Charles Ellicott Commentary Judges 17:7

"And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he sojourned there." — Judges 17:7 (ASV)

A young man. — Later on in the story, we, as it were incidentally, make the astonishing discovery that this young man was no other than a grandson of Moses.

Out of Beth-lehem-judah. — So called to distinguish it from the Bethlehem in Zebulon (Joshua 19:15). (See Note on Judges 12:8.) In later times, when Bethlehem was famous as David’s birthplace, and the other Bethlehem had sunk into insignificance, the descriptive addition was often dropped.

Of the family of Judah. — It may be doubted whether this refers to the “young man” or to Bethlehem, or whether, as in some manuscripts and versions (Septuagint, Codex B, and Syriac), it ought not to be omitted. If it applies to the young Levite, it must mean that he did not live in one of the Levitic cities—which belonged to his own family (the family of Gershom) and were in the northern and eastern tribes (Joshua 21:6)—but instead lived in Judah, and therefore was ranked in civil matters as belonging to that tribe. Homes in the tribe of Judah were assigned to the priests alone (Joshua 21:9–42).

He sojourned there. — Compare Judges 19:1. The curse had been pronounced on the tribe of Levi: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel (Genesis 49:7).