The Book of Judges
Judges 17
Chapter XVII · Vol. II, p. 615
1 Of the money that Micah first stole, then restored, his mother maketh images. 5 and he ornaments for them. 7 He hireth a Levite to be his priest.
1 And there was a man of amount Ephraim, whose name was Micah.1
B.C. cir. 1430.
1 It would appear from a careful study of history that the events recorded in this and the following chapters of the book of Judges occurred at a period immediately after the death of Joshua, and long before the time of Samson or Jephthah. This must not be considered an error. The book contains a series of remarkable incidents in early Israelitish history; but it does not give a continuous narrative, nor does it profess to be chronologically arranged. It is probable that the death of Samson occurred at least 300 years after the event with which this chapter opens.—P.
2 And he said unto his mother, bThe eleven hundred shekels of silver[≈ 13 kg · 28 lb · silver worth ≈ US$22,000] that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, cBlessed be thou of the LORD, my son.2
3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver[≈ 13 kg · 28 lb · silver worth ≈ US$22,000] to his mother, his mother said, dI had wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD3 from my hand for my son, to emake a graven image and a molten image; now therefore I will restore it unto thee.
d ch.18.5,18. Is.66.3.
e Ex.20.4. Le.19.4; 26.1. De.12.30. ch.8.27. Is.40.19; 41.7; 44.9-13; 46.6,7. Je.10.3-5. Hab.2.18,19.
3 It is here farther to be remarked that though stinginess in the cause of religion is apostolically condemned, 2 Co.9.6, yet liberality is no proof that the worship to which it dedicates is acceptable, or the heart of the giver right with God.—Note, God requires first the heart, then the hand; but the open hand of the idolater may often put to shame the narrow-mindedness of the Christian.—C.
4 Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver[≈ 2.3 kg · 5 lb · silver worth ≈ US$3,900], and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah.
5 And the man Micah had an house of gods,4 and made an fephod, and teraphim, and gconsecrated5 one of his sons, who became his priest.
A.M. cir. 2574. B.C. cir. 1430.
4 The translation in the plural is evidently correct; the place being a house, not of God, that is, of JEHOVAH, the one living and true God, but of gods, idols, the work of men's hands.—Note, 'The refuge of lies,' adopted by almost every form of idolatry, is to deny a plurality of gods, or the worship of idols, and to assert that the various attributes of the one God are represented by the visible forms, and that the idols are not worshipped, but God worshipped through them. But let none be deceived by this pretence; God is not thus to be mocked.—C.
g Ex.24.5. 1 Ki.12.31; 13.33.
5 Heb. filled the hand.
6 Inh those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right iin his own eyes.
7 And there was a young man out of kBeth-lehem-judah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.
8 And the man ldeparted out of the city from Beth-lehem-judah, to sojourn where mhe could find a place: and he came to nmount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.6
9 And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a Levite of Beth-lehem-judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place.
10 And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me oa father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver[≈ 110 g · 4 oz · silver worth ≈ US$200]7 by the year, and a suit8 of apparel,9 and thy victuals. pSo the Levite went in.
11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons.
12 And Micah qconsecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.
q Ex.24.5. 1 Ki.12.31; 13.33. ver.5. 2 Ch.13.19.
Notes
[Ver. 5. Ephod and teraphim. 'Ephod,' the principal part of the priest's dress, and particularly remarkable for having engraved on precious stones the names of the tribes, Ex. 23.4-6, &c., an emblem of the communion of saints and the preciousness of God's people to the heart of the great High- priest. 'Teraphim:' the word signifies images, but of what form is not precisely known. See note on ch. 18. 14. C.]
Ver. 6. [In those days there was no king in Israel. The time is not precisely known, farther than that it was after the days of Joshua, and most probably soon after the death of Joshua; for Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, was still alive, see ch. 20. 28. This and the following chapters may therefore be considered as an appendix to the memoirs of the judges. C.]
Ver. 7. [A young man out of Bethlehem-judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite. His father may have been of Levi, his mother of Judah, or this 'Bethlehem-judah' may have belonged to the particular division of the tribe of Judah which bore the family name of Judah; for each tribe was divided into distinct families. C.]
Ver. 13. [The Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest. Micah was a worldly, superstitious, ignorant man—the proper elements of an idolater. Worldly, for he stole his mother's silver; superstitious, for he gave it back, not from a moral feeling of honesty, but dread of a curse; ignorant, for he is led by the name of a Levite, without any reference to the law of God as to the priestly family or place of worship. C.]
Reflections.—Covetousness most frequently besets people in their old age; and churlish parents and thievish children often meet together. It is dreadful when those losses which should make men pray, cause them to curse and blaspheme. Hasty imprecations light unexpectedly where the curser least intended them. Reconcilement in sin is quickly effected: and the most covetous wretches liberally devote their idolized substance to the service of the devil. From what small beginnings are the vilest corruptions introduced into nations and churches! The grossest idolatries are often varnished with high pretences to religion. But sad are the times when faithful ministers are almost starved for want! and what an easy prey for Satan and his agents are unsettled professors, and especially rambling clergymen! God readily leaves those to debase themselves who have once abandoned themselves to a neglect of his worship and service: and permits those who should be reprovers of sin to be principal countenancers of it for the sake of their belly. And upon what slight, nay, damnable grounds, do hardened sinners reckon themselves entitled to the favour of God!
Measures in square brackets are modern equivalents added for this edition. They are not in the King James text or in Brown’s notes. They use common scholarly estimates: a cubit is about 45.7 cm (18 in), a shekel about 11.4 g (0.4 oz), an ephah about 22 litres. Money values give the worth of the silver or gold at spot prices on 28 October 2026, not what the sum would buy in the ancient world.