Giudici 17:7

7 Or v’era un giovine di Bethlehem di Giuda, della famiglia di Giuda, il quale era un Levita, e abitava quivi.

Giudici 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.

Giudici 17:7 In-Context

5 E quest’uomo, Mica, ebbe una casa di Dio; e fece un efod e degl’idoli, e consacrò uno de’ suoi figliuoli, che gli servì da sacerdote.

6 In quel tempo non v’era re in Israele; ognuno faceva quel che gli pareva meglio.

7 Or v’era un giovine di Bethlehem di Giuda, della famiglia di Giuda, il quale era un Levita, e abitava quivi.

8 Quest’uomo si partì dalla città di Bethlehem di Giuda, per stabilirsi in luogo che trovasse adatto; e, cammin facendo, giunse nella contrada montuosa di Efraim, alla casa di Mica.

9 Mica gli chiese: "Donde vieni?" Quello gli rispose: "Sono un Levita di Bethlehem di Giuda, e vado a stabilirmi dove troverò un luogo adatto".