There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. He said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears—behold, the silver is with me. I took it.” His mother said, “May Yahweh bless my son!”
He restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, then his mother said, “I most certainly dedicate the silver to Yahweh from my hand for my son, to make a carved image and a molten image. Now therefore I will restore it to you.”
When he restored the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to a silversmith, who made a carved image and a molten image out of it. It was in the house of Micah.
The man Micah had a house of gods, and he made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did that which was right in his own eyes. There was a young man out of Bethlehem Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he lived there. The man departed out of the city, out of Bethlehem Judah, to live where he could find a place, and he came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, as he traveled. Micah said to him, “Where did you come from?” He said to him, “I am a Levite of Bethlehem Judah, and I am looking for a place to live.”
Micah said to him, “Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, a suit of clothing, and your food.” So the Levite went in. The Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was to him as one of his sons. Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. Then Micah said, “Now I know that Yahweh will do good to me, since I have a Levite as my priest.”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13 Some think this history was in the time of…
Some think this history was in the time of Othniel, or as Josephus writeth, immediately after Joshua.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–13 Jdg 17:1 And there was a man of mount…
Jdg 17:1 And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name [was] Micah.
Ver. 1. And there was a man.] The Vulgate hath it, And at that time there was a man, &c. And some Rabbins say that this fell out soon after Samson’s death. But they do better who place this story and the rest that follow, to the end of this book, in the interim between the elders that survived Joshua and the judges that next followed. See Jdg 2:11; Jdg 5:14.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13 The things mentioned here, and in the following chapters,…
The things mentioned here, and in the following chapters, did not happen in the order in which they are put; but much sooner, even presently after the death of the elders that overlived Joshua, Jdg 2:7, as appears by divers passages; as first, Because the place called Mahaneh-dan, or the camp of Dan, Jdg 13:25, was so called from that which was done, Jdg 18:12. Secondly, Because the Danites had not yet got all their inheritance, Jdg 18:1, which is not credible of them above three hundred years after Joshua’s death. Thirdly, Because Phinehas the son of Eleazar was priest at this time, Jdg 20:28, who must have been about three hundred and fifty years old, if this had been done after Samson’s death, which is more than improbable.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 7 Here we have, I. Micah and his mother quarrelling.…
Here we have, I. Micah and his mother quarrelling. 1. The son robs the mother. The old woman had hoarded, with long scraping and saving, a great sum of money, 1100 pieces of silver. It is likely she intended, when she died, to leave it to her son: in the mean time it did her good to look upon it, and to count it over. The young man had a family of children grown up, for he had one of age to be a priest, Jdg 17:5. He knows where to find his mother's cash, thinks he has more need of it than she has, cannot stay till she dies, and so takes it away privately for his own use. Though it is a fault in parents to withhold from their children that which is meet, and lead them into temptation to wish them in their graves, yet even this will by no means excuse the wickedness of those children that steal from their parents, and think all their own that they can get from them, though by the most indirect methods. 2. The mother curses the son, or whoever had taken her money. It should seem she suspected her son; for, when she cursed, she spoke in his cars so loud, and with so much passion and vehemence, as made both his ears to tingle. See what mischief the love of money makes, how it destroys the duty and comfort of every relation. It was the love of money that made Micah so undutiful to his mother as to rob her, and made her so unkind and void of natural affection to her son as to curse him if he had it and concealed it. Outward losses drive good people to their prayers, but bad people to their curses. This woman's silver was her god before it was made thither into a graven or a molten image, else the loss of it would not have put her into such a passion as caused her quite to forget and break through all the laws of decency and piety. It is a very foolish thing for those that are provoked to throw their curses about as a madman that casteth fire-brands, arrows, and death, since they know not but they may light upon those that are most dear to them.
II. Micah and his mother reconciled. 1. The son was so terrified with his mother's curses that he restored the money. Though he had so little grace as to take it, he had so much left as not to dare to keep it when his mother had sent a curse after it. He cannot believe his mother's money will do him any good without his mother's blessing, nor dares he deny the theft when he is charged with it, nor retain the money when it is demanded by the right owner. It is best not to do evil, but it is next best, when it is done, to undo it again by repentance, confession, and restitution. Let children be afraid of having the prayers of their parents against them; for, though the curse causeless shall not come, yet that which is justly deserved may be justly feared, even though it was passionately and indecently uttered. 2. The mother was so pleased with her son's repentance that she recalled her curses, and turned them into prayers for her son's welfare: Blessed be thou of the Lord, my son. When those that have been guilty of a fault appear to be free and ingenuous in owning it they ought to be commended for their repentance, rather than still be condemned and upbraided for their fault.
Read full note →
III. Micah and his mother agreeing to turn their money into a god, and set up idolatry in their family; and this seems to have been the first instance of the revolt of any Israelite from God and his instituted worship after the death of Joshua and the elders that out-lived him, and is therefore thus particularly related. And though this was only the worship of the true God by an image, against the second commandment, yet this opened the door to the worship of other gods, Baalim and the groves, against the first and great commandment. Observe,
1. The mother's contrivance of this matter. When the silver was restored she pretended she had dedicated it to the Lord (Jdg 17:3), either before it was stolen, and then she would have this thought to be the reason why she was so much grieved at the loss of it and imprecated evil on him that had taken it, because it was a dedicated and therefore an accursed thing, or after it was stolen she had made a vow that, if she could retrieve it, she would dedicate it to God, and then she would have the providence that had so far favoured her as to bring it back to her hands to be an owning of her vow. "Come," said she to her son, "the money is mine, but thou hast a mind to it; let it be neither mine nor thine, but let us both agree to make it into an image for a religious use." Had she put it to a use that was indeed for the service and honour of God, this would have been a good way of accommodating the matter between them; but, as it was, the project was wicked. Probably this old woman was one of those that came out of Egypt, and would have such images made as she had seen there; now that she began to dote she called to remembrance the follies of her youth, and perhaps told her son that this way of worshipping God by images was, to her knowledge, the old religion.
