God’s Word Translation
Judges 17:7
7There was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah. (Bethlehem belongs to the family of Judah.) He was a Levite but was living in Bethlehem.
Judges 17:7 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And there was a young man out of Beth–lehem–judah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.
- New International Version (NIV)A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been living within the clan of Judah,
- English Standard Version (ESV)Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah; he was a Levite, and was staying there.
Context of Judges 17:7
5Micah owned a shrine. He also made an ephod and household idols. He ordained one of his sons to be his priest. 6In those days Israel didn’t have a king. Everyone did whatever he considered right. There was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah. (Bethlehem belongs to the family of Judah.) He was a Levite but was living in Bethlehem. 8This man left Bethlehem in Judah to live wherever he could find ⌞a place⌟. He came to Micah’s house in the mountains of Ephraim to carry on his work. 9Micah asked him, “Where do you come from?” The man told him, “I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I’m going to live wherever I can find ⌞a place⌟.”
Read all of Judges 17Judges 17:7 word by word
וַיְהִי־נַ֗עַר מִבֵּ֥ית לֶ֙חֶם֙ יְהוּדָ֔ה מִמִּשְׁפַּ֖חַת יְהוּדָ֑ה וְה֥וּא לֵוִ֖י וְה֥וּא גָֽר־שָֽׁם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Judges 17:7
- Judges 19:1In those days when Israel didn’t have a king, there was a Levite who lived in a remote area in the mountains of Ephraim. He took a woman from Bethlehem in Judah to be his concubine.
- Genesis 35:19Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
- Joshua 19:15This also includes Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem. There were 12 cities with their villages.
- Ruth 1:1In the days when the judges were ruling, there was a famine in the land. A man from Bethlehem in Judah went with his wife and two sons to live for a while in the country of Moab.
- Micah 5:2You, Bethlehem Ephrathah, are too small to be included among Judah’s cities. Yet, from you Israel’s future ruler will come for me. His origins go back to the distant past, to days long ago.
- Matthew 2:1Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea when Herod was king. After Jesus’ birth wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem.
Commentaries on Judges 17:7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7Of the family of Judah - The word family may be taken here for tribe; or the young man might have been of the tribe of Judah by his mother, and of the tribe of Levi by his father, for he is called here a Levite; and it is probable that he might have officiated at Shiloh, in the Levitical office. A Levite might marry into any other tribe, providing the woman was not an heiress.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7The Hebrew words for “he sojourned there” are, שׁם גר gêr shām which words are used Judges 18:30 in the genealogy of this young Levite, whose name was “Jonathan, the son of Gershom” (גרשׁם gêreshôm ). Hence, some read here, “the son of Gershom.”Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-13Verses 7-13 Micah thought it was a sign of God's favour to him and his images, that a Levite should come to his door. Thus those who please themselves with their own delusions, if Providence unexpectedly bring any thing to their hands that further them in their evil way, are apt from thence to think that God is pleased with them.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7-8This Levite does not fit typical biblical categories. Some Levites were priests, while others served in the temple (compare Numbers 3–4). Levites lived throughout Israel (Genesis 49:5–7; Joshua 21). This young man, likely a descendant of Gershom (Judges 18:30; see Exodus 2:21–22), lived in Judah but not in a Levitical town. He was searching for a new place to live.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. Beth-lehem-judah--so called in contradistinction to a town of the same name in Zebulun (Jos 19:15). of the family--that is, tribe. of Judah--Men of the tribe of Levi might connect themselves, as Aaron did (Ex 6:23), by marriage with another tribe; and this young Levite belonged to the tribe of Judah, by his mother's side, which accounts for his being in Beth-lehem, not one of the Levitical cities.Read the comment
Topics related to Judges 17:7
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Judges 17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- Darby Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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