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Read the Bible

The NET Bible®

Judges 17:7

There was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah. He was a Levite who had been temporarily residing among the tribe of Judah.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Bethlehem;   Jonathan;   Minister, Christian;   Thompson Chain Reference - Jonathan;   Sojourners;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Jonathan;   Judges;   Teraphim;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Bethlehem;   Gershom;   Levites;   Manasseh (2);   Pentateuch;   Priest;   Samuel;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Bethlehem;   Judges, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Bethlehem;   Gershom;   Israel;   Kohath, Kohathites;   Levi;   Micah, Micaiah;   Priests and Levites;   Samson;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Bethlehem;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Bethlehem ;   Ephrathite ;   Jonathan ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Jonathan;   Micah;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Beth'lehem;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Bethlehem;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Reign of the Judges;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Bethlehem;   Ezekiel;   Israel, History of the People;   Israel, Religion of;   Jonathan (1);   Judges, Period of;   Micah (1);   Priests and Levites;   Stranger and Sojourner (in the Old Testament);   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Bethlehem;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Beth-Lehem-Judah;   Elkanah;   Levi ;   Micah;   Priest;   Sacrifice;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for August 3;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
There was a young man, a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who was staying within the clan of Judah.
Hebrew Names Version
There was a young man out of Beit-Lechem-Yehudah, of the family of Yehudah, who was a Levite; and he sojourned there.
King James Version
And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.
Lexham English Bible
There was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, from the clan of Judah; he was a Levite and was dwelling as a foreigner there.
English Standard Version
Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.
New Century Version
There was a young man who was a Levite from the city of Bethlehem in Judah who was from the people of Judah.
Amplified Bible
Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, from the family [of the tribe] of Judah, who was a Levite; and he was staying there [temporarily].
New American Standard Bible
Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he was staying there.
Geneva Bible (1587)
There was also a yong man out of Bethlehem Iudah, of the familie of Iudah: who was a Leuite, and soiourned there.
Legacy Standard Bible
En daar was 'n jongman van Betlehem-Juda, uit die geslag van Juda; hy was 'n Leviet wat daar as vreemdeling vertoef het.
Contemporary English Version
One day a young Levite came to Micah's house in the hill country of Ephraim. He had been staying with one of the clans of Judah in Bethlehem, but he had left Bethlehem to find a new place to live where he could be a priest.
Complete Jewish Bible
There was a young man from Beit-Lechem in Y'hudah, from the family of Y'hudah, who was a Levi. He had been staying
Darby Translation
And there was a young man out of Bethlehem-Judah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.
Easy-to-Read Version
There was a young man who was a Levite from the city of Bethlehem in Judah. He had been living among the tribe of Judah.
George Lamsa Translation
Now there was a young man from Bethlehem of Judah, whose name was Levi, and he sojourned there.
Good News Translation
At that same time there was a young Levite who had been living in the town of Bethlehem in Judah.
Literal Translation
And there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah; and he was a Levite. And he resided there.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
There was a yoge man of Bethleem Iuda, amoge the kynreds of Iuda, and he was a Leuite, and was a straunger there.
American Standard Version
And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he sojourned there.
Bible in Basic English
Now there was a young man living in Beth-lehem-judah, of the family of Judah and a Levite, who was not a townsman of the place.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And there was a young man out of Bethlehem Iuda, of the kynred of Iuda, which young man was a Leuite, & soiourned there.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem in Judah--in the family of Judah--who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.
King James Version (1611)
And there was a young man out of Bethlehem Iudah, of the family of Iudah, who was a Leuite, and he soiourned there.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And there was a young man in Bethleem of the tribe of Juda, and he was a Levite, and he was sojourning there.
English Revised Version
And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.
Berean Standard Bible
And there was a young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been residing within the clan of Judah.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Also another yonge wexynge man was of Bethleem of Juda, of the kynrede therof, `that is, of Juda, and he was a dekene, and dwellide there.
Young's Literal Translation
And there is a young man of Beth-Lehem-Judah, of the family of Judah, and he [is] a Levite, and he [is] a sojourner there.
Update Bible Version
And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he sojourned there.
Webster's Bible Translation
And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah of the family of Judah, who [was] a Levite, and he sojourned there.
World English Bible
There was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he sojourned there.
New King James Version
Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah; he was a Levite, and was staying there.
New Living Translation
One day a young Levite, who had been living in Bethlehem in Judah, arrived in that area.
New Life Bible
Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah. He was a Levite, of the family of Judah, and he was staying there.
New Revised Standard
Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the clan of Judah. He was a Levite residing there.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And there was a young man out of Bethlehem-judah, of the family of Judah, - he, being a Levite, and, he, being a sojourner there.
Douay-Rheims Bible
There was also another young man of Bethlehem Juda, of the kindred thereof: and he was a Levite, and dwelt there.
Revised Standard Version
Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he sojourned there.
THE MESSAGE
Meanwhile there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah and from a family of Judah. He was a Levite but was a stranger there. He left that town, Bethlehem in Judah, seeking his fortune. He got as far as the hill country of Ephraim and showed up at Micah's house.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he was staying there.

Contextual Overview

7 There was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah. He was a Levite who had been temporarily residing among the tribe of Judah. 8 This man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah to find another place to live. He came to the Ephraimite hill country and made his way to Micah's house. 9 Micah said to him, "Where do you come from?" He replied, "I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I am looking for a new place to live." 10 Micah said to him, "Stay with me. Become my adviser and priest. I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, plus clothes and food." 11 So the Levite agreed to stay with the man; the young man was like a son to Micah. 12 Micah paid the Levite; the young man became his priest and lived in Micah's house. 13 Micah said, "Now I know the Lord will make me rich, because I have this Levite as my priest."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Beth-lehem-judah, Judges 19:1, Judges 19:2, Genesis 35:19, Joshua 19:15, Ruth 1:1, Ruth 1:2, Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:1, Matthew 2:5, Matthew 2:6

of the family: That is, of the tribe of Judah by his mother; and of that of Levi by his father.

Reciprocal: 2 Chronicles 11:6 - Bethlehem

Cross-References

Genesis 15:18
That day the Lord made a covenant with Abram: "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River—
Genesis 17:5
No longer will your name be Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham because I will make you the father of a multitude of nations.
Genesis 17:6
I will make you extremely fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you.
Genesis 17:7
I will confirm my covenant as a perpetual covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
Genesis 17:8
I will give the whole land of Canaan—the land where you are now residing—to you and your descendants after you as a permanent possession. I will be their God."
Genesis 17:9
Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep the covenantal requirement I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.
Genesis 17:11
You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins. This will be a reminder of the covenant between me and you.
Genesis 17:16
I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. Kings of countries will come from her!"
Genesis 17:17
Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed as he said to himself, "Can a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?"
Genesis 28:13
and the Lord stood at its top. He said, "I am the Lord , the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the ground you are lying on.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The Hebrew words for “he sojourned there” are, שׁם גר gêr shām, which words are used Judges 18:30 in the genealogy of this young Levite, whose name was “Jonathan, the son of Gershom” (גרשׁם gêreshôm). Hence, some read here, “the son of Gershom.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Judges 17:7. Of the family of Judah — The word family may be taken here for tribe; or the young man might have been of the tribe of Judah by his mother, and of the tribe of Levi by his father, for he is called here a Levite; and it is probable that he might have officiated at Shiloh, in the Levitical office. A Levite might marry into any other tribe, providing the woman was not an heiress.


 
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