And I will also take of them for priests and
for Levites, saith the Lord. (Isa 66:21)
In my book, After the Order
of the Son of God: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Latter-day Saint
Theology of the Priesthood, I discuss (among many other things!) various
Old Testament texts that prophecy of an ordained New Covenant priesthood (not
the “Priesthood of All Believers” merely). One such pericope is Isa 66:18-22.
Commenting on Isa 66:21 and the proper vocalisation of the Hebrew, Shalom Paul
wrote the following, further strengthening the argument I made that those who
are not “pure” descendants of Levi and Aaron will, according to the Bible, be
ordained to the Aaronic/Levitical priesthood in the last days (part-and-parcel
of modern LDS practice):
“And
from them likewise I will take some to be Levitical priests”—said the Lord—According to the
Masoretic vocalization לַכהנים
לַלוים
(the LXX and 1QIsaa add לי, “for Me”; note the similarity to Num 8:14, 16–18, which may
have influenced this addition), the Lord shall appoint assistants to the
Levitical priests from among the nations. According to Ehrlich (Miqra ki-Pheshuto, 3:162–63), however,
the Masoretes had difficulty with the idea that the Lord would appoint
uncircumcised heathens as priests and thus vocalized the lamed prefixes with a pataḥ
(an elision of the definite particle), thereby implying that these new
appointees would act in the service of the priests but not actually engage in
cultic activities. This is a tendentious vocalization, however, and the first lamed should be vocalized with a shewa, and the second with a ḥiriq (without the elided definite
article) (לְכהנים לִלוים), and be
translated: “And from them [the foreigners] likewise I will take some to be
Levitical priests.” Compare also Rashi and Kimchi, who allude to this correct
interpretation. The ancient translations, as well as Rashi, Eliezer of
Beaugency, Joseph Kara, and many Hebrew medieval manuscripts, add a waw here: לכהנים וללוים. This prophecy terminates the Levitical exclusivity in the
Temple ritual, a hereditary responsibility never before brought into doubt. (Shalom
M. Paul, Isaiah 40-66: Translation and
Commentary [Eerdmans Critical Commentary; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans,
2012], 629-30, emphasis in bold added)