2. The son's compliance with her. It should seem, when she first proposed the thing he stumbled at it, knowing what the second commandment was; for, when she said (Jdg 17:3) she designed it for her son to make an image of, yet he restored it to his mother (being loth to have a hand in making the image), and she gave it to the founder and had the thing done, blaming him perhaps for scrupling at it, Jdg 17:4. But, when the images were made, Micah, by his mother's persuasion, was not only well reconciled to them, but greatly pleased and in love with them; so strangely bewitching was idolatry, and so much supported by traditions received from their parents, Pe1 1:18; Jer 44:17. But observe how the old woman's covetousness prevailed, in part, above her superstition. She had wholly dedicated the silver to make the graven and molten images (Jdg 17:3), all the 1100 pieces; but, when it came to be done, she made less than a fifth part serve, even 200 shekels, Jdg 17:4. She thought that enough, and indeed it was too much to give for an image that is a teacher of lies. Had it been devoted truly to the honour of God, he would not thus have been put off with part of the price, but would have signified his resentment of the affront, as he did in the case of Ananias and Sapphira. Now observe,
(1.) What was the corruption here introduced, Jdg 17:5. The man Micah had a house of gods, a house of God, so the Septuagint, for so he thought it, as good as that at Shiloh, and better, because his own, of his own inventing and at his own disposal; for people love to have their religion under their girdle, to manage it as they please. A house of error, so the Chaldee, for really it was so, a deviation from the way of truth and an inlet to all deceit. Idolatry is a great cheat, and one of the worst of errors. That which he aimed at in the progress of his idolatry, whether he designed it at first or no, was to mimic and rival both God's oracles and his ordinances. [1.] His oracles; for he made teraphim, little images which he might advise with as there was occasion, and receive informations, directions, and predictions from. What the urim and thummim were to the prince and people these teraphim should be to his family; yet he could not think that the true God would own them, or give answers by them, and therefore depended upon such demons as the heathen worshipped to inspire them and make them serviceable to him. Thus, while the honour of Jehovah was pretended (Jdg 17:3), yet, his institution being relinquished, these Israelites unavoidably lapsed into downright idolatry and demon-worship. [2.] His ordinances. Some room or apartment in the house of Micah was appointed for the temple or house of God; an ephod, or holy garment, was provided for his priest to officiate in, in imitation of those used at the tabernacle of God, and one of his sons he consecrated, probably the eldest, to be his priest. And, when he had set up a graven or molten image to represent the object of his worship, no marvel if a priest of his own getting and his own making served to be the manager of it. Here is no mention of any altar, sacrifice, or incense, in honour of these silver gods, but, having a priest, it is probable he had all these, unless we suppose that, at first, his gods were intended only to be advised with, not to be adored, like Laban's teraphim; but the beginning of idolatry, as of other sins, is like the letting forth of water: break the dam, and you bring a deluge. Here idolatry began, and it spread like a fretting leprosy. Dr. Lightfoot would have us observe that as 1100 pieces of silver were here devoted to the making of an idol, which ruined religion, especially in the tribe of Dan (as we shall presently find), which was Samson's tribe, so 1100 pieces of silver were given by each Philistine lord for the ruin of Samson.
(2.) What was the cause of this corruption (Jdg 17:6): There was no king in Israel, no judge or sovereign prince to take cognizance of the setting up of these images (which, doubtless, the country about soon resorted to), and to give orders for the destroying of them, none to convince Micah of his error and to restrain and punish him, to take this disease in time, by which the spreading of the infection might have been happily prevented. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes, and then they soon did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. When they were without a king to keep good order among them, God's house was forsaken, his priests were neglected, and all went to ruin among them. See what a mercy government is, and what reason there is that not only prayers and intercessions, but giving of thanks, should be made for kings and all in authority, Ti1 2:1, Ti1 2:2. Nothing contributes more, under God, to the support of religion in the world, than the due administration of those two great ordinances, magistracy and ministry.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–13 And there was a man of Mount Ephraim,.... This…
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 Jdg 17:6 even between the death of Joshua and the elders, and the first judge of Israel, Othniel; and so Josephus (e) places them in his history, and the connection of them is with Jdg 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, Jdg 2:11 which brought on their servitude to Cushanrishathaim, in which time the Jewish chronology (f) 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. Lightfoot (g), 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, Jdg 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, Jdg 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, Jdg 1:34. Mahanah Dan, from whence they marched, and had its name from their expedition, Jdg 18:12 is mentioned before in the history of Samson, Jdg 13:25 and therefore the expedition must be before his time. Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, was alive at the battle of Gibeah, Jdg 20:28 and Deborah speaks of the 40,000 Israelites slain by Benjamin at it, Jdg 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. Lightfoot (h) 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, Jdg 17:5.
Read full note →
(e) Antiqu. l. 5. c. 2. sect. 8, &c. (f) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 12. p. 33. (g) Works, vol. 1. p. 46. (h) Works, vol. 1. p. 45.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13 Micah provides an image for his God, ver. 1-6.…
Micah provides an image for his God, ver. 1-6. And a Levite for his priest, ver. 7-13.
There was, &c. - The things mentioned here, and in the following chapters, did not happen in the order in which they are put; but much sooner, even presently after the death of the elders that over-lived Joshua, as appears, because Phinehas the son of Eleazar was priest at this time, chap. xx, 28, who must have been about 350 years old, if this had been done after Samson's death.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13 Micah, an Ephraimite, restores to his mother eleven hundred
CHAPTER XVII
Micah, an Ephraimite, restores to his mother eleven hundred
Read full note →
shekels of silver, which he had taken from her, 1, 2.
She dedicates this to God; and out of a part of it makes a
graven image and a molten image, and gets them up tn the
house of Micah, 3, 4;
who consecrates one of his sons to be his priest, 5.
He afterwards finds a Levite, whom he consecrates for a priest,
and gives him annually ten shekels of silver, with his food and
clothing, 6-13.
NOTES ON CHAP. XVII
Verse 1. And there was a man of Mount Ephraim] It is extremely difficult to fix the chronology of this and the following transactions. Some think them to be here in their natural order; others, that they happened in the time of Joshua, or immediately after the ancients who outlived Joshua. All that can be said with certainty is this, that they happened when there was no king in Israel; i.e., about the time of the Judges, or in some time of the anarchy, Jdg 17:6.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13 Jdg 17:1. Here begins what may be called a…
Jdg 17:1. Here begins what may be called a supplement to the book of Judges; which gives an account of several memorable transactions, in or about the time of the judges: whose history the author would not interrupt, by intermixing these matters with it, but reserved them to be related apart by themselves, in the five following chapters. In these he first gives an account how idolatry came into the tribe of Ephraim; which he doth in this chapter: secondly, How it came to be introduced in the tribe of Dan, chap. 18. And then he relates, in chap. 19., a most barbarous and shameful act done by some Benjamites, and the entire destruction of that tribe, except six hundred men, for countenancing it, chap. 20. And lastly, in chap. 21., he relates how the tribe of Benjamin was kept from being extinguished. Whose name was Micah — When Micah lived, and did what is related in this chapter, we may with some certainty gather from Jdg 17:6, which tells us, there was no king in Israel at that time; that is, no supreme governor, with a power to keep the people to their duty; which is supposed by learned men to have been between the death of those elders who survived Joshua, and the first oppression of Israel by Cushan. In which space of time, it is manifest, the Israelites first fell from the worship of God, and polluted themselves with idolatry, Jdg 2:13, and Jdg 3:7. The beginning of which defection from God’s described briefly in this chapter.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13 See the introduction to the Book of Judges. The…
See the introduction to the Book of Judges. The only point of contact with the preceding history of Samson is, that we are still concerned with the tribe of Dan. See Jdg 18:1-2, note. Josephus combines in one narrative what we read here and in Jdg 1:34, and places it, with the story in Judg. 18–21, immediately after the death of Joshua.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 13 At that time, is not in the Hebrew or…
At that time, is not in the Hebrew or Septuagint. It only means that the event which is recorded took place at some time, which the sacred writer does not determine. We should conclude, that the histories which fill up the remainder of this book, ought to be placed after the death of Samson, (Serarius, &c.) if some passages did not determine us to allow that their proper order must be soon after the death of Josue and of the ancients. The grandson of Moses must, on the former supposition, have been extremely old, whereas he is said to have been a young man, ver. 7. The tribe of Dan was still straitened for room, chap. xviii. 1, &c. (Calmet) --- Josephus, ([Antiquities?] v. 2,) who passed over the history of Michas. (Salien, in the year of the world 2622, the 22d year of Othoniel and Phinees. (Haydock) --- Anarchy at that time prevailed, (ver. 6,) so that we need not wonder to behold such confusion among the Israelites. (Menochius) --- Ephraim. The country was mountainous for nine miles. (Adrichomius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 The conclusion of the Book, tracing the evils of…
PART THIRD
The conclusion of the Book, tracing the evils of the period, the decay of the priesthood, the self-will of individuals, and the prevalence of licentiousness, passion, and discord, to the absence of a fixed and permanent form of government.
