There is plenty of evidence of Mary being a Levite, not only in the Bible, but also in the Church’s own history.
Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth was a Levite (Lk 1:5), married to a Zechariah, a priest — also a Levite*. According to Church history Mary’s mother a Levite was married to a priest — also a Levite*. John the Baptist, son of Elizabeth, who was Mary’s cousin’s son, being a prophet and/or priest was a Levite. Jesus’s brother, James, according to the Bible was a high priest — also a Levite. Another priest was Matthan, the grandfather of Mary — yet another Levite.
(* The Old Testament tells us that priests were only allowed to marry women of the tribe of Levi, therefore these priest were in all likelihood also Levites.)
According to tradition of the Church Joachim, the father of Mary, was a retired priest or holy man. Hippolytus wrote in the third century that Mary’s mother was a daughter of a priest named Matthan (not to be confused with Matthan, the grandfather of Joseph).
Elizabeth and Mary were cousins, and both daughters of priestly houses. So not only was her father a priest, according to church tradition (which would make Anna, his wife a Levite), but also her grandfather was a priest according to Hippolytus in the third century.
Mary herself, according to Church history was raised in the temple — only daughters of priests were raised in the temple. Mary was a descendant of a “priestly houses”.
Mary remained in the Temple until her twelfth year, at which point Joseph was assigned to be her guardian. According to Coptic tradition, her father Joachim died when Mary was six years old and her mother when Mary was eight.(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presentation\_of\_Mary)
Not to mention, that the Bible tells us that Jesus was a high priest:
And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. (Heb 5:4)
So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. (Heb 5:5)
He was not only a priest in the order of Levi, but a priest after the order of Melchisedec:
For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. (Heb 7:17)
To be a priest, one of Jesus’ parents had to be of the House of Levi, it wasn’t Joseph, since tribal affiliation was came through the father and Joseph, was of the tribe of Judah, as is recorded in the Bible.
Obviously, the bible says that Jesus was the son of Mary. This does not give evidence that Mary was a Levite, but it does show that the writer of the book of Hebrews was aware that Jesus was a priest (evidence that Mary was a levite).
And since Jesus was a priest (as well as his brother, his uncle and his grandfather), it just makes it that much more certain that at least one of his parents was a Levite. And since tribal affiliation runs only through the father and not the mother, the parent who was of the house of Levi had to be Mary. Plus, we know from the Bible itself Joseph was of the house of Judah, not Levi.
All the evidence that strongly points to the fact that Mary was a Levite, which goes against the teaching that the genealogy in Luke was of Mary. She was NOT a descendant of King David. There is no evidence of this ANYWHERE in the bible. It is only a theory (of the church fathers) that the genealogy in Luke is that of Mary. The fact is, it plainly states that Joseph was of the tribe of Judah:
To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. (Luke 1:27)
Takeaways:
- Elizabeth, Mary’s cousin: Levite.
- Zechariah, Elizabeth’s husband, a priest: Levite.
- Mary’s parents, Joachim (a priest) and Anna: Levites.
- John the Baptist, Mary’s nephew, priest and prophet: Levite.
- James, Jesus’ brother, high priest: Levite.
- Matthan, Mary’s grandfather, priest: Levite.
- Mary herself, raised in the temple: Levite.
- Jesus, son of Mary, high priest after two orders: Levite (on mother’s side, Tribe of Judah on father’s side)
Conclusion:
There is very much proof Mary was of the house of Levi and NOT the house of Judah. Neither was the genealogy in Luke of Mary.
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