New English Translation
Judges 17:7
7There was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah. He was a Levite who had been temporarily residing among the tribe of Judah.
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
5Now this man Micah owned a shrine. He made an ephod and some personal idols and hired one of his sons to serve as a priest. 6In those days Israel had no king. Each man did what he considered to be right. There was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah. He was a Levite who had been temporarily residing among the tribe of Judah. 8This man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah to find another place to live. He came to the Ephraimite hill country and made his way to Micah’s house. 9Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” He replied, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I am looking for a new place to live.”
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 Israel had no king. There was a Levite living temporarily in the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. He acquired a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
- Genesis 35:19So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
- Joshua 19:15Their territory included Kattah, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem; in all they had twelve cities and their towns.
- Ruth 1:1During the time of the judges there was a famine in the land of Judah. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah went to live as a resident foreigner in the region of Moab, along with his wife and two sons.
- Micah 5:2(5:1) As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, seemingly insignificant among the clans of Judah – from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, one whose origins are in the distant past.
- Matthew 2:1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, in the time of King Herod, wise men from the East came to 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
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