L E V 
immortality of the foul; the knowledge of future events, 
prophecy, and the interpretation of dreams; the omnifci- 
ence of God; divine providence; the heavens, and their 
motion; and the creation of the world, with a difcuffiorj 
of the queftion, whether it has exifted from eternity. The 
author inclines, with Ariftotle, to the affirmative fide. 
This work was publithed in folio, at Riva, or ReirF, in 
the year 1560. Befides the works already mentioned, our 
r.ibbi compofed a (hort Expofition on the Logic of Averroes, 
or the Ten Categories of Ariitotle, &c. a Latin tranflation 
of which was printed at Venice, in 1552, in 4to. and va¬ 
rious other mathematical and philofophical treatifes, which 
were formerly preferved in manufeript in the Vatican li¬ 
brary, and that belonging to-the congregation of the fa¬ 
thers of the oratory at Paris. Wolfii Bibliotheca Hebraa, vol. i. 
LE'VI (Ifle dti Fort), an ifland in the river St. Law¬ 
rence, Upper Canada, in front of the townfhip of Ed- 
wardtburg. On this ifland are the ruins of a French for¬ 
tification. 
LEV'IABLE, aelj. That may be levied.—The Aims 
which any agreed to pay, and were not brought in, were 
to be leviable by courfe of law. Bacon's Henry VII. 
LEVI'ATHAN, f. [yrfr, bleb.] A water-animal 
mentioned in the book of Job; in poetry generally taken 
for the whale.—Canlt thou draw' out leviathan with an 
hook ? Job. 
More to embroil the deep; leviathan. 
And his unwieldy train, in dreadful fport 
Temped the loofen’d brine. Thomfon's Winter. 
This word the fathers underfland generally, in a moral 
fenfe, of the devil, the enemy of mankind, the ferpent. 
See 2 Efdras vi. 49, 52. The word leviathan, according 
to its etymology, may fignify any large fifli, or fea-monfter; 
the former part of the word denoting “ what is joined, 
fattened, or tied together;” and the latter part, than, “a 
great fiflj;” i.e. “thegreat fifli covered with feales, Ituck 
clofe one upon another.” Tims we have a very exafl 
defeription of the crocodile; and Bochart concludes that 
this mud be the animal intended. See the article La- 
certa, and the correfpondent Engravings, at p. 34 of 
this volume. 
LEVI'E, a town of the ifland of Corfica: thirteen miles 
north-wed of Porto Vecchio. 
LEVIEI'ON, a town of Perfia, in the province of Irak: 
thirty-fix miles wed-fouth-wed of Ifpahan. 
LEVTER, a town of France, in the department of the 
Doubs: ten miles wed of Pontarlier, and nine fouth of 
Ornans. 
TVLEV'IGATE, v.a. [lavigo , Lat.] To rub or grind 
to an impalpable powder. To mix till the liquor becomes 
fmooth and uniform.—The chyle is white, as confiding 
of fait, oil, and water, much levigated or fmooth. Ar- 
buthnot. 
LEV'IGATING, f. The act of reducing to an impal¬ 
pable powder. 
LEVIGA'TION,/!— Levigation is the reducing of hard 
bodies, as coral, tatty, and precious ftonps, into a fubtle 
powder, by grinding upon marble with a mailer'; but, un- 
lefs the indruments are extremly hard, they will lo wear 
as to double the weight of the medicine. Quincy. 
LEVIGNAC', a town of France, in the department of 
the Upper Garonne: eight miles fouth-fouth-wed of 
Grenade, and eleven wed-north-wed of Touloufe.—A 
town of France, in the department of the Lot and Ga¬ 
ronne : eight miles north of Marmande. 
LEV'IN,/ Lightning: 
As when the flafhing levin haps to light 
Upon two dubborn oaks. Spenfer. 
LEV'IN-BRON'D,/ Thunder-bolt.—And eft his burn¬ 
ing levin-brond in hand he took. Spenfer. 
LEV'INER, f. A kind of hound. Very. 
LEV'INGTON, a village in Lincolnlhire, fouth-weft 
©f Fokingham. 
