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Judges Chapter
Seventeen
Judges 17
Outlines
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 17
This
chapter relates the first rise of idolatry in Israel after the death of Joshua,
which began in Mount Ephraim, occasioned by a sum of money stolen by a man from
his mother, which being restored, part was converted to an idolatrous use; two
images were made of it, Judges 17:1 and
there being no king in Israel to take cognizance of it, the idolatry took place
and continued, and afterwards spread, Judges 17:6, and
this idolater not only made one of his sons a priest, but took a Levite for
another, whom he hired by the year to serve him, Judges 17:7.
Judges 17:1 Now
there was a man from the mountains of Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
YLT
1And there is a man of the
hill-country of Ephraim, and his name [is] Micah,
And there was a man of Mount Ephraim,.... This and
the four following chapters contain an history of facts, which were done not
after the death of Samson, as some have thought, and as they may seem at first
sight, by the order in which they are laid; but long before his time, and
indeed before any of the judges in Israel, when there was no king, judge, or
supreme governor among them, as appears from Judges 17:6 even
between the death of Joshua and the elders, and the first judge of Israel,
Othniel; and so JosephusF5Antiqu. l. 5. c. 2. sect. 8, &c.
places them in his history, and the connection of them is with Judges 2:10 and so
accounts for the rise of idolatry in Israel, how it got into the tribe of Dan,
and spread itself over all the tribes of Israel, Judges 2:11 which
brought on their servitude to Cushanrishathaim, in which time the Jewish
chronologyF6Seder Olam Rabba, c. 12. p. 33. places those events; but
they were certainly before that, for the idolatry they fell into was the cause
of it; yet could not be so early as the times of Joshua, and before his death;
because in his days, and the days of the elders, Israel served the Lord; the
reasons why they are postponed to the end of this book, and the account of them
given here, are, according to Dr. LightfootF7Works, vol. 1. p. 46. ,
that the reader observing how their state policy failed in the death of Samson,
who was a Danite, might presently be showed God's justice in it, because their
religion had first failed among the Danites; that when he observes that 1100
pieces of silver were given by every Philistine prince for the ruin of Samson, Judges 16:5 he
might presently observe the 1100 pieces of silver that were given by Micah's
mother for the making of an idol, which ruined religion in Samson's tribe; that
the story of Micah, of the hill country of Ephraim, the first destroyer of
religion, and the story of Samuel, of the hill country of Ephraim, the first
reformer of religion, might be laid together somewhat near. That the facts
after related were so early done as has been observed, appears from the
following things; the priest of the idol Micah made was a grandson of Moses, Judges 18:30, the
Danites' seeking to enlarge their possessions, related in the same chapter, was
most probably as soon as they were driven into the mountains by the Amorites, Judges 1:34.
Mahanah Dan, from whence they marched, and had its name from their expedition, Judges 18:12 is
mentioned before in the history of Samson, Judges 13:25 and
therefore the expedition must be before his time. Phinehas, the son of Eleazar,
was alive at the battle of Gibeah, Judges 20:28 and
Deborah speaks of the 40,000 Israelites slain by Benjamin at it, Judges 5:8. This
man with whom the idolatry began was of the tribe of Ephraim, and dwelt in the
mountainous part of it:
whose name was Micah; in the original it is
Micajehu, with part of the name Jehovah affixed to it, as Dr. LightfootF8Works,
vol. 1. p. 45. remarks, till he set up his image, and thenceforward was called
Micah; but, according to Abarbinel, the former was his name while he was a
child, and in his youth, and with his mother, being a diminutive term, and when
he became a man be was called Micah, Judges 17:5.
Judges 17:2 2 And he said to his mother,
“The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you, and on
which you put a curse, even saying it in my ears—here is the silver with
me; I took it.” And his mother said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, my son!”
YLT
2and he saith to his mother,
`The eleven hundred silverlings which have been taken of thine, and [of which]
thou hast sworn, and also spoken in mine ears; lo, the silver [is] with me, I
have taken it;' and his mother saith, `Blessed [is] my son of Jehovah.'
