What Does Judges 17:10 Mean in the King James?
And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Here, “father and priest” arrive inside an employment offer, with household belonging and provision bound to the same terms.
THE MEANING
This verse shows the roles of father and priest offered within a material arrangement: ten shekels yearly, clothing, and sustenance. The Levite enters Micah’s household through these terms, so sacred service, belonging, and provision share one exchange.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A sacred title does not automatically place a relationship outside material exchange; here, “father and priest” are part of a stated offer of wages and upkeep.
THE ROOT
הַלֵּוִי
ha-Levi
GROWS FROM
לוה
Join, attach, accompany
Genesis itself links Levi with לוה (lavah, to join or accompany). Here, the Levite’s joining is arranged through stated terms of silver, clothing, and sustenance, making the household bond part of the priestly offer.
ALSO GROWS
yillaveh: Will be joined
יִלָּוֶה
Genesis uses this form when naming Levi, linking the name to joining.
livvah: Accompanied or escorted
לִוָּה
This branch shows the root’s sense of going with someone, illuminating the Levite’s entry into Micah’s household.
מִחְיָתֶךָ
michyatekha
GROWS FROM
חיה
Live, be alive
The Hebrew word for “victuals” names sustenance from the root meaning “live.” The offer does not stop at a wage or a title: it includes what keeps the Levite’s life going.
ALSO GROWS
chai: Living, alive
חַי
The same root names the state that the offered sustenance supports.
chayyim: Life
חַיִּים
This branch makes visible the life-root beneath the practical word for upkeep.
THE PATTERN
Material provision can be bound to a household’s or community’s sacred service.
And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests’ offices, that I may eat a piece of bread.And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.THE THREAD
And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi.Genesis connects Levi’s name with יִלָּוֶה (yillaveh), “will be joined,” from the root לוה (lavah). In Judges, that joining becomes concrete: the Levite enters Micah’s household through an offer that defines his pay and provisions.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us