Judges 17:1-8

1 And there was a man of mount Ephraim, and his name was Michaias.

2 And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred pieces of silver which thou tookest of thyself, and thou cursedst me, and spokest in my ears, behold, the silver with me; I took it: and his mother said, Blessed my son of the Lord.

3 And he restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, I had wholly consecrated the money to the Lord out of my hand for my son, to make a graven and a molten , and now I will restore it to thee.

4 But he returned the silver to his mother, and his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to a silversmith, and he made it a graven and a molten image; and it was in the house of Michaias.

5 And the house of Michaias to him the house of God, and he made an ephod and theraphin, and he consecrated one of his sons, and he became to him a priest.

6 And in those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

7 And there was a young man in Bethleem of the tribe of Juda, and he a Levite, and he was sojourning there.

8 And the man departed from Bethleem the city of Juda to sojourn in whatever place he might find; and he came as far as mount Ephraim, and to the house of Michaias to accomplish his journey.

Judges 17:1-8 Meaning and Commentary

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, Jud 17:1-5 and there being no king in Israel to take cognizance of it, the idolatry took place and continued, and afterwards spread, Jud 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, Jud 17:7-13.

Footnotes

• [a]. it.