Judges 17:10

17:10 Micah said to him, “Stay with me. Become my adviser ¹  and priest. I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, plus clothes and food.” ² 

Judges 18:3

18:3 As they approached ³  Micah’s house, they recognized the accent ⁴  of the young Levite. So they stopped ⁵  there and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?” ⁶ 

Judges 19:1

Sodom and Gomorrah Revisited

19:1 In those days Israel had no king. There was a Levite ⁷  living temporarily in the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. He acquired a concubine ⁸  from Bethlehem ⁹  in Judah.

[17:10]  ¹ tn Heb “father.” “Father” is here a title of honor that suggests the priest will give advice and protect the interests of the family, primarily by divining God’s will in matters, perhaps through the use of the ephod. (See R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 257; also Gen 45:8, where Joseph, who was a diviner and interpreter of dreams, is called Pharaoh’s “father,” and 2 Kgs 6:21; 13:14, where a prophet is referred to as a “father.” Note also 2 Kgs 8:9, where a king identifies himself as a prophet’s “son.” One of a prophet’s main functions was to communicate divine oracles. Cf. 2 Kgs 8:9ff.; 13:14-19).

[17:10]  ² tn The Hebrew text expands with the phrase: “and the Levite went.” This only makes sense if taken with “to live” in the next verse. Apparently “the Levite went” and “the Levite agreed” are alternative readings which have been juxtaposed in the text.

[18:3]  ³ tn Or “When they were near.”

[18:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “voice.” This probably means that “his speech was Judahite [i.e., southern] like their own, not Israelite [i.e., northern]” (R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 263).

[18:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “turned aside.”

[18:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “What [is there] to you here?”

[19:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “a man, a Levite.”

[19:1]  ⁶ sn See the note on the word “concubine” in 8:31.

[19:1]  ⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.