士師記 17:7-8 JCB

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Judges 17:7-13

We have here an account of Micah's furnishing himself with a Levite for his chaplain, either thinking his son, because the heir of his estate, too good to officiate, or rather, because not of God's tribe, not good enough. Observe, I. What brought this Levite to Micah. By his mother's side he was of the family of Judah, and lived at Bethlehem among his mother's relations (for that was not a Levites? city), or, upon some other account, as a stranger or inmate, sojourned there, Jdg. 17:7. Thence... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 17:7

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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 17:8

And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehemjudah , to sojourn where he could find a place,.... Either being a man that had a rambling head, and of an unsettled mind, and could not easily fix any where; or else there being no supreme magistrate, to take care that the Levites had their due maintenance, for which there was a sufficient provision made by law; and the people being negligent of paying their tithes, there being none to oblige them to it, and they indifferent to the true... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 17:8

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. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Judges 17:7

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.” read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Judges 17:8

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

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Judges 17:7

Judges 17:7 . Beth-lehem-judah So called here, as Matthew 2:1; Matthew 2:5, to distinguish it from Bethlehem in Zebulun. There he was born and bred. Of Judah That is, of or belonging to the tribe of Judah; not by birth, for he was a Levite; but by his habitation and ministration. For the Levites were dispersed among all the tribes: and this man’s lot fell into the tribe of Judah. Sojourned So he expresseth it, because this was not the proper place of his abode, this being no Levitical... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Judges 17:8

Judges 17:8. To sojourn where he could find a place For employment and a livelihood; for the tithes and offerings, which were their maintenance, not being brought unto the house of God, the Levites and priests were reduced to difficulties. read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Judges 17:1-13

17:1-21:25 TRIBAL DISORDER WITHIN ISRAELThe writer of the book has now finished his account of the activity of the judges. To this he adds an appendix consisting of two stories (not necessarily placed in their correct chronological position in the book) that illustrate the disorder that existed in Israel during that period. The nation had no central government and people in the various tribes did as they pleased (see 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). The stories record important changes that occurred... read more