Read full note →
__________________
FIRST SECTION
The History Of Micah’s Private Temple And Image-worship: Showing The Individual Arbitrariness Of The Times, And Its Tendency To Subvert And Corrupt The Religious Institutions Of Israel
__________________
Micah, a man of Mount Ephraim, sets up a private sanctuary and engages a wandering Levite to be his Priest
Jdg_17:1-13
1And there was a man of Mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah [Micayehu]. 2And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee,1 about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the Lord 3[Jehovah], my son. And when he had [And he] restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, [and] his mother said, I had wholly dedicated2 the silver unto the Lord [Jehovah] from my hand for my son, to make a graven image 4and a molten image:3 now therefore I will restore it unto thee. Yet [And] he restored the money [silver] unto his mother; 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: and they were in the house of Micah [Micayehu]. 5And the man Micah had an house of gods [a “Beth Elohim,” God’s-house], and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated [appointed] one of his sons, who [and he] became his priest. 6In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. 7And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there [temporarily] 8And the man departed out of the city from [out of] Beth-lehem-judah, to sojourn where he could find a place: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. 9And 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. 10And Micah said unto him, Dwell [Abide] with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in. 11And the Levite was content [consented] to dwell with the man, and the young man was [became] unto him as one of his sons. 12And Micah consecrated [appointed] the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13Then said Micah, Now know I that the Lord [Jehovah] will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to [seeing the Levite has become] my priest.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
[1 Jdg_17:2.—**לָדְ אֲשֶׁר לֻקַּח לָרְ is the dat. incommodi. Strictly speaking, לְ simply marks some sort of relation, the exact nature of which must be otherwise determined. The present phrase, rendered as literally as possible, is: “which (sc. כֶּסֶף) was taken for thee,” cf. our popular use of the same phrase, and the German, welches dir genommen ward. Ewald (who with characteristic self-confidence announces that he must leave the “silly absurdity” of the ordinary explanation of this passage “to those who do not hesitate to find their own folly in the Bible,”) seems to take לָדְ as the dative of the author: the money taken (received) by thee from my father. For he relates, quite in historical style, that a young man of Mount Ephraim, whose father probably died early, took the money which had been left to his mother into his own hands, in order by using to increase it (!); and that, followed by his mother’s blessing, he was fortunate, and was about to restore the money to her, as became a dutiful son, when she made him a present of it in the shape of a handsome (schmucken) god, etc. The perfect לָקַחְתִּי, he says, is the perfect of volition (like הִקְדַּשְׁתִּי, Jdg_17:3): “I will take; it is my will to take.” But if the Hebrew author meant to tell this story, he expressed himself very obscurely. The imprecatory oath, too, is thus left without explanation. And notwithstanding all Ewald’s efforts in behalf of him, Micah is still in suspicious possession of the money (הנֵּה הַכֶּסֶף אּתִּי), before he tells his mother that he will take it. Under such circumstances, the benediction which, according to Ewald, the mother pronounces on her son, might be more politic than free.—Tr.]
[2 Jdg_17:3.—הַקְרֵּשׁ הִקדַּשְׁתִּי. Render: “I verily dedicate.” Although Dr. Cassel also translates here by the pluperfect, he explains it of the present, see below. On this use of the perfect cf. Ges. Gram. 126, 4. The word “wholly” of the E. V. is better omitted. The infin. absolute in this construction is intensive, not extensive. It does not assert the completeness of the consecration, but simply makes it prominent, as being the use to which she determines to put the money. Cf. Ges. 131, 3.—Tr.]
[3 Jdg_17:3.—פֶּסֶל וּסַסֵּכָה. Dr. Cassel: Bild und Gusswerk, “image and cast-work”; i.e., an image of wood or stone covered with a thin coating of silver or gold, see below. This explanation, although concurred in by several critics, is not yet sufficiently certain to make it worth while to disfigure our English text by inserting it.—Tr.]
EXEGETICAL AND DOCTRINAL
After the story of Samson’s heroic life and death, there follow in conclusion two narratives, of which the first embraces chaps. 17 and 18, the second chaps. 19–21. Though not connected with each other either by time or place, they are nevertheless not mere accidental appendages to the preceding historical narrative, but essential parts of the well-considered organism of the entire Book, in consequence of which also they received the position in which we find them. The profound pragmatism of the Book (see Introduction, sect. 1) designs to show, that the heroic period of the Judges is full indeed of the wonders of God’s compassion, but lacks that organic centralization and unity which only the kingly office, rightly instituted and rightly exercised, could afford. This want manifested itself even under the greatest Judges. The influence of the Judge extended, for the most part, only over the individual tribes to which he be longed, while in others it was not seldom resisted; and, being wholly personal in its nature, disappeared from his house as soon as he died.
In chaps. 17 and 18 another lesson is brought forward, hints of which had already occurred in earlier parts of the Book. The religious central point of the nation, also, became unsettled. And this was the greater danger. The sanctuary at Shiloh, the law and covenant of God that were in the sacred ark, were the real pillars of Israel’s nationality. The existence of this spiritual unity was brought out in the opening sentence of the Book: “And after the death of Joshua, the sons of Israel asked Jehovah.” It had in dark times demonstrated itself to be the guaranty of national cohesion. The tribes were twelve, indeed, and their cities lay scattered from Beer-sheba to the sources of the Jordan; but there was but one sanctuary where the God of Israel was inquired of. It appeared, however, that the long-continued want of a closer political organization, threatened also the unity of the religious organism. For not only was the service of foreign idols introduced, threatening the nerve of popular strength and national freedom, but subjective superstition, also, and inconsiderate division, asserted themselves within the religious organization. This is shown by the story of Micah’s sanctuary.
Jdg_17:1. And there was a man of mount Ephraim, and his name was Micayehu. Avarice, the Apostle tells us, is the root of all evil. Covetousness, like all sin, knows no shame. Its lustful eyes profane even that which is holy. The treasures of temples have ever excited the rapacity of savage enemies. The gifts of the pious convert houses of prayer into objects of envy. Faithful Israelites, who believed in Jehovah, went to Shiloh, in Ephraim, performed there their pious duties, inquired of God after truth, prayed, and brought their offerings for the honor and maintenance of the house of God. Among those who did this, was doubtless also the father of Micayehu. For that he confessed Jehovah, is evident from the name which he gave to his son: מִיכָיְהוּ, “who is like Jehovah.” Such names are only given in homes where Jehovah is honored, at least in appearance. The mere fact, however, that persons are named “Theodore,”4 “Nathaniel,” “Theophilus,” or other like names, gives no assurance that they are what their names declare them to be. The father of Micayehu must also have been rich; for he left his widow large sums of money. The latter, according to all appearances, was avaricious; and it was probably on this account that true faith in Jehovah took no root in her heart, although the name of Jehovah was often on her lips.
