Before the law was given to Moses

Before the law was given to Moses, the head of each large household often acted as the priest for his own people.  in the Book of Genesis, Abraham often offers sacrifice to God.  During most of the history of the Jews and then of the Christians, the priest was seen as one set apart for God, and the people respected his office.  But during times of barbarism, this was not always true, and a local lord might have his own priest living in his manor house or castle, and would treat him as his own servant.  Agobard (d. 841) archbishop of Lyon, writes to his fellow bishop, Bernard:

"Nearly no one may be found who pants and grasps for honors and worldly glory, however small, and who has a priest in his house whom he does not obey and incessantly exacts lawful and, at the same time, unlawful obedience from him, not only in divine matters, but also in human concerns, so that many are found waiting on table, mixing the wine, leading dogs or nags upon which women sit . . . or they provide them small fields.  And because such men as of I have spoken are not able to keep good priests in their houses (for what priest would be good if he could disgrace his name and his life with such men as these), they do not care at all what kind of clerics they are, how blind with ignorance they are, how involved with crime, so long as they have their own priests, who use this excuse to desert the churches, officials, and public offices.  That they do not have these clerics for the honor of their religion appears from the fact that they do not hold them in honor.  They show their insolence when they want their clerics to be ordained as priests, saying, 'I have a cleric whom I have brought up from my own servants or beneficiaries, or village folk, or I have obtained him from this or that man, or from this or that villager.  I want you to ordain him for me.'  And when this is done, they do not think that it is necessary for their clerics to receive the major order of the priesthood . . . so that what the Prophet said might be fulfilled in us: 'Your people are as those who contradict the priest.  You will fall today, and even the prophet will fall with you' (Hosea 4, 4-5)."