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Judges 17

The TorahRooted Bible (TRB), translated directly from the Hebrew and Greek.

Micah's images

1 Now there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. 2 And he said to his mother, "The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse and also spoke it in my hearing, see, the silver is with me; I took it." And his mother said, "Blessed be my son by Yahweh!" 3 So he returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, "I solemnly dedicate the silver to Yahweh from my hand for my son, to make a carved image and a molded image. Now therefore I will return it to you." 4 So he returned the silver to his mother, and his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith, who made it into a carved image and a molded image; and it was in the house of Micah. 5 And the man Micah had a house of gods, and he made an ephod and household gods, and ordained one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Micah and the Levite

7 Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the clan of Judah, who was a Levite; and he was sojourning there. 8 And the man went out from the city, from Bethlehem in Judah, to sojourn wherever he could find a place. And as he went on his way, he came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah. 9 And Micah said to him, "Where do you come from?" And he said to him, "I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn wherever I may find a place." 10 Micah said to him, "Stay with me, and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a set of clothes, and your food." So the Levite went in. 11 The Levite was content to live with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons. 12 So Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in the house of Micah. 13 Then Micah said, "Now I know that Yahweh will do me good, since I have a Levite as priest."

Notes

  • 17:1 In verses 1 and 4 his name is Mikhayehu, "Who is like Yahweh?"; after that it is shortened to Mikhah. The name is a confession of Yahweh's uniqueness (Exodus 15:11), yet its bearer makes images. Chapters 17-21 are not a continuation of Samson's story but two accounts from the period of the judges, set early in it: a grandson, or near descendant, of Moses (18:30) and Phinehas, Aaron's grandson (20:28), are still living.
  • 17:2 His mother had pronounced a curse (alah) on the unknown thief, and the son confesses, apparently in fear of it; she answers with a blessing to undo it. Eleven hundred pieces of silver is the very sum each Philistine lord promised Delilah (16:5), which may link the two stories.
  • 17:5 The Hebrew bet elohim can mean "a house of gods" or "a house of God"; the same words with the article name "the house of Elohim" at Shiloh in 18:31. We read "gods" because of the images and household gods gathered there, though Micah probably thought he was honoring Yahweh (verses 3, 13); either way his shrine broke the Torah's commands on images (Exodus 20:4), the one place of worship (Deuteronomy 12:5-14) and the priesthood of Aaron's line (Numbers 3:10). "Household gods" are teraphim, as in Genesis 31:19, and "ordained" is literally "filled the hand," the idiom for installing a priest (Exodus 28:41).
  • 17:6 This refrain frames the last chapters of Judges (17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). It recalls Moses' warning, "You shall not do… every man whatever is right in his own eyes" (Deuteronomy 12:8), in contrast to doing "what is good and right in the eyes of Yahweh" (Deuteronomy 12:28). The narrator does not praise every king, but shows a people without order or faithful leadership, and points ahead to the kingship of the books of Samuel.
  • 17:7 The Levites had no tribal territory but cities among the other tribes (Joshua 21), and Bethlehem was not one of them. This young man belonged to Judah by residence, as a sojourner (ger), not by descent; his name and ancestry are held back until 18:30.
  • 17:13 Micah trusts that having a Levite will secure Yahweh's favor, as if the right religious staff could buy blessing. The next chapter shows the opposite: the same Levite will leave him for a better offer (18:19-20).

Judges 16 · Judges 18

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