Jdg_17:2-3. Behold, here is the money; I took it. The rich woman had been deprived of a large sum of money. Eleven hundred shekels, at that time, evidently represented a very considerable amount; large enough to be spoken of in “round figures.” The woman was beside herself; her soul was in her money: and so she cursed the thief. Cursing is still a frightful oriental custom. It was regarded as an invocation of judgments from heaven. Hence, the dread of the effects of curses, in heathenism, arose not only from faith, but still more from superstition. The sin was indeed engaged in, but the curse was dreaded; just as other thieves do not refrain from stealing, but guard themselves anxiously against the police. To this must be added that parental curses were feared as the heaviest of all bans (among the Greeks cf. Nägelsbach, Nachhom. Theol., p. 350). Sirach (iii. 9) still said in his day, that “the curse of a mother overturns the houses of children.” Micah heard the awful imprecations of his mother’s malediction, and shuddered. He could not say, “a causeless curse takes no effect” (Pro_26:2). He had taken the money, which was now charged with his mother’s curses. With these he will not have it. “Here is your money back,” he says; “I took it.” As one shakes off rain, so he would free himself of this curse-laden money. “It is thy son,” he says, “and his house, whom thou hast cursed. Take the money—I do not wish it.” His words, so far as we can see, express more of reproach than of consciousness of guilt. And the mother resembles those people of whom James says (Jdg_3:10): “Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing.” She had cursed, in inconsiderate wrath, and without investigation, on account of her lost money. That being recovered, she will save her son from the effects of her malediction. As if blessing and curse were under human control, she exclaims: “Blessed be thou, my son, unto Jehovah.”
The son was in any case wrong in taking the money secretly. The purpose for which he took it, seems to be indicated by the context and the speech of the mother. He wished it for the purpose which he afterwards carried out. This also explains sufficiently why he took it secretly: he probably did not believe that his mother would approve his design. For the preparation of pesel and massekah, an image and cast-work, for the purpose he had in view, was itself a theft, notwithstanding that it looked like an act of service to God. But it turned out differently. It was natural that his mother should ask for what purpose he had taken it; and he replies that he had destined it for Jehovah, to fit out a private sanctuary with an image and cast-work. The mother, in order to appease him, says: then do I consecrate it for Jehovah, from my hand for my son (the formula of dedication), that he may make an “image and cast-work;”5 now therefore take the money. Hereupon there arises a genuine contest of superstition. He is now afraid of the curse-laden money. And she is in dread lest the frustration of the seemingly religious end for which her son intended to use it, should fall back upon herself. He has excused his theft with the word “Jehovah;” and she seeks to cover up her curse with it. Superstition thus shows itself to be the worst profanation, transmuting eternal truth into subjective personal interest.
Jdg_17:4. And his mother took two hundred shekels of silver. Micah had once more refused the money. He still fears the curse that it may bring with it. Thereupon the mother causes the “image and cast-work” to be made; applying, however, not 1,100 shekels, but only 200. This shows that it was only avarice, and not the fact that she had dedicated the money to religious purposes, that had inspired her curse. For even now she cannot part with more than 200 shekels out of the 1,100. On the other hand, it becomes evident that the purpose for which Micah took the money was the manufacture of the image; for it is set up “in his house,” and he combines with it still other operations.
Jdg_17:5. And he set up an ephod and teraphim. These words give the key to the whole transaction, and even afford a clew to the time in which it took place. The paternal house of Micah, it appears, had not openly broken with the service of Jehovah. This is clear from both his and his mother’s words (Jdg_17:2-3; Jdg_17:13). But their hearts were not wholly with God. This is evident from her avarice and malediction. Theirs was not a house in which the Canaanitish Baal was sacrificed to; but neither was it one in which there was more of true religion than the form and name. In the house of Joash there stood, before Gideon destroyed it, an altar of Baal and an Asherah. That was not the case here. But selfishness and superstitious egoism are idolatrous in their nature and consequences, even when Jehovah, that is, the God of Israel, is still spoken of. What R. Juda Hallevi6 says of Micah and others, applies especially to him: “He resembles a man who, while incestuously marrying his sister, should strictly observe the customary laws of marriage.” He makes use of the name of God, but for that which is vanity (לַשָּׁוְא, Exo_20:7). “He made an ephod.” The sin of which he was thus guilty, lay not in the ephod, but in the fact that he set it up. The ephod was designed for the lawful priesthood. The Urim and Thummim were intended for Israel’s high-priests (Exo_28:30), in order that by means of them they might be the constant organ of objective divine wisdom for the whole people, at the place where they served before God. Hence, they neither could nor ought to serve the subjective interests of individual men or tribes, or be inquired of anywhere else than where the priest was who bore them on his heart. This fact also renders the meaning of Jdg_8:27 clear, where it is related that after Gideon had set up an ephod with the golden booty obtained from the Midianites, all Israel went a-whoring after it, and found a snare in it. Gideon, it is true, served Jehovah sincerely and truly, and meant only that his ephod should serve as a reminder to the people of the wonderful deeds of God; but in setting it up, he nevertheless introduced a precedent which subjective superstition misused to its own hurt. For, inasmuch as he set it up in his own house, he gave occasion for others to think that they also might do the same in their houses. The deeds in consequence of which he instituted the ephod were soon lost sight of; and the eye was directed only to the money out of which it proceeded. It may be assumed that precisely for Micah Gideon’s example proved a source of danger,—for which, however, the blame falls not on the hero, but on Micah. We thus obtain a clew to the time in which the event here related occurred. Micah was a man of Ephraim who lived not long after the days of Gideon. There was pride enough in Ephraim to arrogate to itself the right of doing what was done, however grandly and nobly, in the smaller tribe of Manasseh. It is at all times the practice of paltry selfishness to dishonor the extraordinary actions of great men, by using them as cloaks for their own mean ends. Gideon destroyed the altar of Baal secretly, and for this purpose made use of his father’s people and means without his father’s knowledge. Micah probably excused himself by this example, when he secretly took his mother’s money, in order to set up that which in his own interest he destined for God.
