Note 1 at Jn. 1:19: Levites were Jews of the priestly tribe of Levi. However, they were not from the family of Aaron; therefore, they could not be priests. The Lord commanded Moses to separate the tribe of Levi (Levites) to service the tabernacle (Num. 1:47-54). The Lord "hallowed" the whole tribe of Levi unto Himself instead of the firstborn of every family (Num. 3:5-13). In Numbers 16, God dealt very severely with some Levites who wanted to overstep their bounds and become priests (vv. 8-11; 31-33).