Judges 17
Evangelical Heritage Version
The Spirit of the Times: Bad Priests, Bad People
Micah’s Idol
17 There was a man from the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. 2 He said to his mother, “You know that eleven hundred shekels of silver[a] which were taken from you, about which you spoke a curse that I heard—Look! I have the silver. I took it.”
His mother said, “May my son be blessed by the Lord.”
3 Micah returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother.
Then his mother said, “The silver that I received from my son I solemnly dedicate to the Lord to make a cast and engraved idol[b] for my son’s benefit.[c] So now I will return it to you.”[d]
4 He returned the silver to his mother, and his mother gave two hundred shekels of silver to the silversmith, who made them into a cast and engraved idol, which was placed in the house of Micah.
5 This man Micah had a “house of God,” where he placed a special priestly vest and a household god and where he ordained[e] one of his sons as his own priest.
6 In those days there was no king in Israel, and every man did whatever was right in his own eyes.
A Renegade Priest
7 Meanwhile, there was a young man from Bethlehem of Judah, a city which belonged to a clan of Judah. He was a Levite, but he resided in Bethlehem even though he was not a Judean.[f] 8 This man left the city—Bethlehem of Judah—to take up residence wherever he could find a place to stay. As he went on his way, he came to the house of Micah in the hill country of Ephraim.
9 Micah said to him, “Where did you come from?”
He answered, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I am going to take up residence wherever I can find a place to stay.”
10 Micah said to him, “Stay with me! Be a father and a priest to me. I will give you ten shekels of silver a year, an allowance for your clothing, and your food.”
So the Levite went with him. 11 The Levite was willing to stay with the man, and he became like one of his sons. 12 Micah ordained the Levite, so the young man became his priest and lived in Micah’s house.
13 Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will treat me well, because I have this Levite as my priest.”
Footnotes
- Judges 17:2 The Hebrew text reads one thousand one hundred ___ of silver without specifying a unit of measure. It probably refers to a collection of scrap silver that weighed eleven hundred shekels. Coins were not yet in use at this time.
- Judges 17:3 The Hebrew text has two distinct nouns meaning a cast idol and an engraved idol. The singular pronouns in the next verse seem to indicate that at this time only one idol, which was cast and engraved, was made from the silver. However, Judges 18:17-18 does refer to more than one idol.
- Judges 17:3 Literally the silver for the Lord from my hand for my son. There are several difficulties of text and translation in this section.
- Judges 17:3 Some translations move this sentence to verse 2, where it becomes a statement of Micah to his mother. Left here in verse 3, where the Hebrew text places it, it is a statement made by the mother about the gift of the idol(s) to Micah.
- Judges 17:5 Literally filled the hand of. The same expression is used for Moses’ ordination of priests. The same term occurs in verse 12.
- Judges 17:7 Literally resided as an alien. The term ger often refers to an alien from a different ethnic group. Here, however, it refers to an “alien” from a different tribe.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.