Number of the Tribes

[Ismq]

The root meaning of Levi is לִוָּה livvâ "he accompanied." Richard Elliott Friedman argued in his Exodus (Amazon) that the Levites were not originally part of the Hebrew people, not a real son of Jacob. The Levites were, according to his theory, the ones who came out of Egypt and joined to or accompanied the Hebrew people. A story was created that made Levi one of the sons of Israel and had to deal with how Manasseh and Ephraim came to be counted among the twelve tribes. It's an interesting theory. You might read his book and consider it.

The Bible says clearly that levi was the son of jacob.genesis 29:34.