Judges 17:7 - Printer Friendly

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

NIV: A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been living within the clan of Judah,

NASB: Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he was staying there.

CSB: There was a young man, a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who was staying within the clan of Judah.

NLT: One day a young Levite, who had been living in Bethlehem in Judah, arrived in that area.

KJV: And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.

NKJV: Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah; he was a Levite, and was staying there.

This introduces a new character into Micah's story (Judges 17:1–5). Only later will this young man be identified as Jonathan, a grandson of Moses (Judges 18:30). That the young man is a Levite means he is from the tribe of Levi (Exodus 1:1–3). He lives in Bethlehem in Judah, but is said to have "sojourned" there, meaning he was not from Bethlehem originally.

The Law of Moses assigned the Levites as the priests of Israel, overseeing worship in the places which God approved (Numbers 1:49–53). The Levite tribe did not have its own territory. Instead, they were given cities to occupy scattered throughout Israel so that they could lead the people in the worship of Yahweh. They were to be supported by the offerings of the people (Joshua 21).

Bethlehem was not one of the Levite cities. This means that, at the time this young man arrives in the story, he was neither serving as a priest in the temple nor living in one of the cities appointed for Levites. Deuteronomy 18:6–8 allowed for Levites to travel and settle elsewhere if the Lord led them to do so and still be supported by the people.

Judges 17:7–13 continues the story of Micah (Judges 17:1–2). He exemplifies Israel's careless, senseless attitude towards God near the end of the era of the judges (Judges 2:16–19). Micah hires a traveling Levite man to be his personal priest. He is convinced that employing an authentic Levite will bring prosperity from the Lord.

A man named Micah overhears his mother speaking a curse on whoever stole a hefty sum of money from her. He confesses that it was him so she attempts to replace her curse with a blessing from God. She has a carved religious object made from the silver for Micah, which he puts in his household shrine full of other idols and relics. A young Levite man comes to Micah's house, and Micah hires him as the personal family priest, convinced God will prosper him because of it. This demonstrates Israel's lack of spiritual commitment during the era of the judges.

Judges 17 marks a new direction for the book. Having completed the stories of the judges themselves, the focus shifts to everyday Israelites. A man confesses to stealing from his mother, and she donates the silver to make an idol. The man puts this in a shrine in his house along with other religious objects. He hires a Levite to be the family priest, which he assumes will guarantee blessings from God. The same priest will willingly leave with a group of raiders from the tribe of Dan (Judges 18). This leads to one the Bible's most disturbing stories, involving an abused woman whose fate sparks a civil war within Israel (Judges 19—20).

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).