And there was a young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah who had been residing within the clan of Judah.
Parallel translations
- WEB There was a young man out of Bethlehem Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he lived there.
- 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.
- 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.
- NLT One day a young Levite, who had been living in Bethlehem in Judah, arrived in that area.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been living there, is introduced. His wandering reflects the disorder of the times.
Overview
As a Levite, this man should have served at the central sanctuary and depended on God's provision through the tribes. That he is unsettled and seeking a place shows the breakdown of proper worship and support in Israel. His introduction sets up his entanglement in Micah's illegitimate shrine, deepening the picture of religious confusion.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Matt 2:1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem,
- Ruth 1:1–2In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. And a certain man from Bethlehem in Judah, with his wife and two sons, went to reside in the land of Moab.
- Mic 5:2But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity.
- Matt 2:5–6“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
- Gen 35:19So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
- Judg 19:1–2Now in those days, when there was no king in Israel, a Levite who lived in the remote hill country of Ephraim took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
- Josh 19:15It also included Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem. There were twelve cities, along with their villages.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 17:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.