Judges 17:7

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 Living Translation (NLT)One day a young Levite, who had been living in Bethlehem in Judah, arrived in that area.

Context of Judges 17:7

5The man Micah had a shrine, and made an ephod and household idols; and he consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. 6In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah; he was a Levite, and was staying there. 8The man departed from the city of Bethlehem in Judah to stay wherever he could find a place. Then he came to the mountains of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. 9And Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” So he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am on my way to find a place to stay.”

Judges 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.

• And there was a young manנַ֫עַרna‛ar · youthH5288
• out of Beth–lehem–judahיְהוּדָהyehûdâh · JudahH3063
• out of Beth–lehem–judahבֵּית לֶ֫חֶםbêyth lechem · BethlehemH1035
• of the familyמִשְׁפָּחָהmishpâchâh · familyH4940
• a Leviteלֵוִיlêvîyîy lêvîy · LeviH3881
• and he sojournedגּוּרgûr · to sojournH1481

People and places in Judges 17:7

• Judah
• Levi
• Bethlehem

Cross-references for Judges 17:7

• Judges 19:1And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite staying in the remote mountains of Ephraim. He took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
• Genesis 35:19So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
• Joshua 19:15Included were Kattath, Nahallal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem: twelve cities with their villages.
• Ruth 1:1Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.
• Micah 5:2“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.”
• Matthew 2:1Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, 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

• Bethlehem
• Jonathan
• Minister, Christian

In the dictionaries

• Judah
• Levite
• Micah
• Teraphim
• Bethlehem
• Ezekiel
• Genesis
• Israel, History of
• Israel, Religion of
• Jonathan (1)

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