---
title: לֵוִי — Levi · The Tanakh dictionary
description: לֵוִי (3878), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 43 times: Levi. BDB 1906: n.pr.m. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# לֵוִי

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«לֵוִי» in the Tanakh dictionary: **Levi** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 43 times · **Key:** 3878 · **BDB:** לֵוִי

### Glosses

of.Levi (28); Levi (11); the.Levite\[s\] (3)

### Meaning (OSHB)

Levi [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1500/3878/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

n.pr.m. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1500/3878/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** n.pr.m. Levi (√ and meaning dubious; Gn 29:34 (J) interpr. as joined, i.e. husband to wife; Nu 18:2, 4 (P; appar. in word-play) of Levites as joined to, attendant upon, Aaron; orig. as attached to, accompanying Isr. 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, lauʾân, priest, cf. Id.Süd-Arabic Chrest. 127; ag. all such views v. KauSK 1890, 771 f.; WeProl. ed. 5, 141; Hist. Isr. 145 StaZAW i (1881), 112 ff. GrayProp. Names, p. 96, cf. NöZMG xl (1886), 167, make לֵוִי n. gent. from לֵאָה (q.v.); cf. a further sugg. WeSkizzen iii. 114)—𝔊 Λευ(ε)ι(ν);— Levi, son of Jacob and Leah, as individual, Gn 29:34; 34:25, 30; 35:23; 49:5 (all J); 35:23; 46:11; Ex 1:2; 6:16(×2) Nu 3:17; 16:1 (all P); 1 Ch 2:1; 5:22; 6:1, 4, 23, 28, 32; 23:6 Ezr 8:18; so בַּת־ל׳ \[אֶת־\] Ex 2:1 (E), Nu 26:59 (P). as head of a family of descendants, in phr. בֵּית לֵוִי Ex 2:1 (E), and (with ref. to tribe; late) Nu 17:23, מִשְׁפַּחַת בֵּית ל׳ Zc 12:13. often בְּנֵי(־)ל׳ Ex 32:26, 28 (E), Jos 21:10 (P), בְּנֵי(־)ל׳ with tribal ref. Nu 3:15; 4:2; 18:21 (charged with service of tabern., and hence to receive tithes; all P); as priests הַכֹּהֲנִים בְּנֵי לֵוִי Dt 21:5; 31:9, cf. Mal 3:3, and לֹא הָיוּ מִבְּנֵי ל׳ 1 K 12:31; from the בְּנֵי ל׳ the Zadokites are selected as priests Ez 40:46; according to 1 Ch 9:18 23:24, 27 בְּנֵי ל׳ are subordinate officials in temple (cf. v 28 f.), cf. 24:20; sharply disting. from priests Ezr 8:15, Ne 12:23 (cf. v 22); so also in later stratum of story of Korah’s revolt Nu 16:7, 8, 10 (P2). as name of tribe, שֵׁבֶט ל׳ Dt 18:1 (priestly tribe), מַטֵּה ל׳ Nu 1:49 (in charge of tabern.), 3:6; 18:2 (ministers unto Aaron); לֵוִי alone = (tribe of) Levi Dt 27:12; 33:8 (earlier poem), Nu 26:58 (P), Ez 48:31; Mal 2:4 (priestly tribe, cf. v 1), 1 Ch 21:6; 27:17; מַטֵּה ל׳ = rod of (the tribe of) Levi Nu 17:18 (P); also (no inheritance, because charged with service of tabernacle) Dt 10:9.

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 35 of its verses cited, 0 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (2 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (2 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «לֵוִי» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1500/3878/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Exodus 1:2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/EXO.1.2/)

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רְאוּבֵ֣ן שִׁמְע֔וֹן לֵוִ֖י וִיהוּדָֽה׃

*Word for word:* Reuben Simeon Levi and Judah

*JPS 1917:* Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;

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[1 Chronicles 5:27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/1CH.5.27/)

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בְּנֵ֖י לֵוִ֑י גֵּרְשׁ֕וֹן קְהָ֖ת וּמְרָרִֽי׃

*Word for word:* the.sons of.Levi \[were\].Gershon Kohath and Merari

*JPS 1917:* The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

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