לֵוִי
Levite
BDB lists 2 entries for ‘Levite’ fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Absolute-state word in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Noun type
- Gentilic
- A noun naming a member of a people, tribe, or region of origin (e.g. an Israelite, a Moabite).
- Proper
- A name of a specific person, place, or people (e.g. Abraham, Zion, Israel).
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
- Singular
- One.
Grammatical forms
- Noun, Gentilic, Masculine, Plural, Absolute 250 times (87%)
- Noun, Gentilic, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 32 times (11%)
- Noun, Proper 3 times (1%)
- Noun, Gentilic, Masculine, Plural, Construct 1 time (0%)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 286 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Page 2 of 2 — showing verses 201–258 of 258 distinct verses where H3881 appears, across 16 books. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Ezra 17 verses
- Ezra 7:7 וְ/הַ/לְוִיִּ֜ם conj + ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp There went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinim, to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.
- Ezra 8:20 הַ/לְוִיִּ֔ם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp and of the Nethinim, whom David and the princes had given for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim: all of them were mentioned by name.
- Ezra 8:29 וְ/הַ/לְוִיִּ֛ם conj + ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp Watch you, and keep them, until you weigh them before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites, and the princes of the fathers' [houses] of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of Yahweh.
- Ezra 8:30 וְ/הַ/לְוִיִּ֔ם conj + ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp So the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.
- Ezra 8:33 הַ/לְוִיִּֽם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp On the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, the Levite;
- Ezra 9:1 וְ/הַ/לְוִיִּ֔ם conj + ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp Now when these things were done, the princes drew near to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, [doing] according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.
- Ezra 10:5 הַ/לְוִיִּ֜ם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp Then arose Ezra, and made the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they would do according to this word. So they swore.
- Ezra 10:15 הַ/לֵּוִ֖י ptcl def.art + n Gentilic ms Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah stood up against this [matter]: and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them.
- Ezra 10:23 הַ/לְוִיִּ֑ם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp Of the Levites: Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah (the same is Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.
Nehemiah 37 verses
- Nehemiah 3:17 הַ/לְוִיִּ֖ם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp After him repaired the Levites, Rehum the son of Bani. Next to him repaired Hashabiah, the ruler of half the district of Keilah, for his district.
- Nehemiah 7:1 וְ/הַ/לְוִיִּֽם conj + ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp Now it happened, when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and the porters and the singers and the Levites were appointed,
- Nehemiah 7:43 הַ/לְוִיִּ֑ם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp The Levites: the children of Jeshua, of Kadmiel, of the children of Hodevah, seventy-four.
- Nehemiah 7:73 וְ/הַ/לְוִיִּ֡ם conj + ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp So the priests, and the Levites, and the porters, and the singers, and some of the people, and the Nethinim, and all Israel, lived in their cities. When the seventh month was come, the children of Israel were in their cities.
- Nehemiah 8:7 וְ/הַ/לְוִיִּ֔ם conj + ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people [stood] in their place.
- Nehemiah 8:9 וְ/הַ/לְוִיִּם֩ conj + ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites who taught the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to Yahweh your God; don't mourn, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.
- Nehemiah 8:11 וְ/הַ/לְוִיִּ֞ם conj + ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy; neither be you grieved.
- Nehemiah 8:13 וְ/הַ/לְוִיִּ֔ם conj + ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp On the second day were gathered together the heads of fathers' [houses] of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, to Ezra the scribe, even to give attention to the words of the law.
- Nehemiah 9:4 הַ/לְוִיִּ֗ם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp Then stood up on the stairs of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, [and] Chenani, and cried with a loud voice to Yahweh their God.
- Nehemiah 9:5 הַ/לְוִיִּ֡ם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, [and] Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless Yahweh your God from everlasting to everlasting; and blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.
- Nehemiah 9:38 לְוִיֵּ֖/נוּ n Gentilic mp cs + sfx pers 1cp Yet for all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, our Levites, [and] our priests, seal to it.
