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Levi (???; Standard Levy; Tiberian L?wî; "attached", "joining") was, according to the Book of Genesis, the third son of Jacob and Leah, and the founder of the Israelite tribe of Levi (the Levites).

Jacob had twelve sons and one daughter: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, daughter Dinah, Joseph, and Benjamin.Levi was the third child of Jacob and Leah, born in Paddan Aram after Jacob had been working for his uncle and father-in-law Laban for more than seven years of a 20-year employment.The name "Levi" ("attached", "joining") refers to Leah's hope for Jacob "at last [to] become attached to" her.Levi's name is derived from ???, lavah, "to unite, to remain", and related to ????, livyah, "something attached".Levi traveled with his family when Jacob left Paddan Aram suddenly, and was blessed by his grandfather Laban, who departed in peace.Levi's family then traveled through Mahanaim, Peniel, Succoth, and Shechem.Speaking for Jacob, Levi and his older brother Simeon misled the people of Shechem, promising to become one people with them if they would become circumcised, and consenting, on that condition, to Shechem marrying their sister Dinah after he had raped her; Levi and Simeon killed all the male Shechemites on the third day after the circumcision surgeries, when the painful and crippling effect was the greatest on the townsmen.Levi was castigated by Jacob, but replied without answer, "Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?" (Genesis 34:30-31).At this time Levi and Simeon also rescued their sister Dinah, who had been kidnapped by Shechem; their brothers plundered the city and seized its wealth (Genesis 34).Levi's family then traveled through Bethel, Ephrath (now Bethlehem), Migdal Eder, and Mamre, where he met his other grandfather, Isaac.Because Joseph was the favorite of his father, the ten older brothers sold Joseph into slavery and convinced their father he had been killed by a wild beast.Joseph became viceroy of Egypt at age 30; after 7 years a famine struck, and Jacob sent his ten oldest sons to Egypt for food during the first year of famine, where they met but did not recognize Joseph.Levi returned to Jacob with his brothers, who were sent back to Egypt during the second year of famine; Joseph revealed himself and asked them to bring Jacob's entire family to settle in Egypt.After Levi returned to Jacob the second time, all Jacob's family, including 66 direct descendants, moved to Goshen in Egypt; Levi brings his three sons, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari (Genesis 46:11).Seventeen years later, Jacob blessed his twelve sons individually from his deathbed; Levi's portion was to be scattered and dispersed, and his anger and fury were cursed, in punishment for his killing men and hamstringing oxen in anger (Genesis 49:5-7).When Reuben lost the firstborn right ( kingship, preisthood, and the double-portion ), Levi recieved the preisthood instead.In a state funeral arranged by Joseph, the sons carried Jacob's body back to Canaan to be buried at Machpelah; Joseph's brothers submitted to him, and he pledged to provide for them.Levi's grandson Amram married Jochebed, Amram's father's sister (Masoretic) or one of his father's sisters (Septuagint), implying that Jochebed was Levi's daughter or one of them, or that she was otherwise closely related to Levi.Levi's family grew rapidly into one of the twelve tribes of Israel (Jacob); Levi died at the age of 137.The tribe of Levi was the only tribe in Egypt to be free of slavery since when the Egyptians asked the Hebrews to work for them ( before the labor was forced on them) the Levites said that they were to busy judging the rest of the tribes, and as a result, were ignored by the Egyptians.In the later kingdom of Israel, Levi's tribe, the Levites, were set aside for tabernacle and temple service, an office they fulfilled for millennia.In the Blessing of Moses, Levi and his tribe are referred to as being particularly pious, with some events of the life of Moses (a Levite) given as examples (Deuteronomy 33:8-11).God told the later prophet Malachi that he had made a covenant to give life and peace to Levi, and that Levi revered Yahweh, was in awe of the Tetragrammaton, instructed truly, upheld peace and morality, and turned many people from sin (Malachi 2:4-6).

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