And he said unto his mother,.... Who seems to have
been a widow, and an ancient woman since Micah had sons, and one of them at age
to become a priest:
the eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee: which were
taken away by stealth from her, though it may be rendered "taken to
thee"F9לקח לך
"captum est tibi", Montanus, Junius & Tremellius. ; which she had
taken to herself out of the rest of her substance, and had separated and
devoted it to religious uses; but Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it as we do, and
which seems to be the best sense; of the value of this sum; see Gill on Judges 16:5 and
because the like sum is there offered, and was given to Delilah, hence some
have thought, as Jarchi relates, that this woman was Delilah; but, as he
observes, it is a mistake; for this woman lived long before the times of Samson
and Delilah:
about which thou cursedst; which when she perceived
was stolen from her, she fell into a passion, and cursed and swore, cursed the
thief that took it, whether of her own family or another; or adjured her son,
that if he knew anything of it, that he would declare it, suspecting him of the
robbery; some think this refers to the oath she had made, that she would devote
the silver to a religious use:
and spakest of also in mine ears; of the sum how much it
was, and of the use she had designed it for; or rather the curse was delivered
in his hearing, and cut him to the heart, and wrought that conviction in him,
that he could not retain the money any longer, not being able to bear his
mother's curse; though Abarbinel connects this with the following clause,
"behold, the silver is with me"; as if the sense was, that she spake
in his ears, and charged him with the theft to his face; saying, verily the
silver is with thee, thou hast certainly taken it; upon which he confessed it,
"I took it"; but the former sense seems best, that not being willing
to lie under his mother's curse, he owned that the money was in his hands, and
he had taken it from her:
and his mother said, blessed be thou of the Lord, my son; she reversed
the curse, and pronounced a blessing on him, or wished one to him, and that
without reproving him for his sin, rejoicing to hear of her money again.
Judges 17:3 3 So when he had returned
the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, “I
had wholly dedicated the silver from my hand to the Lord for my son, to
make a carved image and a molded image; now therefore, I will return it to
you.”
YLT
3And he giveth back the
eleven hundred silverlings to his mother, and his mother saith, `I had
certainly sanctified the silver to Jehovah, from my hand, for my son, to make a
graven image, and a molten image; and now, I give it back to thee.'
And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to
his mother,.... The whole sum, having embezzled none of it:
his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord
from my hand, for my son to make a graven image and a molten image; this she had
done either before it was stolen, and it troubled her the more, and caused her
the rather to curse the man that had taken it; or after it was stolen, that if
it should be recovered again she would appropriate it to such an use; so
Abarbinel; and by the Lord, or Jehovah, she doubtless meant the true God; for
she had no intention to forsake him, but to worship him in and by these images,
and which she designed for the use of her son and his family, that they might
not go so far as Shiloh to worship at the tabernacle there:
therefore I will restore it unto thee; for that use,
and so gave him the money again, to be laid out in images, or to make images of
it.
Judges 17:4 4 Thus he returned the
silver to his mother. Then his mother took two hundred shekels of silver
and gave them to the silversmith, and he made it into a carved image and a
molded image; and they were in the house of Micah.
YLT
4And he giveth back the
money to his mother, and his mother taketh two hundred silverlings, and giveth
them to a refiner, and he maketh them a graven image, and a molten image, and
it is in the house of Micah.
Yet he restored the money unto his mother,.... Gave it
to her a second tithe, not as disapproving her idolatrous intention, as the
sequel shows, but being desirous to be entirely free of it, and not have his
mind disturbed with it as it had been, and that she might do with it as she
thought fit:
and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them
to the founder, who made thereof a graven image, and a molten image; the other
nine hundred pieces she kept to herself, repenting of her vow, and being
unwilling to part with so much money for such an use; or else they were laid
out in an ephod, and teraphim, and what else were thought necessary for the
idolatrous worship they were about to set up; though Kimchi is of opinion, that
the two hundred shekels were what she gave the founder for making the images,
and of the nine hundred the images were made; and indeed the images must be
very small ones, if made out of two hundred shekels of silver only; some have
thought there was but one image, called both molten and graven; because after
the silver was melted, and cast into a mould, it was fashioned with a graving
tool, as the golden calf was by Aaron; but they are manifestly distinguished
and represented as two, Judges 18:17 and
they were in the house of Micah; in an apartment in his house, peculiar for
them, as appears by the next verse; here they were put and continued.
