ancient times to achieve horizontal accuracy when building walls and various structures, while the plummet was used to assure vertical accuracy. Egyptian masons seem to have employed a level shaped like the letter “A” with a short plumb line suspended from the apex. Evidently when the hanging line coincided with a center mark on the crossbar, this indicated that the surface on which it was placed was level. The Scriptures furnish no description of leveling instruments, however, and they refer to this device only in figurative ways.

A leveling instrument may be used to construct a building properly or to test its fitness for preservation. Jehovah foretold that he would apply to wayward Jerusalem “the measuring line applied to Samaria and also the leveling instrument applied to the house of Ahab.” God had measured and found Samaria and the house of King Ahab to be morally bad or crooked, resulting in their destruction. Likewise, God would judge Jerusalem and its rulers, exposing their wickedness and bringing about the destruction of that city. These events actually occurred in 607 B.C.E. (2Ki 21:10-13; 10:11) Through Isaiah the various wicked braggarts and rulers of the people in Jerusalem were apprised of their coming calamity and of Jehovah’s declaration: “I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the leveling instrument.” The standards of true justice and genuine righteousness would reveal who were really God’s servants and who were not, resulting in either preservation or destruction.​—Isa 28:14-19.

(Leʹvi) [Adherence; Joined].

1. Jacob’s third son by his wife Leah, born in Paddan-aram. (Ge 35:23, 26) At his birth Leah said: “Now this time my husband will join himself to me, because I have borne him three sons.” The boy was therefore called Levi, the meaning of this name evidently being linked with Leah’s hope for a new bond of affection between her and Jacob. (Ge 29:34) Levi became the father of Gershon (Gershom), Kohath, and Merari, founders of the three principal divisions of the Levites.​—Ge 46:11; 1Ch 6:1, 16.

Levi, along with his brother Simeon, took drastic action against the defilers of their sister Dinah. (Ge 34:25, 26, 31) This expression of violent anger was cursed by Jacob, who foretold that Levi’s descendants would be scattered in Israel, a prophecy that was fulfilled when the Levites were indeed scattered throughout 48 Levite cities in the territories of Israel’s various tribes in the land of Canaan. (Ge 49:7; Jos 21:41) Levi accompanied Jacob into Egypt and died there at 137 years of age.​—Ex 1:1, 2; 6:16; see LEVITES.

2. An ancestor of Jesus Christ who is referred to as the “son of Symeon” in the genealogy of Jesus recorded by Luke. He is listed in the line between David and Zerubbabel.​—Lu 3:27-31.

3. The “son of Melchi,” who is the second person preceding Heli (Mary’s father) in Luke’s genealogy of Jesus.​—Lu 3:23, 24.

4. A tax collector (Mr 2:14; Lu 5:27, 29) who became an apostle of Jesus Christ and was otherwise known as Matthew.​—Mt 9:9; 10:2-4; see MATTHEW.

[Heb., liw·ya·thanʹ].

This Hebrew word occurs six times in the Bible. It is believed to come from a root word meaning “wreath”; hence the name indicates something that is “wreathed,” or “gathered into folds.” The word is transliterated in most Bible translations.

Since, with the exception of Job 3:8, the references mention water in connection with it, Leviathan appears to signify some form of aquatic creature of great proportions and strength, although not necessarily of one specific kind. Psalm 104:25, 26 describes it as cavorting in the sea where ships travel, and for this reason many suggest that the term here applies to some type of whale. Though whales are rare in the Mediterranean, they are not unknown there, and parts of two whale skeletons can be found in a museum at Beirut in Lebanon. An American Translation here says “crocodile” instead of Leviathan. Additionally, the word “sea” (yam) by itself is not determinative inasmuch as in Hebrew it can refer to a large inland body of water such as the Sea of Galilee (Sea of Chinnereth) (Nu 34:11; Jos 12:3), or even to the river Nile (Isa 19:5) or the Euphrates.​—Jer 51:36.

The description of “Leviathan” at Job 41:1-34 aptly fits the crocodile, and the “sea” of verse 31 may refer to a river such as the Nile or another body of fresh water. It should be noted, however, that some crocodiles, as the Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus), are found along the seacoast and at times go out into the sea some distance from land.

Psalm 74 describes God’s record of salvation for his people, and verses 13 and 14 refer symbolically to his deliverance of Israel from Egypt. Here the term “sea monsters [Heb., than·ni·nimʹ, plural of tan·ninʹ]” is used as a parallel expression to “Leviathan,” and the crushing of the heads of Leviathan may well refer to the crushing defeat administered to Pharaoh and his army at the time of the Exodus. The Aramaic Targums here give “the strong ones of Pharaoh” in place of “the heads of Leviathan.” (Compare Eze 29:3-5, where Pharaoh is likened to a “great sea monster” in the midst of