(25) On the third day, when they were in pain, Simeon and Levi, two of Jacob’s sons, brothers of Dinah, took each his sword, came upon the city unmolested, and slew all the males. (26) They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword, took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went away. (27) The other sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the town, because their sister had been defiled. (28) They seized their flocks and herds and asses, all that was inside the town and outside; (29) all their wealth, all their children, and their wives, all that was in the houses, they took as captives and booty. (30) Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me, making me odious among the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites; my men are few in number, so that if they unite against me and attack me, I and my house will be destroyed.” (31) But they answered, “Should our sister be treated like a whore?”
(22) While Israel stayed in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine; and Israel found out---Now the sons of Jacob were twelve in number. (23) The sons of Leah: Reuben—Jacob’s first-born—Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. (24) The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. (25) The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maid: Dan and Naphtali. (26) And the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maid: Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram. (27) And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, at Kiriath-arba—now Hebron—where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. (28) Isaac was a hundred and eighty years old (29) when he breathed his last and died. He was gathered to his kin in ripe old age; and he was buried by his sons Esau and Jacob.
(5) Simeon and Levi are a pair; Their weapons are tools of lawlessness. (6) Let not my person be included in their council, Let not my being be counted in their assembly. For when angry they slay men, And when pleased they maim oxen. (7) Cursed be their anger so fierce, And their wrath so relentless. I will divide them in Jacob, Scatter them in Israel.
(25) Moses saw that the people were out of control—since Aaron had let them get out of control—so that they were a menace to any who might oppose them. (26) Moses stood up in the gate of the camp and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come here!” And all the Levites rallied to him. (27) He said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Each of you put sword on thigh, go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay brother, neighbor, and kin.” (28) The Levites did as Moses had bidden; and some three thousand of the people fell that day. (29) And Moses said, “Dedicate yourselves to the LORD this day—for each of you has been against son and brother—that He may bestow a blessing upon you today.”
(ט) וְהִקְרַבְתָּ֙ אֶת־הַלְוִיִּ֔ם לִפְנֵ֖י אֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֑ד וְהִ֨קְהַלְתָּ֔ אֶֽת־כָּל־עֲדַ֖ת בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (י) וְהִקְרַבְתָּ֥ אֶת־הַלְוִיִּ֖ם לִפְנֵ֣י ה' וְסָמְכ֧וּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל אֶת־יְדֵיהֶ֖ם עַל־הַלְוִיִּֽם׃ (יא) וְהֵנִיף֩ אַהֲרֹ֨ן אֶת־הַלְוִיִּ֤ם תְּנוּפָה֙ לִפְנֵ֣י ה' מֵאֵ֖ת בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְהָי֕וּ לַעֲבֹ֖ד אֶת־עֲבֹדַ֥ת ה'׃ (יב) וְהַלְוִיִּם֙ יִסְמְכ֣וּ אֶת־יְדֵיהֶ֔ם עַ֖ל רֹ֣אשׁ הַפָּרִ֑ים וַ֠עֲשֵׂה אֶת־הָאֶחָ֨ד חַטָּ֜את וְאֶת־הָאֶחָ֤ד עֹלָה֙ לַֽה' לְכַפֵּ֖ר עַל־הַלְוִיִּֽם׃ (יג) וְהַֽעֲמַדְתָּ֙ אֶת־הַלְוִיִּ֔ם לִפְנֵ֥י אַהֲרֹ֖ן וְלִפְנֵ֣י בָנָ֑יו וְהֵנַפְתָּ֥ אֹתָ֛ם תְּנוּפָ֖ה לַֽה'׃ (יד) וְהִבְדַּלְתָּ֙ אֶת־הַלְוִיִּ֔ם מִתּ֖וֹךְ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְהָ֥יוּ לִ֖י הַלְוִיִּֽם׃ (טו) וְאַֽחֲרֵי־כֵן֙ יָבֹ֣אוּ הַלְוִיִּ֔ם לַעֲבֹ֖ד אֶת־אֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֑ד וְטִֽהַרְתָּ֣ אֹתָ֔ם וְהֵנַפְתָּ֥ אֹתָ֖ם תְּנוּפָֽה׃
(9) You shall bring the Levites forward before the Tent of Meeting. Assemble the whole Israelite community, (10) and bring the Levites forward before the LORD. Let the Israelites lay their hands upon the Levites, (11) and let Aaron designate the Levites before the LORD as an elevation offering from the Israelites, that they may perform the service of the LORD. (12) The Levites shall now lay their hands upon the heads of the bulls; one shall be offered to the LORD as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, to make expiation for the Levites. (13) You shall place the Levites in attendance upon Aaron and his sons, and designate them as an elevation offering to the LORD. (14) Thus you shall set the Levites apart from the Israelites, and the Levites shall be Mine. (15) Thereafter the Levites shall be qualified for the service of the Tent of Meeting, once you have cleansed them and designated them as an elevation offering.
