1. Judges 17:7 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What does the threefold repetition of “of Bethlehem in Judah” in Judges 17:7–9 imply?

Judges 17:7 (ESV)

7 Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.

The narrator repeats “of Bethlehem in Judah three times in verses Judges 17:7–9. This is likely further evidence that the book of Judges is not a pro-Davidic/anti-Saulide narrative.1