman Law of the Visigoths) ; according to the most probable opin- ion, he wished to reduce the number of sources that the lawyers of those days had to consult for the Ra- man Law, and which were too numerous for them to understand thoroughly. This code was only one year in force in Gaul, but it lasted in Spain till the middle of the seventh century. So long as it continued to be applied as the personal law of Romans under the Giothic regime, it was the accepted form of Roman Law in the West. It is also called " Breviarium Alar- ici" (Rdsum6 of Alaric). or "Breviarium Aniani", from the name of the referendary by whom the copies of the "Lex Romana Wisigothorum " were signed; even the name "Lex Romana" was some- times given to it. The "Lex Romana Burgundi- onum" is due to the initiative of (lundobad, King of the Burgundians (d. 516). It was enactecl for the Gallo-Roman subjects of his kingdom, and was not, like the prece<ling oolUM'tion, a r^sum4 of the Roman Law, but rather a kind of official instruction drawn up for the use of judges, calling their attention to the more im|)ortant i)oint8 of Roman legislation. This collection is known also an "Papianus", or "Liber Papiaiii". The "Lex Romana R^tica Curiensis" is of a later date (middle of the eighth or beginning of the ninth cenlury). and differs vory much in character from the preceding **h*ges"; it is a collection contain- ing extracts from the " Ixix Romana Wisigothorum"