The anarchy of arbitrary individualism exhibits itself very strikingly here, in the fact that a mere common man (וַיְהִי אִיש, Jdg_17:1), without name or merit, has the presumption to do the same thing which Gideon, the Judge and Deliverer of Israel, had undertaken to do; and that he does it on the same mountains of Ephraim on which, at no great distance, in Shiloh, the ark of God and the lawful ephod were to be found. R. Nathan7 thinks that the places were so near to each other, that the smoke from both sanctuaries might commingle, as it rose upward. A mere common man, who had nothing but money, presumed to found a sanctuary, with an ephod and a priest, and to pass this off as an oracle of Jehovah. The object he had in view can hardly have been any other than to ensnare the people who, in the pressure of their religious needs, sought for instruction, and brought votive offerings and gifts. For this purpose, the house which he founded must have been assimilated to the tabernacle; yet not so completely as to be attractive only to the thoroughly pious worshippers of Jehovah. For as these would not under any circumstances visit any sanctuary but that at Shiloh, Micah’s house would then have failed of its purpose. It could be made attractive only by making it minister to the superstition of sensual worship, and by vesting this ministry in the forms of the service of Jehovah. Hence he speaks of consecration to Jehovah, but at the same time represents the latter by means of פֶּסֶל וּמַסֵּכָה (an image and cast-work). He set up an ephod, and supplemented it with teraphim. He needed a priest; and in the absence of a Levite, he himself selects one of his sons for the office. Every part of his proceeding is thus marked by subjective arbitrariness, which under pious names concealed self-interest and superstition. The narrator strikingly points out this his sin, by means of a few delicate strokes. Hitherto the man had always been called Micayehu, distinctly bearing the name of Jehovah. But from Jdg_17:5, where he sets up his sanctuary, onward, he is only spoken of as Micah. The name of God was not to be desecrated in him. And although Micah speaks of “Jehovah” (Jdg_5:13), his house is only called a Beth Elohim,—a name also given to the temples of heathen deities,—not Beth Jehovah, house of Jehovah. No description is given of what the goldsmith shaped out of the mother’s two hundred pieces of money; but it is called פֶּסֶל וּמַסֵּכָה, an image and cast-work. These words at the same time pronounce judgment against the sin that had been committed, for they are the technical expressions under which the law forbids the making of every kind of image-work for idolatrous purposes. The narrator has his eye doubtless on Deu_27:15 : “Cursed (אָרוּר) is the man that maketh פֶּסֶל וּמסֵּכָה, an abomination unto Jehovah, the work of the hands of the artificer.” He intimates, assuredly, that the same man who stood in such dread of his mother’s curse on the thief of her money, rendered himself obnoxious to the more awful curse of the divine law, when he desired, or at any rate accepted, such image-work. The form of the image cannot, however, be determined with certainty. The opinion that it represented a calf, is certainly not tenable. It is not true that Jehovah, the God of Israel, was ever or anywhere represented under the figure of a bull or calf. On the contrary, this figure was symbolical of a contrast, a national and historical contrast, with Jehovah. This appears both from the golden calf of the desert and from the history of Jeroboam.8 To infer from the analogy of the latter, that Micah also cast a calf, would likewise be erroneous. For Micah’s act has no national, but only a religious significance. He does not intend to set up a contrast to Jehovah, but only a superstitious syncretism with other sanctuaries. Had the image been a calf, the narrator would have taken occasion to say so; for that of itself, in its relation to the idolatry of the desert, would have indicated the nature of Micah’s sin. Since it must be assumed that Micah intended to establish a sort of tabernacle, it is to be supposed that in his image-work also he carried out this imitation to the extreme of superstition. In the tabernacle, on the כַּפֹּרֶת [“mercy-seat”] there were two cherubim, with outspread wings; and in Exo_25:22, God says: “I will speak with thee from upon the kapporeth [mercy-seat], from between the two cherubim.” Now, if Micah, while in general imitating this arrangement, transformed the cherubim into sphinx-like figures, such as were found in Egyptian temples, and symbolyzed (as Clem. Alex., Strom, lib. v. Judges 5, well explains,) the mysterious problems concerning the Deity, which received their solution at the hands of the priests, he would at the same time minister to the superstition of the time. And it was especially the establishment of an oracle that Micah had in view. The verb פָּסַל means to cut, to chisel, especially in wood, to carve; for the image, פֶּסֶל, can be burnt (Deu_7:5; Deu_7:25), or sawed in pieces (Deu_12:3). מַסֵּכָה is the coating of gold with which the image was covered (cf. Ewald, Alterthümer, p. 256, 2d edit.), and is therefore oftenest mentioned in connection with pesel, but frequently also without it. Such wooden images (called ξόανα, by the Greeks), says K. O. Müller (Archäologie, § 69), were adorned with chaplets and diadems, neck-chains, and ear-pendants. To this the lawgiver refers, when he says (Deu_7:25): “The images of their gods ye shall burn with fire; thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them.” Beside the ephod Micah also made teraphim. This addition shows that he designed the ephod for divining purposes. The subject of the teraphim has hitherto remained enveloped in a great deal of obscurity. From Eze_21:26 (21), 2Ki_23:24, and Hos_3:4, (cf. also 1Sa_15:23), it is certain that they were consulted, like oracles. They were shaped like human beings, see 1Sa_19:13; and they were small, otherwise Rachel could not have concealed them (Gen_31:34). Antiquity conceived of every thing connected with divination as wrapped in darkness and mystery. The heathen oracle issued out of the depth and darkness in enigmatic language. At Megara, there was an oracle of the goddess Night, represented as a high and closely veiled figure. The little teraphim also must have borne about them tokens of their mysterious nature. We may venture to recognize them in the little shapes of Greek art, enveloped in a thick mantle and hat, who constantly accompany the figures of Æsculapius, the divining god of the healing art (where also the tablets usually appear, symbolic of the responses of the god. Müller, Archäol., § 394, 1). Among the various names given to these attendant figures by the Greeks, is that of Telesphoros, end-bringing.9 It is well known that oracles were most frequently consulted with reference to physical ailments. In Israel, also, in days of apostacy, idols were applied to for healing (2Ki_1:2). The teraphim, accordingly, appear to represent oracles of healing. Their name, at all events, teraphim (trophim), approximates closely to that of Trophonius,10 for which also the Greek language affords no suitable etymology. Trophonius is the healing oracle, who delivered his responses in a dark chasm, and who, like Æsculapius, is represented with a serpent, from which he probably derived his name (cf. שָׂרָף). The relationship of teraphim and “seraphim” is plain enough. The serpent-divination of Greece is manifestly of Asiatic origin. That the Israelites offered incense to the healing serpent erected by Moses, we learn from the history of Hezekiah, who destroyed it (2Ki_18:4). The teraphim, then, explain themselves and some other matters, when we regard them as Telesphoroi, possessed of oracular healing attributes. Every passage in which they appear is in this way fully explained.
Jdg_17:6. In those days there was no king in Israel. There was no central civil authority, that could interpose against sin and its seductive arts. The sentence teaches that in Israel it was considered the office of the king, not to allow such arbitrariness and sin as those of Micah to assert themselves. It was regarded as a mark of anarchy, when, alongside of the sanctuary at Shiloh, a common man took it upon himself to seduce the people into superstition. It must, however, be said, that even though the worship of God in Shiloh was strong enough to face such dangers, it is nevertheless presumptively a sign of weakness in the contemporary ministers of that worship, that Micah had the courage to do as he did. The complaint of our verse is made, because in reality Micah sinned against the very foundations of the Mosaic faith and law. It is not the freedom which permitted a man to have a chapel of his own, that is lamented; but the license which enabled him to fit out an idol-temple, to establish an oracle, and arbitrarily to disfigure the genuine national cultus. For the rest, the utterance is one that could be made only when the kingly office was either expected to exhibit or had exhibited, its efficiency in protecting the law in its purity. It was possible only until the most flourishing point of Solomon’s reign, and probable only in the times when men were seeking a king to remedy the prevalent anarchy.