Judges 17:5 5 The man Micah had a
shrine, and made an ephod and household idols;[a] and he
consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
YLT
5As to the man Micah, he
hath a house of gods, and he maketh an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrateth
the hand of one of his sons, and he is to him for a priest;
And the man Micah had an house of gods,.... Having
two images in it, besides teraphim, which were a sort of idols; and the Targum
is, an house of images, or idols; though it may be rendered "an house of
God"; a temple, a place for religious worship:
and made an ephod; a priestly garment, a linen one very
probably, not so rich an one with a breastplate to it as the high priest had,
which was very costly. Ben Melech interprets it a girdle, and there was a
curious girdle of the ephod, with which it was girt; this may be here put for
the rest of the priestly garments which Micah provided:
and teraphim; which were a sort of household gods, like
the Lares and Penates of the Romans, and by which consultations were made; See
Gill on Hosea 3:3, Hosea 3:4, Zechariah 10:2
Micah proposed to have an oracle in his house, whereby he might consult the
Lord about future things, and not be at the trouble of going to the tabernacle,
and consult there by Urim and Thummim; and the same some take the teraphim to
be:
and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest; or,
"filled the hand"F11וימלא את יד "et implevit
manum", Montanus, V. L. of one of them; that is, with offerings, as Ben
Melech interprets it; in which way priests were initiated, and consecrated to
their office; see Exodus 28:41 or, as
Kimchi expresses it, he offered his offerings by the hand of one of his sons,
and appointed him to be a priest, very probably his eldest son.
Judges 17:6 6 In those days there was
no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
YLT
6in those days there is no
king in Israel, each that which is right in his own eyes doth.
In those days there was no king in Israel,.... That is,
no supreme magistrate, judge, or ruler, Joshua being dead and Caleb also, and
the elders contemporary with them; for what the Samaritan Chronicle saysF12Apud
Hottinger. Smegma Orient. p. 522. is without foundation, that Joshua a little
before his death cast a lot in the presence of the congregation, to know who
should govern after him, and the lot came to one Abel, of the tribe of Judah:
but every man did that which
was right in his own eyes; which accounts for the idolatry of Micah,
there being no supreme magistrate to take cognizance of his sin, and restrain
him from it, or punish him for it according to the law of God.
Judges 17:7 7 Now there was a young man
from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah; he was a Levite, and
was staying there.
YLT
7And there is a young man of
Beth-Lehem-Judah, of the family of Judah, and he [is] a Levite, and he [is] a
sojourner there.
And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah,.... As there
were two Bethlehems, one in the tribe of Zebulun, Joshua 19:15 and
another in the tribe of Judah, the place here designed, Judah is added to it,
to distinguish it from the other:
of the family of Judah: which refers either to
the young man, who was by his father's side a Levite, and by his mother's side,
as Jarchi thinks, of the tribe of Judah, which seems very probable, though the
genealogies of families were not reckoned from the mother; wherefore he might
be so called because he had lived chiefly in the tribe of Judah, and
particularly at Bethlehem; but Kimchi, and several other Jewish commentators,
refer this to the city of Bethlehem, that was of the tribe of Judah, family
being put for the tribe; or belonged to the children of Judah; though one would
think there was no need to have added this, since it was fully expressed before
by calling it Bethlehemjudah; the former sense therefore seems best:
who was a Levite; his father being, as before observed, of
that tribe, though his mother might be of the tribe of Judah: and he sojourned
there; that is, at Bethlehem; he was not a native, nor an inhabitant there, but
a sojourner, it not being a Levitical city.
Judges 17:8 8 The man departed from the
city of Bethlehem in Judah to stay wherever he could find a place. Then
he came to the mountains of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.
YLT
8And the man goeth out of
the city, out of Beth-Lehem-Judah, to sojourn where he doth find, and cometh to
the hill-country of Ephraim, unto the house of Micah, to work his way.
And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehemjudah, to sojourn
where he could find a place,.... Either being a man that had a rambling head,
and of an unsettled mind, and could not easily fix any where; or else there
being no supreme magistrate, to take care that the Levites had their due
maintenance, for which there was a sufficient provision made by law; and the
people being negligent of paying their tithes, there being none to oblige them
to it, and they indifferent to the true worship of God, and prone to idolatry;
this man was obliged to go abroad, and seek for a livelihood where he could get
it, and sojourn in a place the most convenient for him:
and he came to Mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, as he
journeyed: not with a design to stay there, but called by the way, having
heard perhaps that Micah was both a wealthy and an hospitable man, and he also
might have heard of the new form of worship he had set up in his house.
Judges 17:9 9 And Micah said to him,
“Where do you come from?” So he said to him, “I am a Levite from
Bethlehem in Judah, and I am on my way to find a place to stay.”
YLT
9And Micah saith to him,
`Whence comest thou?' and he saith unto him, `A Levite [am] I, of
Beth-Lehem-Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I do find.'