(10) When you cross the Jordan and settle in the land that the LORD your God is allotting to you, and He grants you safety from all your enemies around you and you live in security, (11) then you must bring everything that I command you to the site where the LORD your God will choose to establish His name: your burnt offerings and other sacrifices, your tithes and contributions, and all the choice votive offerings that you vow to the LORD. (12) And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God with your sons and daughters and with your male and female slaves, along with the Levite in your settlements, for he has no territorial allotment among you. (13) Take care not to sacrifice your burnt offerings in any place you like, (14) but only in the place that the LORD will choose in one of your tribal territories. There you shall sacrifice your burnt offerings and there you shall observe all that I enjoin upon you. (15) But whenever you desire, you may slaughter and eat meat in any of your settlements, according to the blessing that the LORD your God has granted you. The unclean and the clean alike may partake of it, as of the gazelle and the deer. (16) But you must not partake of the blood; you shall pour it out on the ground like water. (17) You may not partake in your settlements of the tithes of your new grain or wine or oil, or of the firstlings of your herds and flocks, or of any of the votive offerings that you vow, or of your freewill offerings, or of your contributions. (18) These you must consume before the LORD your God in the place that the LORD your God will choose—you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female slaves, and the Levite in your settlements—happy before the LORD your God in all your undertakings. (19) Be sure not to neglect the Levite as long as you live in your land.
Hirsch on Deuteronomy 12:19
Take heed to yourself: Now that the nation is about to settle down and disperse in its own land, the fact that the Levites will live scattered among the people is of great significance. The Levites will act as the vital nerves and arteries, as it were, emanating from the center that is the Sanctuary, maintaining the spiritual links between the members of the nation and the Sanctuary that represents the nation's brain and heart. The Levites are to be the sanctuary of the Law in the midst of the people. But in the midst of a population engaged in agriculture, cattle-breeding and other industries relating to these pusuits, such "unproductive" members of the community as the Levites could easily come to be neglected and despised. The people might fail to appreciate the vital role of the Levites in their spiritual and moral welfare as a nation. Hence the reiterated admonition not to neglect the Levite all your days upon your soil. How long you will be permitted to dwell upon your own soil will depend essentially on the respect you will accord to the Levite and on the extent to which you will permit the Levites to influence your own moral and spiritual development.
(ד) עוד יתכן על פי דרך זה באומר כל איש ישראל פירש ענין היות כלם צדיקים והוא כי ישראל נקרא גוי אחד ונפש אחד כמה דאת אמר שבעים נפש שהוא להיותם משורש הקדושה שהיא אחדות שלימה ועל כן ישראל ערבים זה לזה יחשבו כל איש ואיש מישראל כאשר אחד מגוף שלם וכל הכללות כגוף מקובץ מאברים רבים ונפשותם כנפש א' המחיה את כלם יחד. ...
ועוד שע"י האחדות בלב ונפש בקרבך קדוש כי הוא יתב' שורה על נפש בעל אחדות בקרבו וזה אני חפץ שיהיו היכל ה' המה שהאנשי' עצמם יהיו המקדש וההיכל ולא העיר והבית
It can further be explained along these lines that when the Torah says, "Kol Ish Yisrael", "Kol" refers to all of the component parts that make "Ish Yisrael", the "person of Israel" which functions when all of the component parts are righteous. Thus Israel is referred to as "one nation" and "one soul", and the seventy souls who come down to Egypt are the root of the holiness which is the complete unity of the whole nation. Therefore all of Israel is intertwined with each other, and each person is considered like one piece of the complete body, and all of the groups are like systems within the body, and all of their souls are like one soul which brings them all to life together. And furthermore, because of the unity of heart of the nation, the soul placed within it will be holy because it rests within a united organism. This is the ultimate desire: that this body will serve as the sanctuary of God, that the people themselves will be the Mikdash and the sanctuary, rather than the city and the building.