Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 17:8

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

8. And the man departed ] Here comes the wandering Levite, who, in the course of his travels, arrives at Micah’s house; he is the counterpart of the young man already settled there. This narrative no doubt began with some such words as ‘Now there was a Levite out of Beth-lehem-judah,’ which naturally would not be repeated after Jdg 17:7, though out of Beth-lehem-judah had to be retained. Jdg 17:9-11 a, 12 a continue the story.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

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

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 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.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Where he could find a place, for employment and a livelihood; for the tithes and offerings, which were their maintenance, not being brought in to the house of God, the Levites and priests must needs be reduced to great straits.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

8. the man departed . . . to sojournwhere he could find a placeA competent provision being securedfor every member of the Levitical order, his wandering about showedhim to have been a person of a roving disposition or unsettledhabits. In the course of his journeying he came to the house ofMicah, who, on learning what he was, engaged his permanent services.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

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 worship of God, and prone to idolatry; this man was obliged to go abroad, and seek for a livelihood where he could get it, and sojourn in a place the most convenient for him:

and he came to Mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, as he journeyed: not with a design to stay there, but called by the way, having heard perhaps that Micah was both a wealthy and an hospitable man, and he also might have heard of the new form of worship he had set up in his house.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(8) To sojourn where he could find.Or, as we should say, to get his living. It may easily be supposed that in the disorganisation of these days, the due support of the Levites would be much neglected. The same neglect occurred in the troubled days of Nehemiah: I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them: for the Levites and the singers, that did the work, were fled every one to his field, &c. (Neh. 13:10-11).

To the house of Micah.Probably he was induced to go there by the rumour of Micahs chapel and worship.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

8. To sojourn where he could find a place The irregularity and neglect of sanctuary worship, and of the several enactments of the law concerning the priests and Levites, probably left many of this tribe to wander idly through the land, seeking a residence wherever they might chance to find one.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘ And the man departed out of the city, out of Bethlehem-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.’

The Levite went out on his travels as a religious adventurer, looking for opportunities, his first concern his own advancement and prospects. This may have been partly forced on him by the partial failure of the system of tithing as a result of syncretism. Micah was of a wealthy family whose obvious wealth would attract men like this Levite, and he may well have heard on his travels about Micah’s religious innovations Thus the two came together.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Jdg 17:8 And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehemjudah to sojourn where he could find [a place]: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.

Ver. 8. To sojourn where he could find a place. ] By the iniquity of the times, he was put to his shifts, and forced to seek a subsistence where he could get it. See the like in Neh 13:10-11 . Ministers are not of the chameleon kind: they cannot live upon the air. It was a sad thing that Luther should be forced to complain, Spoliantur parochiae et scholae non aliter ac si fame necare nos velint: Parishes and schools are robbed, as if they meant to starve up the ministry. It was an ingenuous confession of that Popish priest, but a shame for those that put him to it, We preach the gospel, tantum ut nos pascat et vestiat, only for food and raiment. In many places they allow the ox nothing but the straw for treading out the grain: and so much straw as themselves please. O tempera!

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)