- Nehemiah 10:9 וְֽ/הַ/לְוִיִּ֑ם conj + ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp The Levites: namely, Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel;
- Nehemiah 10:28 הַ֠/לְוִיִּם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinim, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, everyone who had knowledge, and understanding;
- Nehemiah 10:34 הַ/לְוִיִּם֮ ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp We cast lots, the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood-offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our fathers' houses, at times appointed, year by year, to burn on the altar of Yahweh our God, as it is written in the law;
- Nehemiah 10:37 לַ/לְוִיִּ֑ם הַ/לְוִיִּ֔ם prep det + n Gentilic mp ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp and that we should bring the first fruits of our dough, and our heave-offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, the new wine and the oil, to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground to the Levites; for they, the Levites, take the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.
- Nehemiah 10:38 הַ/לְוִיִּ֖ם הַ/לְוִיִּ֑ם וְ/הַ/לְוִיִּ֞ם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp conj + ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp The priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes: and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers, into the treasure-house.
- Nehemiah 11:3 וְ/הַ/לְוִיִּ֣ם conj + ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp Now these are the chiefs of the province who lived in Jerusalem: but in the cities of Judah lived everyone in his possession in their cities, [to wit], Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the Nethinim, and the children of Solomon's servants.
- Nehemiah 11:15 הַ/לְוִיִּ֑ם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp Of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni;
- Nehemiah 11:16 הַ/לְוִיִּֽם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp and Shabbethai and Jozabad, of the chiefs of the Levites, who had the oversight of the outward business of the house of God;
- Nehemiah 11:18 הַ/לְוִיִּם֙ ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp All the Levites in the holy city were two hundred eighty-four.
- Nehemiah 11:20 הַ/לְוִיִּם֙ ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp The residue of Israel, of the priests, the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, everyone in his inheritance.
- Nehemiah 11:22 הַ/לְוִיִּם֙ ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp The overseer also of the Levites at Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica, of the sons of Asaph, the singers, over the business of the house of God.
- Nehemiah 11:36 הַ/לְוִיִּ֔ם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp Of the Levites, certain divisions in Judah [were joined] to Benjamin.
- Nehemiah 12:1 וְ/הַ/לְוִיִּ֔ם conj + ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp Now these are the priests and the Levites who went up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,
- Nehemiah 12:8 וְ/הַ/לְוִיִּ֗ם conj + ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp Moreover the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, [and] Mattaniah, who was over the thanksgiving, he and his brothers.
- Nehemiah 12:22 הַ/לְוִיִּם֩ ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp As for the Levites, in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan, and Jaddua, there were recorded the heads of fathers' [houses]; also the priests, in the reign of Darius the Persian.
- Nehemiah 12:24 הַ֠/לְוִיִּם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp The chiefs of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers over against them, to praise and give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, watch next to watch.
- Nehemiah 12:27 הַ/לְוִיִּם֙ ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with giving thanks, and with singing, with cymbals, psalteries, and with harps.
- Nehemiah 12:30 וְ/הַ/לְוִיִּ֑ם conj + ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp The priests and the Levites purified themselves; and they purified the people, and the gates, and the wall.
- Nehemiah 12:44 וְ/לַ/לְוִיִּ֑ם הַ/לְוִיִּ֖ם conj + prep det + n Gentilic mp ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp On that day were men appointed over the chambers for the treasures, for the heave-offerings, for the first fruits, and for the tithes, to gather into them, according to the fields of the cities, the portions appointed by the law for the priests and Levites: for Judah rejoiced for the priests and for the Levites who waited.
- Nehemiah 12:47 לַ/לְוִיִּ֔ם וְ/הַ/לְוִיִּ֔ם prep det + n Gentilic mp conj + ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp All Israel in the days of Zerubbabel, and in the days of Nehemiah, gave the portions of the singers and the porters, as every day required: and they set apart [that which was] for the Levites; and the Levites set apart [that which was] for the sons of Aaron.
- Nehemiah 13:5 הַ/לְוִיִּ֔ם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp had prepared for him a great chamber, where before they laid the meal-offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, and the singers, and the porters; and the heave-offerings for the priests.
- Nehemiah 13:10 הַ/לְוִיִּ֖ם הַ/לְוִיִּ֥ם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them; so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, were fled everyone to his field.
- Nehemiah 13:13 הַ/לְוִיִּ֔ם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp I made treasurers over the treasuries, Shelemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah: and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were counted faithful, and their business was to distribute to their brothers.
- Nehemiah 13:22 לַ/לְוִיִּ֗ם prep det + n Gentilic mp I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day. Remember to me, my God, this also, and spare me according to the greatness of your loving kindness.