Jdg_17:7-12. And there was a Levite. Micah probably found that his sanctuary lacked consideration, because it had no priest. There were priests enough in Ephraim, to be sure; but it would seem that none of them were willing to serve him—which redounds to their honor. Assistance came to him, however, from another quarter. A young man, who according to rule was settled in Judah (מִמִּשְׁפּחַת יְהוּדָה, cf. Jos_21:4), became discontented at home, and took to travelling about, after the manner of a scholar in the Middle Ages. He stopped some time in Bethlehem, but left that place also; and on his way over the mountains of Ephraim, he came to Micah. The position of Micah’s sanctuary must have been a favorable one, near the highways from south to north; for the Danites, who came from Eshtaol and Zorah, and the young Levite, who came from Bethlehem, passed by it. Micah, hearing that the Levite was unengaged, proposed to him to take service with himself. The proposition was made sufficiently inviting. The young man was to be honored as “a father” (אָב, pater), become a priest, and be placed in good circumstances. Vanity, and the offer of a good place led the young Levite astray,—and he was not the last who fell thus. He forgot who he was (see at Jdg_18:30), and whom as Levite he ought to serve, and consented (וַיּוֹאֶל, cf. on Jdg_1:27). Micah took him in with great joy; so that, even beyond his promises, he received him as “one of his sons,”—an expression which stands in suggestive contrast with Micah’s promise to regard him “as a father.” For the sake of money, the Levite submitted to be “consecrated, ordained,” by an Ephraimite. (The words וַיְמַלֵּא אֶת־יַד וגי are a standing expression for to induct, to ordain The expression is derived (as Exo_29:33 compared with 17:24 clearly shows), from the ceremony of laying the offerings required at the consecration of a priest upon his hands, עַל כַּפֵּי, Exo_29:24). At all events, Micah valued the Levitical dignity more highly than the Levite himself did. When the latter had entered his house, he exclaimed:—
Jdg_17:13. Now know I that Jehovah will do me good, seeing the Levite, has become my priest. These words indicate most strikingly, the thorough self-deception of the man. He looks for blessings to Jehovah, against whom he has committed the mortal sin of image-worship. He expects these blessings on account of a Levite, who did wrong when he allowed himself to be hired. He who sets up ephod and teraphim for the enlightenment of others, has himself so little insight into the spirit of truth as not to perceive that in the falsehood of his entire establishment its downfall is already assured. Perhaps, he also found pleasure in the descent of his Levite (Jdg_18:30), although it ought rather to have frightened him. But self-love blinds him, and his soiled conscience builds hopes on the name of a Levite, whose doings in his house challenged the judgments of God. “Now know I,” he exclaims. He will soon learn how deceptive this knowing is.
Footnotes:
[1][Jdg_17:2.—**לָדְ אֲשֶׁר לֻקַּח לָרְ is the dat. incommodi. Strictly speaking, לְ simply marks some sort of relation, the exact nature of which must be otherwise determined. The present phrase, rendered as literally as possible, is: “which (sc. כֶּסֶף) was taken for thee,” cf. our popular use of the same phrase, and the German, welches dir genommen ward. Ewald (who with characteristic self-confidence announces that he must leave the “silly absurdity” of the ordinary explanation of this passage “to those who do not hesitate to find their own folly in the Bible,”) seems to take לָדְ as the dative of the author: the money taken (received) by thee from my father. For he relates, quite in historical style, that a young man of Mount Ephraim, whose father probably died early, took the money which had been left to his mother into his own hands, in order by using to increase it (!); and that, followed by his mother’s blessing, he was fortunate, and was about to restore the money to her, as became a dutiful son, when she made him a present of it in the shape of a handsome (schmucken) god, etc. The perfect לָקַחְתִּי, he says, is the perfect of volition (like הִקְדַּשְׁתִּי, Jdg_17:3): “I will take; it is my will to take.” But if the Hebrew author meant to tell this story, he expressed himself very obscurely. The imprecatory oath, too, is thus left without explanation. And notwithstanding all Ewald’s efforts in behalf of him, Micah is still in suspicious possession of the money (הנֵּה הַכֶּסֶף אּתִּי), before he tells his mother that he will take it. Under such circumstances, the benediction which, according to Ewald, the mother pronounces on her son, might be more politic than free.—Tr.]
[2][Jdg_17:3.—הַקְרֵּשׁ הִקדַּשְׁתִּי. Render: “I verily dedicate.” Although Dr. Cassel also translates here by the pluperfect, he explains it of the present, see below. On this use of the perfect cf. Ges. Gram. 126, 4. The word “wholly” of the E. V. is better omitted. The infin. absolute in this construction is intensive, not extensive. It does not assert the completeness of the consecration, but simply makes it prominent, as being the use to which she determines to put the money. Cf. Ges. 131, 3.—Tr.]
[3][Jdg_17:3.—פֶּסֶל וּסַסֵּכָה. Dr. Cassel: Bild und Gusswerk, “image and cast-work”; i.e., an image of wood or stone covered with a thin coating of silver or gold, see below. This explanation, although concurred in by several critics, is not yet sufficiently certain to make it worth while to disfigure our English text by inserting it.—Tr.]
[4]The priest who subsequently entered the service of Micah, was named “Jonathan,” i.e., Theodore. See at Jdg_18:30.
[5]Bertheau assumes that the mother devoted the money to this purpose, inasmuch as her son had already a Beth Elohim. But it was only the image that could make any house a “House of God.” It is certainly more natural to suppose that, when he utterly refused to accept the money, she took it upon herself to provide the image with the money in question, in order to deliver him from the curse. She can have come to this use of the money, only because he gave it as the object for which he took it. The mother applies only two hundred shekels; the opinion that the others were used by way of endowment is at least not indicated in the text.
[6] Kusari, iv. 14, ed. Cassel, p. 335.
[7]The Talmud, Sanhedrin, 103 b, calls the name of the place where Micah lived, גרב, and puts it at a distance of three מיל from Shiloh. So far as the name is concerned, it appears to be only a name of reproach, with a reference to Deu_28:27; Lev_21:20. In Pesachim 117 a, the place seems to be named בכי [fletus, ploratus], probably is pursuance of a similar homiletical explanation.
[8]Cf my treatise, Jeroboam, Erf. 1856. Unfortunately, Keil also thinks that this opinion is “scarcely to be doubted,” although he adduces no grounds for it. For that the term ענֶל, in Exo_32:4, is also followed by מַכֵּכָה, is as natural as it is that this latter word is always found whenever cast images are spoken of. Cf. Exo_34:17. The error is so widespread that it has even found a place in the reply of Thomas (Union, Kath. Kirche, p. 40), to Stahl’s book on “Union.” [On this question of the meaning of calf-idols in Israel, cf. Smith’s Bible Dictionary, art. “Calf.”—Tr.]
[9]It is only by the gift of foretelling limit and end, from amid concealment and mystery, that the nature and symbol of the Telesphoroi can be explained; and only thus far can a connection between them and the sages of telesphoria, of which Böckh speaks, be allowed. It is only their connection with the teraphim that explains both these and them. This fact escaped both Preller (Griech. Myth., i. 327) and Welcker (Griech. Myth., ii. 740).
[10]Whose connection with Serapis and Saraph is to be more minutely explained elsewhere.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13 a graven image and a molten image--The one carved…
a graven image and a molten image--The one carved from a block of wood or stone, to be plated over with silver; the other, a figure formed of the solid metal cast into a mould. It is observable, however, that only two hundred shekels were given to the founder. Probably the expense of making two such figures of silver, with their appurtenances (pedestals, bases, &c.), might easily cost, in those days, two hundred shekels, which (at 2 shillings, 4 pence each, is about 23 pounds) would be a sum not adequate to the formation of large statues [TAYLOR, Fragments].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13 MICAH AND THE LEVITE, Jdg_17:1-13.
MICAH AND THE LEVITE, Jdg_17:1-13.
1. Mount Ephraim — The exact limits of this mountain range are nowhere indicated in the Scriptures. It ran midway through the territory assigned to the tribe of this name, extending as far north as Shechem, (Jos_20:7; Jos_21:21,) and at least as far south as Ramah. Jdg_4:5. It was the central portion of the great mountain range that forms the backbone of Palestine, and took this name from the early allotment of this section of the country to the tribe of Ephraim.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 13 1. the hill country of Ephraim] See on Jdg_3:27.…
1. the hill country of Ephraim] See on Jdg_3:27. In view of its subsequent connexion with the sanctuary at Dan, some think that Micah’s house was at Beth-el. The narrative, however, leaves the situation vague; it may imply that he lived somewhere on the road which ran northwards along the Central Highlands, Jdg_18:13.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13 (1) There was.—The Vulg. has, “there was at that…
(1) There was.—The Vulg. has, “there was at that time” which is an error, for these events happened before the days of Samson.
