Tribe of Levi

“ See Gesenius, Thesaurus, p. 141.
681. If this means that he belonged to the tribe of Ephraim, it is easy to understand why the author of the Chronicle (1 Chr. IV. 18 et seq.) claims him for the tribe of Levi, when we consider the generally acknowledged Levitical tendency of that late book of history. It would appear to one holding Levitical sentiments impossible that a man who is said to have often offered sacrifices (1 Sam. IX. 13) , and to have served in the sanctuary of Shiloh under the High-priest Eli, should have been anything but a Levite. ”

“ Therefore was his name called Levi - לוי levi, joined; because she supposed that, in consequence of all these children, Jacob would become joined to her in as strong affection, at least, as he was to Rachel. From Levi sprang the tribe of Levites, who instead of the first-born, were joined unto the priests in the service of the sanctuary. See [1361] , [1362] .
Verse 35
She called his name Judah - יהודה yehudah, a confessor; one who acknowledges God, and acknowledges that all good comes from his hands, and gives him the praise due to his grace and mercy. ”

“ Hundreds, perhaps thousands of Jews at present existing, are recognized by their brethren as of the tribe of Levi, and the descendants of Aaron to this day have the privilege of blessing the people in the Synagogues on solemn days, in a peculiar form which no other Jews are allowed to employ. ”

“ Levi is not to be blamed for having gone to his tribe. Every man’s place is with his tribe. The criticism belongs to the lick-spittle Gentile Fronts who have no tribe and become hangers-on around the outskirts of Judah, racial mongrels who would be better off if they had one-thousandth of the racial sense which the Jew possesses. ”

“ This Hebrew people were mostly composed of rustics, living on their little properties, which they had cultivated with their own hands, as the Druzes do now. The only class, a little elevated, a little less ignorant, was the tribe of Levi—that is, the priests, who lived idle, supported by the voluntary, or forced offerings of the nation ”

“ How striking and suggestive is that trait in the life of one of the most benevolent and liberal-minded of our American Israelites, who, when his leg was broken, and his physician advised amputation, stoutly refused to submit to the knife, and said that he would rather die first, since he was of the tribe of Levi, and none of that tribe were allowed to enter the sanctuary with mutilated limbs! ”

“ It is not possible for man to determine the relative importance of each, and he need not fear any deterioration in them. It is as if He assessed Israel, and measured them as well as the harvests of Palestine as regards vegetable and animal life. He also considered the tribe of Levi, and ordained these assessments in the desert, because he knew that, as long as they were not infringed, Israel would retain its surplus, and the Levite would not be in want. ”

“ Levi's stone was the carbuncle, that beams like lightning, as, likewise, the faces of that tribe beamed with piety and erudition. This stone has the virtue of making him who wears it wise; but true wisdom is the fear of God, and it was this tribe alone that did not join in the worship of the Golden Calf.
Judah's stone was the green emerald, that has the power of making its owner victorious in battle, a fitting stone for this tribe from which springs the Jewish dynasty of kings, that routed its enemies. ”

“ The story of the Levites is one of controversy, some maintaining that Levi was the ancestor of the order and others denying that it originally was a tribe at all. The Levites were set apart for the temple service. ”

“ A part of the evidence that the Ancient Worthies will be made sharers of the spirit nature and become members of the Great Company class is built upon the fact that they seem to be represented typically by the tribe of Levi. ”

“ They take their place in Israel as the tribe set apart for sacred duties, and without entering into the large question how far the tribal schemes can be used for the earlier history of Israel, it may be observed that no adequate interpretation has yet been found of the ethnological traditions of Levi and other sons of Leah in their historical relation to one another or to the other tribes. ”

“ Some of the tribes appear never to have had any political existence, as for example that of Levi,** or they were merged at an early date into some fellow-tribe, as in the case of Reuben with Gad;*** others, such as Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin, and Judah, apparently did not attain their normal development until a much later date. ”

“ That each tribe might have the benefit of the Levites' dwelling among them, to teach them the good knowledge of the Lord; thus that light was diffused through all parts of the country, and none were left to sit in darkness, Deut. xxxiii. 10, They shall teach Jacob thy judgments. Jacob's curse on Levi's anger was, I will scatter them in Israel, Gen. xlix. 7. But that curse was turned into a blessing, and the Levites, by being thus scattered, were put into a capacity of doing so much the more good. It is a great mercy to a country to be replenished in all parts with faithful ministers. ”

“ He introduces to our notice three parties: the Jews, who include at this time the Tribes of Judah and Levi; the Israelites, who embraced the Tribe of Benjamin and the other nine Tribes that had been in captivity for about eight hundred years—the whole together are generally known as the Ten Lost Tribes. In the third party we have the Gentiles. This word Gentile usually denotes and includes the non-Jewish nations and people. The Hebrew word goyim, in early Bible history, was equivalent to our word nation. It finally began to denote any people who were not of the sacred seed of Abraham. ”

“ From this arrangement Levi, Simeon, and Judah became the tribes principally concerned in the transactions of the last days.
Having spoken of the death of Christ by Levi and Simeon, he then proceeded to speak of things connected with Judah alone. Of this tribe he affirmed:
1. That Judah should be the praise of all the tribes; 2. That it should subdue its enemies; 3. That it should rule over all Israel; 4. That its sovereignty should be monarchical; 5. That Shiloh should arise out of it as a lawgiver; 6. That the gathering of the people should be to him ”

“ Levelers, the, Jewish spirit among, 5, 28. See Puritans, the. Leven, Narcisse, founder of the Alliance Israélite Universelle, 5, 701. Levi, the tribe of, learns from the Egyptians how to write, 1, 8. free from Egyptian idolatrous practices, 1, 12. faithful to Moses, 1, 18. See Levites, the; Priests, the. Levi (Matthew) , publican, follower of Jesus, 2, 153. Levi bar Sissi, teacher of the Law in Simonias, 2, 454. adds supplements to the Mishna, 2, 470. son of, 2, 497. on the neo-Persians, 2, 525. Levi ben Abraham ben Chayim, of Villefranche (1240–1315) , allegorist, system of, 4, 24–5. ”

“ A most inviting field for research is, however, furnished by the primitive methods of counting and of giving visible expression to the idea of number. Our starting-point must, of course, be the sign language, which always precedes intelligible speech; and which is so convenient and so expressive a method of communication that the human family, even in its most highly developed branches, never wholly lays it aside. It may, indeed, be stated as a universal law, that some practical method of numeration has, in the childhood of every nation or tribe, preceded the formation of numeral words. ”