LEYELLIXG
LEVITES
Zi
tions, however, that Jesus was to some extent familiar with the literature studied in the schools, both from His direct reference to passages con- tained in it, and from striking parallelisms in language and thought between various saj'ings of His and maxims of uncanonical books such as Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon.* He is also evidentlj- acquainted with the kind of teaching -upplied by the scribes. In the apocrjphal Gospel of the Infancy, Jesus is credited with an intimate and astounding acquaintance with ' learning,' partly derived from the reading of books. The bestowal of the title 'Rabbi' upon Him implies that, though not having studied after the usual manner, He was recognized to possess learning. But He Himself in His reply accepts the implication of the question that His teaching was not derived from any human source, but was the immediate communication from His heavenly Father. See also Lkakxixg.
A. Mitchell Huxter.
LEVELLING. — 1. In mountainous countries like Palestine landslips ai'e not uncommon, and in this way roads are blocked, or obstructed \>y falling debris. The drenching rains loosen the stones on the hillsides and send them rolling down to the plains, and the swollen burns and torrents cut new channels for themselves, and dam up old ones, .so that familiar paths not infreqiiently become ob- literated. Besides that, the farmers in some places are in the habit of gathering the stones from the fields and throwing them out on the highway, thus making the roads both dangerous and un- comfortable for travellers. It was needful, there- fore, to have the roads restored by removing the obstacles and tilling up the inequalities, ^yhen a sovereign rode forth, a company always went before him to clear the way : hence, ' Prepare ye the way of the people : cast up, cast up the high- way : gather out the stones ' (Is 62^"), and, ' A voice crying in the wilderness. Prepare ye the A\ay of the Lord, make his paths straight ' (Mt 3^, adajited from Is 40^). "When Ibrahint Pasha proposed to visit certain places in Lebanon, the emirs and sheikhs sent out a general proclamation commanding the people to prepare the way. The same took place in 184.5 when the Sultan visited Brusa.
2. Of the Temple, Jesus said, ' There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown doA\-n ' (Mt 24-, Mk 13-, Lk 216). xhis prophecy was fulfilled when the Temple wa.s de- stroyed in 70 A.D. With the levelling of the sacred building to the gi'ound there came an end to the Ceremonial Law so long cherished by the Jews, and this paved the way for a wider accept- ance of the gospel of Christ (Ro 5'"-, 1 Co 3"^).
R. Leggat.
LEVI. — 1. The name occurs twice in our Lord's genealogy (Lk 3-^- ^). 2. See LE^^TES and Priest. 3. See Matthew.
LEYIRATE LAW (Lat. levir, 'a husband's brother') regulated the marriage of a man with his dead brother's widow. In the story of Tamar and Judah (Gn 38) there is record of a marriage of this type, and at certain stages of ciWlization the Levirate marriage was a widespread custom. t Among the Jews the law was laid down that ' if brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child (son), the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger : her husband's brother . . . shall take her to him to ^\'ife' (Dt 25^). It almost seems, however, that the Levirate custom was not permitted bj- later legislation (Lv
* With 1ft 6", cf. Sir 7" ; Mt 6I-* (Mk 1126), cf. Sir 282-^ ; Mt 6-», cf. Sir 2911 ; Mt 71- -, cf. Sir SI" ; Mt 1912, cf. Wis 3i-» ; Mt 27-*3- 55, cf. Wis 216-18. 20 ; Mk 9+«, cf. Sir 717 ; Lk 1141, cf. Sir 3^ ; Lk 1216 20, cf. Sir 5i 1113.19 ; Jn 1719, cf. Sir 36*.
t Westermarck, The History of Human MarrCaae, London, 1891, pp. 510-514.
Igis 20^1 J ; but it has been suggested (1) that the forbidden marriage of that legislation was one between a man and the wife of his living brother ; * and (2) that the custom consecrated in Dt. was the exception to the general law set forth in Leviticus. t The object of the Levirate marriage (Dt 25®) was to secme that the tirstborn of the new union should succeed in the name of the dead brother, whose name thereby might not be blotted out from Israel. In the earlier ages of Judaism there was no clear conception of personal immortality ; and the LeWr- ate law was doubtless framed so that tliere might be the survival through jjosterity of the name of the representative of a family.
For the statement of a problem regarding the resuiTection, propounded to Jesus (Mt 22^"^, ;Mk 12'*"27, Lk 20''"^), the Levirate law was used by the Sadducees, who are described by the S^'noj^tists as saying that there is no resuiTection, and by Jo.>^ephus (Ant. XVIII. i. 4) as holding ' that souls die with the bodies.' Regarding as obligatory only those observances which are found in the written word, they rejected those derived from the tradi- tions of their forefathers. The Pharisees, on the other hand, accepted such traditions, and with them a belief in the doctrine of the resurrection (cf. Jos. Ant. XIII. x. 6). This doctrine, taught clearly in Dn 12, was made popular in Jewish theological di.scussions by the Book of Enoch, :J: and suggested the problem set forth by the Sad- ducees, who evidently- sought by the authority of Moses to discredit a doctrine held bj- the Pharisees and taught by Jesus. In stating their problem they brought for\\'ard a case of seven brothers who one after the other married the same woman. It is not necessary to take the case as one of actual fact, since the plirase wap' ijniv in Mt. may have been used merely for literary efi'ect.