And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.
And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.
And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he sojourned there.
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.
And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.
There was a young man out of Bethlehem Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he lived there.
And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.
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.
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."
17:7 Bethlehem - judah - So called here, as 2:1 ,5, to difference 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 city.