LEY S5o 
LEV'IR ATE, f. [from lev or, Lat. hufoand’s brother* 
or brother-in-law.] A term ufed by authors who have 
written on the law and cudoms of the Jews, to denote 
particularly that law of Moles, which obliges one brother 
to marry the widow of another, who died without chil¬ 
dren, to raife up feed to him. Deut. xxv. 5. 
This law, which is an exception to that which con¬ 
demns marriages between brothers and fibers, and between 
brothers-in-law and filters-in-law, feems to have been in 
life among the Hebrewjy'and Canaanites before the time 
of Mofes; fince Judah gave his fird-born Er, and Onan 
his fecond fon, fucceffively to Tamar, and obliged himfelf 
togive to her like w^fe Shelah his third Ion. Grn.xxxviii.8,i 1. 
It is very remarkable, that the fame cudom or law pre¬ 
vails in Pome parts of India, as we are informed by Mr. 
Elliot in his Obfervations on the Inhabitants of the Gar- 
row Hills, which bound the north-eadern parts of Bengal. 
“I difeovered thefe circumftances of the marriage-cere¬ 
mony of the Garrows, from being prefent at the marriage 
of Lungree, younged daughter of the chief Oodafly, fe- 
ven years of age, and Buglun, twenty-three years old, the 
fon of a common Garrow ; and I may here obferve, that 
this marriage, difproportionate as to age and rank, is a very 
happy one for Buglun, as he will fucceed to the boonea- 
fhip and eftate ; for, among the Garrows, the younged: 
daughter is always heirefs, and, if there were any other 
children born before her, they would get nothing cn the 
death of the booneah. What is more drange, if Buglun 
were to die, Lungree would marry one of his brothers 5 
and, if all his brothers were dead, flie would then many 
the father; and, if the father afterwards fliould prove 
too old, die would put him alide, and take any one elfe 
file might choofe.” Afatic Refcarch.es, vol. iii. p. 35. It is 
clear, that Lungree would have afted exactly like Tamar 3 
who, becaufe Shelah was not given to her, confidered him 
“as dead, and married the father;” for doing which, Ju¬ 
dah not only acquits her of any tranfgreffion, but con- 
fefies, “ (he has more clofely adhered to the law (is more, 
righteous ) than I.” It appears too that the children of 
Judah by Tamar did actually inherit as his fons, lawfully, 
as well as naturally ; hence they are reckoned to him, 
1 Cliron. ii. 4. And Tamar his daughter-in-law, bare him 
Pkarez and Zerah. Again, in Numb. xxvi. 20. The fons 
of Judah were—of Shelah — ofPharez—of Zerah ; without any 
particular mark of abafement on Pharez. Alfo in Ruth 
iv. 18. the pedigree of David is exprefsly derived from 
the fame fon of Judah, by Tamar. If the pedigree of 
David be fo derived, then that of the Mefliah follows it; 
and it needs little confideration to determine which is 
moll convenient, to allow the legality of Tamar’s marri¬ 
age, and the legal acknowledgment of her children, or to 
baftardize, not merely Pharez, but his pofterity, Boaz, 
David, Solomon, and the kings of Judah and Iliad. 
The inftance of Ruth, who married Boaz her hufband’s 
relation, is an evidence of this practice under the judges. 
Boaz was neither the father of, .s.v the ne’areit relation 
to, Elimelech, father-in-law to Ruth, the wife of Mah- 
lon ; and yet he married her after the refufal of him who 
was the neareft relation. Ruth, iii. iv. 
The rabbins fuggeft many exceptions to and limitations 
of this law ; as, that the obligation on the brother to 
marry his fifter-in-law regards only brothers born of the 
fame father and mother; that it lias a refpeft only to the 
eldeft brother of the deceafed ; and, farther, fuppofes that 
he was not married already; for, if lie were, he might 
either take or leave his brother’s widow. If the deceafed- 
had left a natural or adoptive fon or daughter, a grand- 
fon or grand-daughter, the brother was under no obliga¬ 
tion to marry his widow. If the dead perfon left many 
wives, the brother could marry but one of them; if the 
deceafed had many brothers, the eldeft alone had a right 
to all his eftate, and enjoyed the property which his wife 
had brought him. They add, that the marriage of the 
widow with her brother-in-law was performed without 
folemnity; becaufe the widow of the brother who died 
a without 
