Judges 17:7

7 Now there was a young man of ¹Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.

Judges 17:7 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 17:7

And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah
As there were two Bethlehems, one in the tribe of Zebulun, ( Joshua 19:15 ) and another in the tribe of Judah, the place here designed, Judah is added to it, to distinguish it from the other:

of the family of Judah:
which refers either to the young man, who was by his father's side a Levite, and by his mother's side, as Jarchi thinks, of the tribe of Judah, which seems very probable, though the genealogies of families were not reckoned from the mother; wherefore he might be so called because he had lived chiefly in the tribe of Judah, and particularly at Bethlehem; but Kimchi, and several other Jewish commentators, refer this to the city of Bethlehem, that was of the tribe of Judah, family being put for the tribe; or belonged to the children of Judah; though one would think there was no need to have added this, since it was fully expressed before by calling it Bethlehemjudah; the former sense therefore seems best:

who was a Levite;
his father being, as before observed, of that tribe, though his mother might be of the tribe of Judah: and he sojourned there; that is, at Bethlehem; he was not a native, nor an inhabitant there, but a sojourner, it not being a Levitical city.

Judges 17:7 In-Context

5 And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household gods, and ordained one of his sons, who became his priest.

6 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

7 Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.

8 And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem in Judah to sojourn where he could find a place. And as he journeyed, he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah.

9 And Micah said to him, “Where do you come from? ” And he said to him, “I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I may find a place. ”

Cross References

• 1. 17:7 ch. 19:1; Ruth 1:1, 2; Mic. 5:2; Matt. 2:1, 5, 6