Levites
A. B. Grosart, D. D. John 1:19-28 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who are you?… It was by no accident that these were mentioned. John was of the national priesthood, and thus descended from the Levites. It is just possible therefore that relatives or family friends being turned for the nonce into deputies, he might be more easily persuaded to fall in harmony with that foregone conclusion to which they would guide him. Thus a disturbing element of personal relationship would enter into the temptation to assert himself, and to surcease his lowly subordination of himself to that "other" Christ who could by no possibility be accepted by these temporal Messiah-expecting Jews. Parallel Verses KJV: And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? WEB: This is John's testimony, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"