- Nehemiah 13:29 וְ/הַ/לְוִיִּֽם conj + ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp Remember them, my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites.
- Nehemiah 13:30 וְ/לַ/לְוִיִּ֖ם conj + prep det + n Gentilic mp Thus cleansed I them from all foreigners, and appointed charges for the priests and for the Levites, everyone in his work;
Isaiah 1 verse
Jeremiah 3 verses
- Jeremiah 33:18 הַ/לְוִיִּ֔ם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to burn meal-offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.
- Jeremiah 33:21 הַ/לְוִיִּ֥ם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.
- Jeremiah 33:22 הַ/לְוִיִּ֖ם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp As the host of the sky can't be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured; so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites who minister to me.
Ezekiel 8 verses
- Ezekiel 43:19 הַ/לְוִיִּ֡ם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp You shall give to the priests the Levites who are of the seed of Zadok, who are near to me, to minister to me, says the Lord Yahweh, a young bull for a sin-offering.
- Ezekiel 44:10 הַ/לְוִיִּ֗ם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp But the Levites who went far from me, when Israel went astray, who went astray from me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity.
- Ezekiel 44:15 הַ/לְוִיִּ֜ם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister to me; and they shall stand before me to offer to me the fat and the blood, says the Lord Yahweh:
- Ezekiel 45:5 לַ/לְוִיִּם֩ prep det + n Gentilic mp Twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth, shall be to the Levites, the ministers of the house, for a possession to themselves, [for] twenty chambers.
- Ezekiel 48:11 הַ/לְוִיִּֽם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp [It shall be] for the priests who are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, who have kept my charge, who didn't go astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.
- Ezekiel 48:12 הַ/לְוִיִּֽם ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp It shall be to them an offering from the offering of the land, a thing most holy, by the border of the Levites.
- Ezekiel 48:13 וְ/הַ/לְוִיִּ֗ם conj + ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp Answerable to the border of the priests, the Levites shall have twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: all the length shall be twenty-five thousand, and the breadth ten thousand.
- Ezekiel 48:22 הַ/לְוִיִּם֙ ptcl def.art + n Gentilic mp Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince's, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, it shall be for the prince.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
לויי — transliterated Lêvîyîy — is a Hebrew name carrying the sense “Levite.” Its earliest occurrence is Exodus 4:14. Spanning 258 verses in 16 books, it ranks among the common words of the Hebrew Bible. Each statement above links to its evidence; the full detail follows below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H3881 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 258
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 258 distinct verses.
- 16 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 16 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #174
- by frequency
- Top 250 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 174 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 258 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- 2 Chronicles 59 verses 23%
- Numbers 48 verses 19%
- Nehemiah 37 verses 14%
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 258 distinct verses.
- Writings (Ketuvim) 147 verses · 57%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 72 verses · 28%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 39 verses · 15%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
BDB lists this Strong’s number as 2 distinct words (homographs). Each count above pools all of them and is not split by sense — see the Senses section below. A low-frequency rendering may belong to a different one of those words, not the primary meaning.
- King James Version†: Levites 231×, Levite 22×, All the levites 4×
- American Standard Version†: Levites 214×, Levite 23×, ' houses of the levites 5×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Levites 208×, Levite 33×, Levitical 14×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Levites 242×, Levite 28×, Levites were 3×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H3881 across 286† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 22 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H3881 across 285† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 32 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H3881 across 281† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 17 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 10 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H3881 across 286† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 7 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
15 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 15 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
לויי I m. Levi (√ and meaning dubious
- 1.
