References (60)
And she [Leah] became pregnant again and gave birth to a son, saying, "Now, this time my husband will be united with (be close to – Hebr. lava) me, because I have borne him three sons." Therefore, she named him Levi [meaning: "united with"].
And it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and came upon the city unnoticed and struck down all its men.
And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought trouble upon me (created chaos, caused me great distress). Now the Canaanites and the Perizzites who live in the land will hate me (literally: 'I have become an odour/stink among them'). Since we are few (I am few in number), they will unite against me and strike me down, and I will be destroyed, I and my house."
Leah's [six] sons:
Reuben, Jacob's firstborn,
and Simeon
and Levi
and Judah
and Issachar
and Zebulun (Hebr. Zevolun).
Levi's sons:
Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Simeon and Levi are brothers
– the weapons of violence are their blood ties.
[Simeon means "to hear"; Levi "joined together with".]
Reuben (Hebr. Reoven), Simeon (Hebr. Shimon), Levi, and Judah (Hebr. Jehoda);
A man from the tribe of Levi married a woman from the tribe of Levi.
[The man's name was Amram and the woman's name was Jochebed, see . Levi was the tribe that was assigned to be priests and musicians. 16 years pass between and . The family have two children, a teenage daughter named Miriam and a son named Aaron who is three years old, see ; .]
The sons of Levi [Israel's third son] were, in order of age:
Gershon [his sons are listed in ],
Kehat [his sons are listed in ], and
Merari [his sons are listed in ].
Levi lived to be 137 years old.
[Jacob had twelve sons, but since this genealogy is about Moses and Aaron, it is sufficient to include the sons up to Jacob's third son, Levi.]
The sons of Merari:
Mahli and Mushi.
These were the Levitical families in order of age.
Moses stood at the gate of the camp and said, 'Whoever is on the Lord's (Yahweh's) side, let him come to me.' And all the sons of Levi gathered around him.
And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and 3,000 men fell that day.
"You shall not count the tribe of Levi, nor shall you include them among the sons of Israel,
"Count the sons of Levi according to their fathers' houses, according to their families, every male from one month old and upward, you shall count them among them."
And these were the sons of Levi by their names:
Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
"Take the number of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of the Levites, by their families, by their fathers' houses,
and put fire in them and incense on top of them before the Lord (Yahweh) tomorrow, and it will come to pass that the man whom the Lord (Yahweh) chooses shall be holy; you are taking on too much, sons of Levi."
And Moses said to Korah, "Listen, I beg you, sons of Levi,
and that he has brought you near, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you. But you seek the priesthood also!
And you shall write Aaron's name on Levi's rod, for it shall be a rod for the head over their fathers' houses.
And it came to pass on the next morning, that Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had budded, and brought forth buds, and blossoms, and yielded almonds.
And also your brothers, the tribe of Levi, your father's tribe, you shall bring near to you, that they may be with you and serve you, you and your sons with you shall be before the tent of testimony.
And to the sons of Levi, behold, I have given the whole tithe of Israel as an inheritance, in return for their work which they do in the service of the tabernacle.
These are the families of Levi:
the family of the Libnites,
the family of the Chevronites,
the family of the Machlites,
the family of the Moshites,
and the family of the Korachites.
And Kehat bore Amram.
And Amram's wife was named Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt, and she bore
Aaron
and Moses
and their sister Miriam.
[Jochebed and Miriam are the only women mentioned in the Levitical family tree. Note that it says that Jochebed bore the children; otherwise, only the father and sons are usually mentioned in the genealogical records. In this context, it says how "Jochebed was born to Levi" and "to Aaron was born," see . See also ; ; . The word "born" can also be used to mean descendant of Levi. Sometimes names can be omitted in genealogies, see, for example, , .]
At that time, the Lord (Yahweh) set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord (Yahweh), to stand before the Lord (Yahweh) and serve him, and to bless in his name, to this day.
The priests, the Levites—all of the tribe of Levi—shall have no inheritance with Israel. They shall eat of the Lord's (Yahweh's) burnt offerings and his inheritance.
And the priests, the sons of Levi, whom the Lord (Yahweh) your God (Elohim) has chosen to serve him, shall come there, and they shall bless the name of the Lord (Yahweh), and according to their word all disputes and all quarrels (conflicts, here a word is used that literally means to be beaten) shall be settled.