A man of mount Ephraim.—The hill-district of Ephraim, as in Jdg_2:9. The Talmud (Sanhedr. 103, b) says that he lived at Garab, not far from Shiloh, but the name (“a blotch”) is probably a term of scorn (Deu_28:27). Similarly, we find in Perachim, 117, a, that he lived at Bochi. (See Jdg_2:1-5.) Most of the idolatrous violations of the second commandment occurred in the northern kingdom (Gideon, Jdg_8:27; Micah, Judges 17; Jeroboam, 1 Kings 12, 13). These apostasies were not a worship of other gods, but a worship of the true God under unauthorised conditions, and with forbidden images.
Read full note →
Whose name was Micah.—Scripture does not deem it necessary to say anything more about him. His very name—here Micayehû, “Who is like Jehovah “—seems to show that he had been trained by pious parents. The contraction Micah is adopted throughout the rest of the story.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13 We here light upon quite a different kind of…
We here light upon quite a different kind of history from that which has preceded. We no longer have to do with judges and their mighty deeds in delivering Israel from his oppressors, but with two detached histories, which fill up the rest of the book, relating to the internal affairs of Israel. There is no note of time, except that they happened before the time of Saul the king, (Jud_1:17:6 18:1) and that Phinehas the son of Eleazar was alive at the time of the occurrence of the second. (Jud_1:20:28) Both, no doubt, are long prior to Samson. The only apparent connection of the history of Micah with that of Samson is that both relate to the tribe of Dan, and it may be presumed were contained in the annals of that tribe. Compare the opening of the Books of Samuel. (1Sa_1:1) Mount Ephraim; i.e. the hill country of Ephraim, as in Jud_1:3:27 7:24, etc.
Vers. 1-13. The superstitious worship of the true God.
Read full note →
The natural history of religion is a very curious one. There is first the broad division between worship given to false gods and that which is given to the one-true and living God, Creator of heaven and earth. The heathen of old, like the heathen of to-day, worshipped those that were no gods. Either they had no existence at all, and were the creatures of man"s imagination, divinities supposed to preside over the various powers of nature and the affections of the human heart; gods of the weather, of the earth, and sea, and sky; malignant spirits supposed to influence human destiny, and requiring gifts to propitiate them: personifications of light, or death, or even of criminal human passions; or else they were beings who had indeed a real existence, sun, moon, stars, stones, animals, angels, demons, or the spirits of dead men, but who were not God. This worship of false gods we know from Holy Scripture, and from the annals of all nations, was prevalent over the whole ancient world, and we know that it exists in heathen lands to the present day. But that is not the form of corrupt religion to which this chapter calls our attention, nor is it that into which there is any probability of Christians falling in this nineteenth century. We turn, therefore, to the varieties of the worship offered to the one true God. And first to look at the particular case before us. The mother of Micah seems to have been in her way a devout woman. The scraping together 1100 shekels was probably not effected without considerable effort and self-denial, for it was a large sum (more than eleven times the yearly wages of the Levite. She meant to consecrate it to Jehovah, the God of Israel. She seems too to have been a good mother, for she intended this consecration to be for her son"s benefit, and her language and conduct, when her son confessed his guilt, were pious and forgiving. And yet we find her disobeying the express command of God, and making a graven and a molten image to be used in his worship and service. In like manner we find Micah giving signs of a tender conscience and of the fear of God in confessing his sin when adjured according to the law; we find him anxious for the favour of God, and looking to him to do him good; we find him liberal and large-hearted in providing at his own expense for the worship of God; and yet, with a strange inconsistency, we find him doing the very things which God"s word forbad, and setting" up images, and teraphim, and a superstitious ephod in a "house of God" of his own devising, and under a priest of his own consecration. In like manner again we find even Aaron making a golden calf for the people to worship, and saying (Septuagint), or encouraging the people to say, "This is thy God, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt," and building an altar before it, and keeping a feast in its honour. We read of the golden calves of Jeroboam, and we read too of the high places and the sacrifices upon them even under the pious kings. These then are distinct examples of the superstitious worship of the true God, and lead us to the anxious question, how we are to worship God. Under the Old Testament this was not left to chance or human choice. In the nonage of the Church, before the coming of Christ, all the ordinances of Divine service were prescribed with minuteness and exactness. The sanctuary itself, the Aaronic priesthood, the Levitical ministrations, the feasts of the Lord, the gifts and offerings and devotions of the people, were all ordered by the authority of the word of God. But under the New Testament, when the fulness of the time is come, and the Church has entered into the full possession of the privileges of adopted sons, it is so no longer. Besides a few general principles and broad rules, and the institution of the two sacraments, and the Lord"s Prayer, the Church has received from Holy Scripture no form of Divine service. She has to frame her rules and canons of Divine worship according to the light and wisdom vouchsafed to her by the Holy Spirit of God. In doing this she must have regard to two things.
1. The character and mind of God, so that the worship may be of a kind that will be pleasing and acceptable to him.
2. The nature and character of man, so that the worship may be of a kind to assist the worshipper to raise his heart to God, and impress him with a sense of the majesty, and holiness, and goodness of God.
With regard to the first, the general intimations of him who alone knows the things of God, even the Holy Spirit of God, are very clear. God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." "Let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." "To do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased". (see Mic_6:6-8) Every attempt to substitute costly gifts, or gorgeous ceremonies, or showy processions, or lights, or music, or gestures, or anything bodily and sensuous, for the ritual of repentance, faith, fear, love, and self-consecration consecration of the will and affections to the service of Almighty God can only be made in ignorance of his character and mind as revealed to us in Holy Scripture. It is as truly superstitious as were Micah"s images, and teraphim, and ephod, and house of God. With regard to the second, the outward accessories of worship must be of a kind to assist the worshipper in his endeavour to draw near to God and worship him with all the powers of his soul. Under the pretence of purely spiritual worship, it is very easy so to get rid of all outward acts and circumstances as to get rid of worship itself. The light of religion in the soul cannot burn unless in an atmosphere which feeds the flame. Reverence and awe, prayer and praise, forgetfulness of the world, and thoughts of heaven need to be quickened and encouraged by the posture of the body, by the words of the lips, by sights and sounds expressive of those invisible things which the soul seeks to handle in its approaches to the throne of God. It is therefore a legitimate subject of consideration what forms of worship are most calculated to increase and heighten the devotion of the worshippers. Forms which tend merely to please the senses are worthless; forms which tend to soothe the conscience of the impenitent, and to stifle its questionings by creating a feeling of duty performed and of satisfaction made to God, are pernicious; and forms which so fill the thoughts as to the manner of performing them as to leave no room for thoughts of God are injuries rather than benefits to the soul Forms, again, which leave the soul self-satisfied, which convey a false impression of God"s favour and grace being given when he is really displeased and offended, and which comfort and encourage those who ought to be horribly afraid and trembling for fear of God"s judgments, are manifestly destructive of the souls of those for whose benefit they purport to exist. A faithful Church will root up all such as dishonouring to God and as very hurtful to man. One other characteristic of superstitious worship must be noted. It is compatible with vice, and with the dominion of sin in the heart. Superstition has no tendency to correct the principles of action, or to purify the thoughts and affections of the inner man. The sequel of Micah"s history supplies a notable instance of this. The Danites, in their superstitious desire to possess the images of Micah"s chapel, and the religious services of Micah"s priest, scrupled not to break the commandments of God by stealing, and, if need were, by committing murder. Stealing sacred relics and transporting them by guile or violence from one religious house to another is a well-known form of mediaeval superstition. The brigands in the mountains of Italy have been often known to kneel before an image of the Virgin, and ask the blessing of the priest or bishop, and then return to their work of plunder or murder. Superstition is no check upon the passions, and no bar to the reckless pursuit of what men deem to be their interests or know to be their desires. There is no gulf between superstitious worship and immoral conduct. The man who mistakes the aspect of God towards superstitious vanities is prone to mistake also his aspect towards moral disorder and sin. But he who really enters into the tabernacle of God. and communes with God in spirit, comes forth with his face shining with inward righteousness, the reflection of God"s glory in the face of Jesus Christ. His life is a continuation of his prayers, his praise culminates in good works. In the interests of moral goodness, as well as for the honour of God, it is of supreme importance that the worship of the Almighty be free from superstition.