- a. 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). e.g. Genesis 29:34
- b. 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. e.g. Exodus 2:1
- c. 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). e.g. Exodus 32:26
- 2. 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. e.g. Deuteronomy 18:1
לויי II Levite
- 1. sg. of individual, אִישׁ ל׳ Ju 19:1 a certain Levite; pred. וְהוּא ל׳ Ju 17:1 and he was a Levite, so v 9; c. art. הַלּ׳ as subst. the Levite Ex 4:14 (J), Ju 17:10, 11, 12, 13 (as priest), Dt 18:6; 2 Ch 20:14; 31:12, 14, Ezr 10:15; הַנַּעַר הַלּ׳ Ju 18:3, 15; הָאִישׁ הַלּ׳ 20:4. e.g. Judges 19:1
- 2. c. art. הַלֵּוִי as subst. coll. the Levites: Ex 6:19; Nu 3:20, 32; 26:57 (all P); 18:23 (P; charged with service of tabern.); especially D, Dt 12:12, 18, 19; 14:27, 29; 16:1, 14; 26:10, 12, 13; also 1 Ch 24:6; Mal 2:8 (as priestly tribe), שֵׁבֶט הַלּ׳ Dt 10:8 tribe of the Levites (set apart for service), cf. Jos 13:14, 33; 1 Ch 23:14; בְּנֵי־הַלֵּוִי 1 Ch 12:27 (van d. H. v 26) sons of the Levites (i.e. of the tribe); so Ne 10:40 (as tithe-collectors); בֵּית הַלֵּוִי ψ 135:20 house (family, tribe) of the Levites e.g. Exodus 6:19
- 3. pl. לְוִיִּם chiefly Chr and P;—always c. art. הַֽלְוִיִּם except sf. לְוִיֵּנוּ Ne 10:1; the art. is om. by 𝔊𝔙 and most in Is 66:21; always = subst. Levites;— e.g. Nehemiah 10:1
- A.
- a. earlier usage:—as bearing the ark 1 S 6:15; 2 S 15:24; Dt 31:25, so (with priests) 1 K 8:4 = 2 Ch 5:5 (ℌ הכהנים הַל׳; read prob. וְהַל׳ as in K, 𝔊𝔖𝔙 cf. Öt VB); also 1 Ch 15:2, 26, 27; 23:26; 2 Ch 5:4 (for הכהנים ‖ 1 K 8:3). e.g. 1 Samuel 6:15
- b. not disting. from priests by D: הַכֹּהֲנִים הַל׳ Dt 17:9, 18; 18:1; 24:8; 27:9, Jos 3:3; 8:33 (both D; as bearing ark), also Je 33:18, 21 (הַל׳ הַכּ׳), Ez 43:19; 44:15; cf. Dt 18:7; 27:14 Je 33:22; הַכּ׳ הַל׳ likewise 2 Ch 23:18; 30:27 (but read prob. וְהַל׳ after 𝔊𝔖𝔙, cf. Öt and infr.) e.g. Deuteronomy 17:9
- c. as tribal designation, Ex 6:25; Nu 3:39; 4:18, 46; Jos 21:1 (all P), 1 Ch 9:33, 34; 15:12; 2 Ch 35:5; Ne 11:15, 16; 12:24; with ref. to share in land Lv 25:32(×2), 33(×2) (H), Nu 1:47; 2:33; Jos 14:3, 4; 21:3, 4, 8, 20, 27, 34, 38, 39 (all P), 18:7 (D), 1 Ch 6:49; cf. also 2 Ch 11:14†. e.g. Exodus 6:25
- d. set apart for service in tabern., Ex 38:21; Nu 1:50, 51(×2), 53(×2); 2:17; 7:5, 6; 8:6 + 18 times Nu 8 (all P), cf. 1 Ch 6:33; 16:4; ministers to Aaron and his sons Nu 3:9; 8:19; 18:6 (P); set apart for י׳ (as redemption for first-born) Nu 3:12(×2) + 7 times Nu 3 (P); with certain perquisites Nu 18:24, 26, 30 + 9 times Nu (P). e.g. Exodus 38:21
- B. in Chr. the tribal idea is in the background, and thought of Levites as official class is prominent:
- a. disting. from priests הַכּ׳ וְהַל׳ 1 Ch 9:14 (cf. v 10), 13:2; 15:4, 11, 14; 23:2; 24:6, 31 + 67 times Chr.; also Is 66:21 (according to Vrss., but dub.), Ez 44:10; 45:5 (cf. v 4), 48:11, 12, 13, 22. e.g. 1 Chronicles 9:14
- b. as porters, 1 Ch 9:26; 26:17, cf. 34:9; as in charge of music, 1 Ch 15:16, 17, 22 2 Ch 5:12; 29:25, 30; 34:12 Ne 12:27; yet disting. from porters and singers, Ne 7:1; 13:5, 10; disting. also from נְתִינִים 1 Ch 9:2; Ezr 8:20; Ne 10:29; further (with various official functions) 1 Ch 9:31 + 29 times Chr.; of groups of individuals, 2 Ch 17:8(×2); 29:12; 34:12 Ezr 2:40 = Ne 7:43, Ezr 8:33; Ne 3:17; 9:5; 10:10; 12:8, also 8:7 (om. וְ; 𝔙 BeRy Ryle). e.g. 1 Chronicles 9:26
- c. בְּנֵי־הַלְוִיִּם 1 Ch 15:15 (bearing ark), 24:30 (tribal designation).—See, on Levites, especially GfGesch. d. Stammes Levi in MeArchiv i. 68 ff. 208 ff. WeProl. Cap. iv RSOTJC. 435 f., 2nd ed., 360 f. BauPriesterthum 50 f., 68 f., and often e.g. 1 Chronicles 15:15
- A.
