Judges 17:5

5 That same Micah had a small temple. He made a sacred linen apron and some statues of gods. He prepared one of his sons to serve as his priest.

Judges 17:5 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 17:5

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) (See Gill on Hosea 3:4) (See Gill on 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" ^F11 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 ) ( Exodus 29:9 Exodus 29:24 ) 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.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F11 (dy ta almyw) "et implevit manum", Montanus, V. L.

Judges 17:5 In-Context

3 He gave the 28 pounds of silver back to his mother. She said to him, "I'm taking an oath and setting my silver apart to the Lord. My son, I want you to use part of it for a statue of a god that is made out of wood or stone and covered with silver. Use the rest of it to have another statue made out of silver. That's why I'll give the silver back to you."

4 He gave the silver back to his mother. She gave five pounds of it to a skilled worker who made things out of silver. He used the silver for the two statues. They were put in Micah's house.

5 That same Micah had a small temple. He made a sacred linen apron and some statues of gods. He prepared one of his sons to serve as his priest.

6 In those days Israel didn't have a king. The people did anything they thought was right.

7 A young Levite had been living in land that belonged to the tribe of Judah. He was from Bethlehem in Judah.