LEVI
“United”.
(a) Third son of Jacob with Leah (Gen. 29:34). Together with Simeon, Leah’s second son, he killed Hamor, Shechem and the inhabitants of the city, to avenge the outrage perpetrated on his sister Dinah (Gen. 34: 25-31).
On his deathbed, Jacob remembered his crime: “Cursed is his fury, for he was fierce…” (Gen. 49:7). Levi had three sons: Gershom, Kohath and Merari (Gen. 46:11). Levi died in Egypt at the age of 137 (Ex. 6:16).
(b) Two ancestors of Christ: one of them the son of Simeon, and the other the son of Melchi (Lk. 3:24, 29, 30).
(c) Another name of the apostle Matthew (cf. Mt. 9:9-13; Mr. 2:14-17; Lk. 5:27-32).