Editing Priest (section)

==== Historical ====
{{Main|Priesthood (ancient Israel)}}
After [[the Exodus|the departure of the Israelites from Egypt]], priests in [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|ancient Israel]] were required by the [[Law of Moses]] to be direct [[patrilineal descent|patrileneal descendants]] of [[Aaron]], the elder brother of [[Moses]]. In Exodus 30:22–25 [[JHWH|God]] instructs Moses to make a [[holy anointing oil|holy anointing-oil]] to consecrate the priests "for all of eternity". During the times of the two Jewish [[Temple in Jerusalem|Temples in Jerusalem]], the Aaronic priests performed the daily and special [[Jewish holiday|Jewish-holiday]] offerings and sacrifices within the temples; these offerings are known as the ''[[korbanot]]''.

In Hebrew, the word for "priest" is ''[[kohen]]'' (singular כהן ''kohen'', plural כּהנִים ''kohanim''), hence the family names [[Cohen (surname)|''Cohen'']], ''[[Cahn]]'', ''[[Kahn]]'', ''[[Kohn]]'', ''[[Kogan]]'', etc. Jewish families with these names belong to the [[tribe of Levi]] ([[Levites]] – descended from [[Levi]], the great-grandfather of Aaron) and in twenty-four instances are called by scripture as such.<ref>[[Jerusalem Talmud]] to [[Mishna]]ic tractate Maaser Sheini p.&nbsp;31a.</ref>{{Request quotation|date=January 2023}} In Hebrew, the word for "priesthood" is ''kehunnah''.

The Hebrew word ''kohen'' comes from the [[Hebrew root|root]] KWN/KON כ-ו-ן 'to stand, to be ready, established'<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last=Even-Shoshan |first=Avraham |title=Even-Shoshan Dictionary |year=2003 |pages=Entry "כֹּהֵן" (Kohen)}}</ref> in the sense of "someone who stands ready before God",<ref>{{cite web |title=Klein Dictionary, כֹּהֵן |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Klein_Dictionary,_כֹּהֵן |access-date=2020-08-01 |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref> and has cognates in other [[Semitic languages]], e.g. [[Phoenician language|Phoenician]] [[Tabnit sarcophagus#Inscription|KHN 𐤊𐤄𐤍 "priest"]] or [[Arabic]] ''kahin'' كاهن "priest".