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
I. 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);—
II. adj.gent. Levite;—לֵוִי, 40 times; pl. לְוִיִּם 250 times; sf. 1 pl. לְוִיֵּנוּ Ne 10:1;—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from לוי (Lêvîy) (H3878) — Levi.
Forms in the corpus
The 77 distinct written forms H3881 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
The 60 most common forms are shown; 17 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H3881, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
Compare all same-root words → 2 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Bible dictionary
Public-domain dictionary articles matched to this entry by name (Levite). A biblical name can be shared by more than one person or place, so an article may treat several.
Easton's Bible Dictionary · M. G. Easton, 1897
A descendant of the tribe of Levi (Ex. 6:25; Lev. 25:32; Num. 35:2; Josh. 21:3, 41). This name is, however, generally used as the title of that portion of the tribe which was set apart for the subordinate offices of the sanctuary service (1 Kings 8:4; Ezra 2:70), as assistants to the priests.
When the Israelites left Egypt, the ancient manner of worship was still observed by them, the eldest son of each house inheriting the priest's office. At Sinai the first change in this ancient practice was made. A hereditary priesthood in the family of Aaron was then instituted (Ex. 28:1). But it was not till that terrible scene in connection with the sin of the golden calf that the tribe of Levi stood apart and began to occupy a distinct position (Ex. 32). The religious primogeniture was then conferred on this tribe, which henceforth was devoted to the service of the sanctuary (Num. 3:11-13). They were selected for this purpose because of their zeal for the glory of God (Ex. 32:26), and because, as the tribe to which Moses and Aaron belonged, they would naturally stand by the lawgiver in his work.
The Levitical order consisted of all the descendants of Levi's three sons, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari; whilst Aaron, Amram's son (Amram, son of Kohat), and his issue constituted the priestly order.
The age and qualification for Levitical service are specified in Num. 4:3, 23, 30, 39, 43, 47.
They were not included among the armies of Israel (Num. 1:47; 2:33; 26:62), but were reckoned by themselves. They were the special guardians of the tabernacle (Num. 1:51; 18:22-24). The Gershonites pitched their tents on the west of the tabernacle (3:23), the Kohathites on the south (3:29), the Merarites on the north (3:35), and the priests on the east (3:38). It was their duty to move the tent and carry the parts of the sacred structure from place to place. They were given to Aaron and his sons the priests to wait upon them and do work for them at the sanctuary services (Num. 8:19; 18:2-6).
As being wholly consecrated to the service of the Lord, they had no territorial possessions. Jehovah was their inheritance (Num. 18:20; 26:62; Deut. 10:9; 18:1, 2), and for their support it was ordained that they should receive from the other tribes the tithes of the produce of the land. Forty-eight cities also were assigned to them, thirteen of which were for the priests "to dwell in", i.e., along with their other inhabitants. Along with their dwellings they had "suburbs", i.e., "commons", for their herds and flocks, and also fields and vineyards (Num. 35:2-5). Nine of these cities were in Judah, three in Naphtali, and four in each of the other tribes (Josh. 21). Six of the Levitical cities were set apart as "cities of refuge" (q.v.). Thus the Levites were scattered among the tribes to keep alive among them the knowledge and service of God. (See PRIEST.)
Classic public-domain reference works; full attribution on Sources.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 220 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 258 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Exodus 4:14
- Leviticus 25:32
- Numbers 1:47
- Deuteronomy 12:12
- Joshua 3:3
- Judges 17:7
- 1 Samuel 6:15
- 2 Samuel 15:24
- 1 Kings 8:4
- 1 Chronicles 6:19
- 2 Chronicles 5:4
- Ezra 1:5
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
