“The sacred books of all other religions...were ritual texts to be used or recited by priests. In the Mithra temple at Dura [Syria] it is a Magian in his sacred dress who keeps the sacred scroll closed in his hand. [But] in the synagogue of Dura a layman, without any sign of office, is represented reading the open scroll.” - Bickermann, quoted by Tigay Excursus 28
(9) Moses wrote down this Teaching and gave it to the priests, sons of Levi, who carried the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant, and to all the elders of Israel. (10) And Moses instructed them as follows: Every seventh year, the year set for remission, at the Feast of Booths, (11) when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God in the place that God will choose, you shall read this Teaching aloud in the presence of all Israel. (12) Gather the people—men, women, children, and the strangers in your communities—that they may hear and so learn to revere the LORD your God and to observe faithfully every word of this Teaching. (13) Their children, too, who have not had the experience, shall hear and learn to revere the LORD your God as long as they live in the land that you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.
“The biblical message, one that consistently threatens and then tells of upheaval, transiences, and dislocation, is implicitly one that is aided by the medium of writing in order to survive.” (Berman p. 128)
(ח) וְאֵלּוּ דְבָרִים אָמְרוּ מִפְּנֵי דַרְכֵי שָׁלוֹם. כֹּהֵן קוֹרֵא רִאשׁוֹן, וְאַחֲרָיו לֵוִי וְאַחֲרָיו יִשְׂרָאֵל, מִפְּנֵי דַרְכֵי שָׁלוֹם.
(8) These are the things they said [i.e., enacted] due to "ways of peace:" A Kohen should read [the Torah] first, and after him a Levite, and after him an Israelite due to "ways of peace;"
(יח) בְּכָל קְרִיאָה וּקְרִיאָה מֵאֵלּוּ כֹּהֵן קוֹרֵא רִאשׁוֹן וְאַחֲרָיו לֵוִי וְאַחֲרָיו מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל. וּמִנְהָג פָּשׁוּט הוּא הַיּוֹם שֶׁאֲפִלּוּ כֹּהֵן עַם הָאָרֶץ קוֹדֵם לִקְרוֹת לִפְנֵי חָכָם גָּדוֹל יִשְׂרָאֵל.
(18) In each and every one of these readings, a Cohen (descendant of Aaron) reads the first section. He is followed by a Levite (descendant of Levi other than a Cohen) and he, in turn, is followed by an Israelite. It is a universal custom that a Cohen, even though he is illiterate, has precedence over a great scholar in Israel.