- published: 15 Jul 2016
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Levi/Levy (/ˈliːvaɪ/, Hebrew: לֵּוִי; Standard Levy Tiberian Lēwî; literally 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). Certain religious and political functions were reserved for the Levites, and in the documentary hypothesis, the early sources of the Torah—the Jahwist and Elohist—appear to treat the term Levi as just being a word meaning priest; some scholars therefore suspect that "levi" was originally a general term for a priest, and had no connection to ancestry, and that it was only later, for example in the priestly source and Blessing of Moses, that the existence of a tribe named Levi became assumed, in order to explain the origin of the priestly caste.
The Torah suggests that the name of Levi refers to Leah's hope for Jacob to join with her, implying a derivation from yillaweh, meaning he will join, but some Biblical scholars have proposed quite different origins of the name. These scholars suspect that it may simply mean priest, either as a loan word from the Minaean lawi'u, meaning priest, or by referring to those people who were joined to the ark of the covenant. Another possibility is that the Levites originated as migrants, and that the name Levites indicates their joining with either the Israelites in general, or the earlier Israelite priesthood in particular.
Born upon the blue ridge, at the Carolina line
Baptized on the banks of the new river
Brought upon blue grass and clear moon shine
And tough as iron but a heart soft as leather
Levi, lord, lord, lord, they shot him down
10 000 miles from a southern town
Oh, Levi,
Like a fire on a mountain, running wild with no states
Playing nights on the glory horse shoe
And Indian raids
Now it's parachutes and combat boots
They camouflaged they planes
And a country boy who don't belong
In the desert anyways
Levi, lord, lord, lord, they shot him down
10 000 miles from a southern town
Oh, Levi,
Well the sandbox sure gets lonesome
And it's 109 degrees
Singing carry my back to Virginia
Lord I'm down here on my knees
In a market skrell while the bells were ringing
Loud to fill the air
Levi gazed his eyes out, to the rocket player
Be on the desert and the ocean
To the farthest fields on home
And when the bullets pierced his body
He was already gone
Levi, lord, lord, lord, they shot him down
10 000 miles from a southern town
Oh, Levi, lord, lord, lord, they shot him down