Judges 17:8

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 ¹the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah.

Judges 17:8 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 17:8

And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehemjudah,
to sojourn where he could find a place Either being a man that had a rambling head, and of an unsettled mind, and could not easily fix any where; or else there being no supreme magistrate, to take care that the Levites had their due maintenance, for which there was a sufficient provision made by law; and the people being negligent of paying their tithes, there being none to oblige them to it, and they indifferent to the true worship of God, and prone to idolatry; this man was obliged to go abroad, and seek for a livelihood where he could get it, and sojourn in a place the most convenient for him:

and he came to Mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, as he journeyed:
not with a design to stay there, but called by the way, having heard perhaps that Micah was both a wealthy and an hospitable man, and he also might have heard of the new form of worship he had set up in his house.

Judges 17:8 In-Context

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. ”

10 And Micah said to him, “Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year and a suit of clothes and your living. ” And the Levite went in.

Cross References

• 1. 17:8 See Josh. 24:33