Judges 17 Study Notes

17:7-8 At this point, a Levite arrived, a member of the priestly tribe. He was a young man, and therefore he would not have been qualified to serve as a priest in the orthodox worship of the Lord, which began at age thirty (Nm 4:3). He was also from Bethlehem in Judah, at the opposite end of Israel from Ephraim. The author does not name the young Levite until 18:30 (see note at 18:30-31). According to Dt 18:6-8, Levites who were residing in any of the clans of Israel were allowed to leave their homes and go to the place the Lord had chosen to join in his service there. This Levite, however, was seeking any place that he could find. His behavior is symptomatic of the general tendency in Israel at this time for each man to do “whatever seemed right” (Jdg 17:6).

17:9-13 Seizing the opportunity to have a priest with a legitimate genealogy, Micah engaged this Levite to be his father and priest. “Father” is a title of honor that reflects the role of the priest in communicating God’s law to Israel (Dt 33:10) and thus shaping their behavior. Instead of the priestly terms of employment prescribed in Nm 18, Micah promised him his clothing and lodging and four ounces of silver a year, a miserly sum in comparison to the amount of silver that was at his family’s disposal (Jdg 18:2). Micah also personally consecrated the “priest” to his office (v. 12), emphasizing the Levite’s subordinate nature in Micah’s household. From Micah’s statement in v. 13, it is clear that he viewed this Levite essentially as another idol, an attempted means of ensuring the Lord’s blessing upon himself.