I. לֵוִי proper name, masculine Levi (√ and meaning dubious; [Gen 29:34] (J) interpreted as joined, i. e. husband to wife; [Num 18:2]; [Num 18:4] (P; apparently in word-play) of Levites as joined to, attendant upon, Aaron; originally as attached to, accompanying Israel from Egypt, LagOr. ii. 20 f.; as attached to, attending upon the ark, BauPriest. 74; in this case I.לֵוִי would be derived from II. לֵוִי in priestly sense; HomA. u. A. 1890, 30 f. proposes Minaean לוא, lau'ân, priest, compare IdSüd-Arab. Chrest. 127; against all such views see KauSK 1890, 771 f. WeProl. ed. 5, 141; Hist. Israel 145 StaZAW i (1881), 112 ff. GrayProp. Names, p. 96, compare NöZMG xi (1886). 167, make לֵוִי name, of a people from לֵאָה (q. v.); compare a further suggestion WeSkizzen iii. 114) — ᵐ5 Λευ(ε)ι(ν); —
1. a. Levi, son of Jacob and Leah, as individual, [Gen 29:34]; [Gen 34:25]; [Gen 34:30]; [Gen 35:23]; [Gen 49:5] (all J); [Gen 35:23]; [Gen 46:11]; [Exod 1:2]; [Exod 6:16]; [Exod 16:16]; [Num 3:17]; [Num 16:1] (all P); [1Chr 21]; [1Chr 5:22]; [1Chr 6:1]; [1Chr 6:4]; [1Chr 6:23]; [1Chr 6:28]; [1Chr 6:32]; [1Chr 23:6]; so ׳בַּתלֿ [אֶתֿ] [Exod 2:1] (E), [Num 26:59] (P).
\ \ b. as head of a family of descendants, in phrase בֵּית לֵוִי [Exod 2:1] (E), and (with reference to tribe; late) [Num 17:23], ׳מִשְׁפַּחַת בֵּית ל [Zech 12:13].
\ \ c. often ׳בְּנֵי(ֿ) ל [Exod 32:26]; [Exod 32:28] (E), [Josh 21:10] (P), ׳בְּנֵי(ֿ) ל with tribal reference [Num 3:15]; [Num 4:2]; [Num 18:21] (charged with service of tabernacle, and hence to receive tithes; all P); as priests הַכֹּהֲנִים בְּנֵי לֵוִי [Deut 21:5]; [Deut 31:9], compare [Mal 3:3], and ׳לֹא הָיוּ מִבְּנֵי ל [1Kgs 12:31] from the ׳בְּנֵי ל the Zadokites are selected as priests [Ezek 40:46] according to [1Chr 9:18]; [1Chr 23:24]; [1Chr 23:27] ׳בְּנֵי ל are subordinate officials in temple (compare v[1Chr 23:28]f.), compare [1Chr 24:20] sharply distinguished from priests [Ezra 8:15]; [Neh 12:23] (compare v[Neh 12:22]); so also in later stratum of story of Korah's revolt [Num 16:7]; [Num 16:8]; [Num 16:10] (P2).
2. as name of tribe, ׳שֵׁבֶט ל [Deut 18:1] (priestly tribe), ׳מַטֵּה ל [Num 1:49] (in charge of tabernacle), [Num 3:6]; [Num 18:2] (ministers unto Aaron); לֵוִי alone = (tribe of) Levi [Deut 27:12]; [Deut 33:8] (earlier poem), [Num 26:58] (P), [Ezek 48:31]; [Mal 2:4] (priestly tribe, compare v[Mal 2:1]), [1Chr 21:6]; [1Chr 27:17] ׳מַטֵּה ל =rod of (the tribe of) Levi [Num 17:18] (P); also (no inheritance, because charged with service of tabernacle) [Deut 10:9].
The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon
License: Public domain document; formatting developed for use in https://marvel.bible by Eliran Wong.
Source: provided by Tim Morton, the developer of Bible Analyzer