These [six tribes] shall stand on Mount Gerizim [present-day Jebel-et-Tur, to the south] and bless the people when you have crossed the Jordan:
Simeon (Shimon) and
Levi and
Judah (Jehoda) and
Issachar (Jisashchar) and
Joseph and
Benjamin (Binjamin).
And concerning Levi, he said: "Your Tummim and your Urim shall be with your holy ones, whom you tested at Massa, with whom you contended at the waters of Meribah.
Only to the tribe of Levi he gave no inheritance. The burnt offerings [Hebr. isheh, see ] of the Lord (Yahweh), the God of Israel (Elohim), are their inheritance, as the Lord (Yahweh) spoke to him.
But Moses gave no inheritance to the tribe of Levi. The Lord (Yahweh), the God of Israel (Elohim), is their inheritance, as he promised them.
And they were for the sons of Aaron of the family of the Kohathites, who were the sons of Levi, for the first lot was theirs.
And he made houses on high places and made priests from among all the people who were not sons of Levi.
These were the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun,
[Chapter 6 with Levi is the central section of chapters 1-9.]
Levi's sons were Gershom, Kehat, and Merari.
The sons of Levi were Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.
son of Jishar, son of Kehat, son of Levi, son of Israel.
son of Jahath, son of Gershom, son of Levi.
son of Mahli, son of Mushi, son of Merari, son of Levi.
They still serve at the King's Gate on the east side. These were the gatekeepers in the camp of the sons of Levi.
of the sons of Levi, 4,600,
But he did not count Levi and Benjamin with the others, because Joab found the king's command detestable.
David divided them into divisions according to the sons of Levi, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
but the sons of Moses, the man of God, were counted among the tribe of Levi.
These were the children of Levi according to their families, the heads of the families, those who were registered. Each name was counted separately and each person individually, those who could perform duties in the service of the Lord (Yahweh) in his house, namely those who were 20 years old or older.
According to the account of David's last days, the children of Levi who were 20 years old or older were counted.
As for the rest of the sons of Levi,
the sons of Amram were Shubael,
the sons of Shubael were Jedeja,
of Levi was Hashabiah, son of Qemoel,
of the family of Aaron was Zadok,
For both the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring their offerings of grain, wine, and oil into these chambers, where the vessels of the sanctuary and the priests who minister, the gatekeepers, and the singers are.
We shall not neglect the house of our God.
The heads of the families of Levi's children are recorded in the Book of Chronicles [] up to the time of Johanan, the son of Eljasib. [He was high priest in Jerusalem and is mentioned in a letter from Elephantine in Egypt dated 408 BC, see also .]
House of Levi [all temple servants], bless the Lord (Yahweh),
you who fear (revere) the Lord (Yahweh), bless the Lord (Yahweh).
The temple chamber facing north is for the priests who perform the service at the altar, that is, for the sons of Zadok, who are the descendants of Levi who may come before the Lord to serve him."
The families of Levi's household by themselves and their wives by themselves,
Then you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you, that it may be my covenant with Levi [who were priests, see and ; ; ], says the Lord of hosts (Yahweh Tzevaot).
But you have strayed from the path. You have caused many to stumble through your way of imparting teaching (Hebr. Torah) [the instructions from the five books of Moses]. You have corrupted the covenant of the Levites, says the Lord of Hosts (Yahweh Tzevaot).
He will sit down like a goldsmith and melt and purify the silver.
[Jesus is likened to a goldsmith who sits down, does not rush around, but works lovingly and allows the work to take its time. He keeps his craft in the fire until the dross and impurities have come out, and he can see his own reflection in the purified metal.]
He will purify the sons of Levi (the Levites), refine them like gold and silver, so that they may bring offerings to the Lord in righteousness.
Those of Levi's sons (descendants) who become priests have a commandment according to the law [Gk. nomos – Torah, the Books of Moses] to receive tithes from the people [],
that is, from their brothers [Jewish compatriots],
even though they are also descended from Abraham.
It can be said that even Levi, who receives tithes,
has himself given tithes through Abraham,
from the tribe of Simeon 12,000 [],
from the tribe of Levi 12,000 [the priests, who were not normally counted, see ],
from the tribe of Issachar 12,000 [],