And Micah said unto him, whence comest thou?.... For as he
might ask for a meal, or for a night's lodging, it was but natural to put such
a question to him, as from whence he came, and what was his business in these
parts? or whither he was going?
and he said unto him, I am a Levite of Bethlehemjudah; the tribe he
was of was Levi, and so a Levite by tribe and office, and the place he came
last from, and where he had sojourned awhile, was Bethlehem, a city in the
tribe of Judah:
and I go to sojourn where I may find a place; the most
convenient to abide in, where he could get a livelihood.
Judges 17:10 10 Micah said to him, “Dwell
with me, and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten shekels
of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your sustenance.” So the Levite went
in.
YLT
10And Micah saith to him,
`Dwell with me, and be to me for a father and for a priest, and I give to thee
ten silverlings for the days, and a suit of garments, and thy sustenance;' and
the Levite goeth [in].
And Micah said unto him, dwell with me,.... Hearing
that he was a Levite, he thought him a fit man for his purpose, and would give
some credit to, and put a better face upon his new form of worship, and
therefore, without further inquiry after him and his character, invites him to
make his abode with him:
and be unto me a father and a priest; a father to
instruct him in the knowledge of divine things; so prophets were called
fathers, and their disciples their sons; and a priest to offer sacrifices for
him, and to consult before him by his teraphim upon occasion:
and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year; or yearly,
which was but a small sum, a poor salary for a priest, at most amounting but to
twenty five shillings, and scarce so much:
and a suit of apparel; or "an order of
apparel"F13ערך בגדים
"irdinem vestimentorum", Pagninus, Montanus, Muuster, Vatablus;
"demensum vestimentorum", Tigurine version. ; such as was fit for one
of his rank and order as a priest to wear, so Jarchi and Abarbinel; or a couple
of garments, as the Targum and Septuagint, a double suit of apparel, according
to the order of the season, one for summer and another for winter, as Kimchi
and Ben Melech:
and thy victuals; his meat and drink:
so thy Levite went in; into his house, and it
looks as if the parley was made, and the bargain struck at the door, Micah
being at it as the Levite passed by, or came to it upon his knocking at it; he
went after his counsel and advice, as Jarchi, or to do his business, as Kimchi.
Judges 17:11 11 Then the Levite was
content to dwell with the man; and the young man became like one of his sons to
him.
YLT
11And the Levite is willing
to dwell with the man, and the young man is to him as one of his sons.
And the Levite was content to dwell with the man,.... To
continue with him; after he had made trial for some time, he liked his service,
and his wages, and way of living; it was all agreeable to him:
and the young man was unto him as one of his sons; as dearly
beloved by him, and used as kindly and tenderly, as if he had been one of his
own children; so strong were the affections of Micah to him, and so well
pleased was he with his service.
Judges 17:12 12 So Micah consecrated the
Levite, and the young man became his priest, and lived in the house of Micah.
YLT
12And Micah consecrateth the
hand of the Levite, and the young man is to him for a priest, and he is in the
house of Micah,
And Micah consecrated the Levite,.... Installed him into,
and invested him with the priestly office; in like manner he had consecrated
his son before, by filling his hand with sacrifices; see Judges 17:5.
and the young man became his priest; and did the work and
office of one; this was a very daring piece of presumption in them both; in
Micah, to take upon him to consecrate a priest, who was himself of the tribe of
Ephraim; and in the young man, to suffer himself to be put into such an office,
which did not belong to him, for though every priest was a Levite, or of the
tribe of Levi, yet every Levite had not a right to be a priest, only those who
were of the family of Aaron:
and was in the house of Micah; and continued there.
Judges 17:13 13 Then Micah said, “Now I
know that the Lord
will be good to me, since I have a Levite as priest!”
YLT
13and Micah saith, `Now I
have known that Jehovah doth good to me, for the Levite hath been to me for a
priest.'
Then said Micah,.... Within himself, pleased with what he
had done, and with what he engaged in:
now know I that the Lord will do me good; that I shall
enjoy his favour, be a happy man, and prosper; and by this it appears, that
notwithstanding the idolatry he had fallen into, he had not utterly forsaken
the Lord, but worshipped him in and by his images; there was a mixture of the
worship of God, and of the worship of images:
seeing I have a Levite to my priest; who was of the same
tribe the priests were, and so the nearest to them of any, and which he thought
would be acceptable to God, and an omen of good to himself.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)