And the Levite was content to dwell with the man means the Levite agreed to stay with Micah. The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And may be translated “So” (New International Version, New American Bible) in this context. The Hebrew verb for was content is literally “was willing,” so it might also be translated “agreed” (New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation). Dwell renders the same Hebrew verb translated “Stay” in verse 17.10 (see comments there). In most translations it will be better to use the same verb in both places.

And the young man became to him like one of his sons: Translators should make sure that all the referents are clear here. The young man refers to the Levite, the pronoun him points to Micah, and his sons refers to Micah’s own sons. This sentence is ironic. The narrator seems to be making fun of Micah, since after saying he wants the Levite to be like a “father” to him, the narrator informs us of the opposite: the Levite has become like one of his sons. In most languages this comparison can be made without making the basis of the comparison explicit. If not, a possible model is “and the young man became as close to Micah as Micah’s own sons were.” Another possible model is “and Micah considered the young man to be just like his sons.”

Translation models for this verse are:

• So the young Levite decided to stay with Micah and became like one of his sons.

• The young Levite agreed to stay with Micah and was considered as one of his own sons.

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .