The very first chapter of the Stick of Joseph presents us with Lechi offering a sacrifice in the wilderness:

And it came to pass that he built an altar of stones and he made an offering unto YHWH, and gave thanks unto YHWH our Elohim.

(1 Nefi 1:8)

Later in the same narrative, we encounter another, similar sacrifice:

And it came to pass that they did rejoice exceedingly and did offer sacrifice and burnt offerings unto YHWH, and they gave thanks unto the Elohim of Isra’el.

(1 Nefi 1:22)

And again a third time, we find Lechi offering sacrifice and burnt offerings:

And it came to pass that we did come down unto the tent of our father. And after I and my brothers and all the house of Yishma’el had come down unto the tent of my father, they did give thanks unto YHWH their Elohim, and they did offer sacrifice and burnt offerings unto him.

(1 Nefi 2:5)

A common criticism of these events has been that Lechi, who descended from Joseph, and was neither a Levite nor a Kohen (priest) is described as making sacrificial offerings. According to common understanding of the Bible, such sacrifices are only to be made by men of appropriate lineage and station.

But those who make such criticisms are not aware that, under Jewish Law, the sacrificial offering can be made by someone who is not a Kohen, or even a Levite. The Talmud records a tradition that the prophet Samuel himself made this case from the Torah, as follows:

When Samuel saw them looking for a priest to kill it [the offering], he said to them, Why do you go looking for a priest to kill it? The shechitah [ritual sacrificial slaughter] may be performed by a layman! They brought him to Eli [the High Priest], who asked him, How do you know this? He replied: Is it written, “The priest shall kill?” It is written, “The priests shall present” [the blood] (Lev. 1:5). The office of the priest begins with the receiving of the blood, which shows that shechitah may be performed by a layman.

(b.Berachot 31b)

This is why Samuel the prophet was scheduled to make the sacrificial offering before the battle at Gilgal (1 Sam. 10:8) despite the fact that he was neither a priest nor a Levite.

Non-Levitical Priests? 

Given that non-Levites may perform the shechitah, we nevertheless must still account for the fact that a priest (Kohen) must sprinkle the blood, arrange the wood and fire, and place the offering upon the fire to be burned (Lev. 1). Therefore, a priest would still be required for Lechi’s burnt offerings. 

In the Stick of Joseph text, we read the very curious fact that Nefi consecrated his brothers Yosef and Ya’akov as Kohanim (priests):

And it came to pass that I Nefi, did consecrate Ya’akov and Yosef, that they should be kohanim and teachers over the land of my people.

(2 Nefi 4:5)

For I, Ya’akov, and my brother Yosef had been consecrated kohanim and teachers of  this people, by the hand of Nefi.

(Ya’akov 1:4)

Ya’akov and Yosef were both sons of Lechi (1 Nefi 5:27) and Lechi was a Josephite (1 Nefi 1:22). Thus Ya’akov and Yosef were both from the tribe of Joseph and NOT from the tribe  of Levi.

So how could Nefi claim that he and his people “did observe to keep the judgments, and the statutes, and the mitzvot of YHWH in all things according to the Torah of Moshe” (2 Nefi 4:2), when in fact he was consecrating his own Josephite brothers who were not even Levites, much less sons of Aharon to serve as priests? Well the truth is that nothing in the Torah actually prohibits a non-Levite from serving as a priest!

Rabbi Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra (Hebrew: אַבְרָהָם אִבְּן עֶזְרָא or ראב”ע, also known as Abenezra or Aben Ezra, 1089–1167) was one of the most distinguished Jewish biblical commentators and philosophers of the Middle Ages. His is one of the classic commentaries included in the Miqrat Gedolot. He writes in his commentary on Deut. 19:6:

A Kingdom of Priests. In my opinion, “priest” in the Bible means “one who serves,” just as the verbal form is taken in 28:41 to mean “serve me as priests.” Jethro is the “priest of Midian” (18:1) because he served God, as did Melchizedek of Salem, the “priest of God Most High” (Gen. 14:18). The same is true when David’s sons are called “priests” in 2 Sam. 8:18. There would be no point in telling us that they were “princes,” for we know that a king’s sons possess high rank; this verse informs us that they served God. So telling Israel that they will be “a kingdom of priests” means, “By means of you, My kingdom shall appear, when you are serving Me.” But others understand it to mean “There is no kingship other than serving Me.”

As cited by Rabbi Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra above, the actual Hebrew of 2 Sam. 8:18 identifies David’s sons as “kohanim” (priests), which the King James Version  mis-translates “chief rulers.”  Here, the original Hebrew clearly uses the word “kohanim” to refer to non-Levites as “priests,” given that David and his sons were of the tribe of Judah, not Levi.

It is unlikely that Yosef ben Yosef, who translated the Stick of Joseph, could have known that Jewish law actually allows sacrificial offerings to be made by persons who are neither priests nor Levites, and also allows for non-Levite priests to officiate. Such  notions, though not widely held or recognized, are nevertheless fully supported by Jewish Law. Thus, the Stick of Joseph demonstrates a knowledge of Jewish Law beyond what would be expected of a gentile record, indicating it is indeed an authentic Jewish text.