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Judges 17:8

in Judges 17

This man left the city of Bethlehem in Judah to settle where he could find a place. And as he traveled, he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the man departed out of the city, out of Beth-lehem-judah, to sojourn where he could find a place, and he came to the hill-country of Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.

KJV

And the man departed out of the city from Beth–lehem–judah to sojourn where he could find a place: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.

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This verse in Judges 17

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

To sojourn where he could find - He went about the country seeking for some employment, for the Levites had no inheritance: besides, no secure residence could be found where there was no civil government.

This site's exposition

there was a young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah

on Judges 17:7-9

Levites held no tribal land, and Deuteronomy 18:6-8 let any Levite come to the place God chose and eat equal portions there. This one leaves Bethlehem “to settle where he could find a place” instead. Judges 18:30 names him Jonathan son of Gershom, where the King James reads son of Manasseh and the Hebrew carries a raised letter, so readers differ over whether the name is Manasseh or Moses.

This site's exposition

to settle where he could find a place

The Levite left Bethlehem in Judah looking for a place, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read a restless man in him, as the law provided for every Levite. Henry allows that Bethlehem may have left him to starve. Clarke ties the wandering to a land with no king and no government.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

1 And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2 And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me;

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture

And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehemjudah, to sojourn where he could find a place,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Some think it was his unhappiness that he was under a necessity of removing, either because he was persecuted and abused, or rather neglected and starved, at Bethlehem.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

the man departed . . . to sojourn where he could find a place--A competent provision being secured for every member of the Levitical order, his wandering about showed him to have been a person of a roving disposition or unsettled habits. In the course of his journeying he came to the house of Micah, who, on learning what he was, engaged his permanent services.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

Jonathan’s state without a home gives us vivid picture of what must have been the condition of many Levites.

The words behind it

17 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֵּ֨לֶךְand he went

    vaiyelekhH1980 →1546 times

  • הָאִ֜ישׁthe man

    haishH376 →1663 times

  • מֵהָעִ֗ירfrom the city

    mehairH5892 →1090 times

  • מִבֵּ֥יתfrom Beth-

    mibeitH1035 →82 times

  • לֶ֙חֶם֙-lehem

    lechemH1035 →82 times

  • יְהוּדָ֔הJudah

    yehudahH3063 →819 times

  • לָג֖וּרto sojourn

    lagurH1481 →97 times

  • בַּאֲשֶׁ֣רin where

    baasherH834 →5497 times

  • יִמְצָ֑אhe will find

    yimtza'H4672 →455 times

  • וַיָּבֹ֧אand he came

    vaiyavo'H935 →2568 times

  • הַר־[the] hill country of

    har-H2022 →546 times

  • אֶפְרַ֛יִםEphraim

    ʾefrayimH669 →180 times

  • עַד־to

    ʾad-H5704 →1261 times

  • בֵּ֥ית[the] house of

    beitH1004 →2046 times

  • מִיכָ֖הMicah

    mikhahH4318 →33 times

  • לַעֲשׂ֥וֹתtomake

    laasotH6213 →2628 times

  • דַּרְכּֽוֹ׃journey his

    darkoH1870 →707 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

5 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Judges 19:1Now 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.4 worksRuth 1:1In 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.4 worksJoshua 24:33Eleazar son of Aaron also died, and they buried him at Gibeah, which had been given to his son Phinehas in the hill country of Ephraim.3 worksNehemiah 13:10–11I also learned that because the portions for the Levites had not been given to them, all the Levites and singers responsible for performing the service had gone back to their own fields.2 worksJudges 17:11and agreed to stay with him, and the young man became like a son to Micah.2 works

The walk

5 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Joshua 24:33

    Eleazar son of Aaron also died, and they buried him at Gibeah, which had been given to his son Phinehas in the hill country of Ephraim.

    it leads to

    • Joshua 22:13

      The Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest to the land of Gilead, to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

    • Exodus 6:25

      Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These were the heads of the Levite families by their clans.

    • Job 30:23

      Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.

    • Acts 13:36

      For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep. His body was buried with his fathers and saw decay.

    • Hebrews 7:24

      But because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood.

About Judges

Jael, Deborah and Barak, Salomon de Bray, 1635. Public domain.
Jael, Deborah and Barak, Salomon de Bray, 1635. Public domain.
Judges: the study guide →Read Judges 17 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Judges 17 →