One day a young Levite, who had been living in Bethlehem in Judah, arrived in that area.
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.
- BSB And there was a young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah who had been residing within the clan of Judah.
- 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.
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 2:1Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying,
- Ruth 1:1–2In the days when the judges judged, there was a famine in the land. A certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.
- Mic 5:2But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, being small among the clans of Judah, out of you one will come out to me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings out are from of old, from ancient times.
- Matt 2:5–6They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is written through the prophet,
- Gen 35:19Rachel died, and was buried on the way to Ephrath (also called Bethlehem).
- Judg 19:1–2In those days, when there was no king in Israel, there was a certain Levite living on the farther side of the hill country of Ephraim, who took for himself a concubine out of Bethlehem Judah.
- Josh 19:15Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem: twelve cities 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.