A gentilic adjective from the name Levi, used almost exclusively to designate the priestly-service tribe set apart for tabernacle and temple duties. Appearing 286 times, it spans the wilderness organization under Moses (Num 3–4), the Deuteronomic concern for Levites without inheritance (Deut 12:12, 14:27), the Chronicler's elaborate temple rosters, and Ezra-Nehemiah's postexilic reforms. In three rare instances (Num 26:58, 1 Chr 23:27, 27:17), the word refers not to the class but to the patriarch Levi himself. Every major translation tradition renders the class as 'Levites' (Spanish 'levitas,' French 'Lévites,' German 'Leviten'), preserving the tribal-functional identity.