HOMILIES BY A.F. MUIR. Vers. 1-13. The history of a man-made ministry
1. Its genesis. It belongs to the main design of the book to show how the various disruptive tendencies of a religious and social nature increased unchecked when "there was no king in Israel." The book begins with a note of unity children of Israel asked Jehovah." Repeated idolatrous defections are chronicled, and mention made of the setting up of an ephod in Ophrah: the city of Gideon, and its evil consequences. In one respect the schisms from the national religion were even more dangerous than complete departure from it. The unity of Israel was thus destroyed in its chief sanction and sign, the universal sacrifice and confession at Shiloh. Another of these schismatic points of departure is here related. The description is full of realistic force, and is governed by the dogmatic purpose of exposing the immoral motives of it, and thus discrediting it in the eyes of every true Israelite. It is exposed as the private and selfish appropriation of a national blessing. As the political unity of Israel depended upon maintaining a central religious authority and a uniform ritual and priesthood, the setting up of a house of gods was in itself, irrespectively of its motives, a crime of the first magnitude. The New Testament idea of Church and ministry is different. There the unity of the Spirit is the prevailing aim. But whenever separation originates in similar motives to those here depicted, the sin of schism equally exists.
I THE CHARACTER OF ITS AUTHORS. Avaricious mother, dishonest son. Both superstitious. Not honesty, but fear of a curse, actuates Micah to restore the "eleven hundred shekels." The getting back of the money is the chief concern of the mother, and so she straightway blesses whom she had cursed. (cf. Jam_3:10) Only 200 shekels are actually appropriated to the end proposed.
II ITS MOTIVES. Apparently the warding off of the curse is the first concern with both. But an equally powerful motive was the securing of the gain resulting from fees and gifts. In this way they would become rich. Where the aim is selfish and impure, the character of the worship becomes of secondary consequence, and the latent tendency towards idolatry begins to show itself. It is the motive that is of chief concern in questions of religion. Everything else will be dominated by this: "Is it for self, or is the glory of God my chief aim?" Founders of churches and religious institutions, and candidates for the ministry, should examine themselves ere they are committed to the work upon which they have set their hearts.
III THE COMPLEXION OF THE WORSHIP. It is a "house of gods," containing a "graven image and a molten image," an ephod, and teraphim, which is the outcome of their religious or superstitious zeal. In its nature eclectic, in the crudest sense of the word, this system of religious worship is on the face of it a sacred means to a vulgar, secular end. The house became a place of irregular worship, of soothsaying and divination.
IV THE INSTRUMENT OF THEIR DESIGNS. A son is the first expedient in the direction of a priesthood; but this is not considered sufficiently authoritative. Accident throws in the way a young Levite of Bethlehem-judah, who appears to have taken to a wandering life through discontent, curiosity, idleness, or restlessness. A shiftless, unscrupulous, easily impressible character, in a needy condition, and with the Levitical status, just the fitting occupant of such an office. The undue influence of Micah is thus secured permanently. Promising that he should be a "father and a priest," and receive clothing, board, and "ten shekels" wages, to the needy adventurer "making his way" he thus becomes patron; and the promised standing of the priest relatively to Micah is soon reversed he "was unto him as one of his sons." The consecration too is from Micah. The good and the evil of patronage, private and otherwise, in religion; the dependence of the ministry people like priest;" the question of "consecration" and "orders.
V THE SUPERSTITIOUS PRESUMPTION OF FALSE RELIGION. There is the more care as to the external ritual, the priestly "succession," etc. in proportion to the earthliness of the underlying motive.
1. Where he heart is wrong undue reliance is placed upon externals in religion. The priest"s advantage of descent was vitiated by his becoming a mercenary and a schismatic. Rites and ceremonies are multiplied in default of the "Presence" at Shiloh and its simple service. The error is in placing the virtue in the external observances instead of the reality of worship, purity of life and motive, and the presence of the Spirit of God. Romanism has been defined as "a system of position and imposition, or of posture and imposture.
2. Jehovah is supposed to countenance a religion which is essentially opposed to him. God cannot take rank or be associated with other gods. His glory must be the chief object of the worshipper, the priest, and the patron. Selfish aims, disobedience to his clearly-revealed will concerning his service and Church, can never receive his blessing. Yet observe the self-deception of Micah. He does not see all this, or the evils soon to come upon him. On the other hand, the pure in heart" shall see God. His presence is independent of the external completeness, etc. of ritual. True priesthood is a Divine unction, and not a human monopoly. M.
HOMILIES BY W.F. ADENEY Vers. 1-4. Avarice and superstition.
The story of Micah and his mother illustrates the strange blending of avarice and superstition which may be observed in those people who have lowered themselves to a worldly habit of life without entirely losing the influence of religion.
I WHEN RELIGION SINKS INTO SUPERSTITION, ITS UNWORLDLY SPIRIT IS QUENCHED AND AVARICE IS UNRESTRAINED. The religion of Israel is now most degraded, and one result of its degradation is seen in a corresponding lowering of morality. Great devotion to a superstitious religious system is not incompatible with a very low tone of moral life.
1. This is seen in the avarice of Micahs mother,
(1) Tempting to deception, if not complete dishonesty, on the part of the son,
(2) giving rise to unseemly temper and blind cursing on her own side, and
(3) to a mean and unworthy attempt at restoring family peace by a compromise between selfish greed and religious devotion 200 shekels only are devoted to the image, and, though Micah had intended all to go to this object, the remaining 900 shekels are retained by the mother.
2. The same degradation of morality is seen in the unworthy conduct of the young man. He shows no confidence in his mother. He thinks he can honour God with the proceeds of deception. It is only under a dark religion of superstition that we can suppose the end to justify the means a sacrificial object to excuse domestic fraud.
II WHEN, UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A WORLDLY SPIRIT, AVARICE IS UNRESTRAINED, RELIGION TENDS TO SINK INTO SUPERSTITION. Covetousness is idolatry. (Col_3:5) The habit of setting the affections on earthly things blinds the soul to the perception of pure spiritual truth. This is seen in the story of Micah and his mother.
1. Micah displays a dread of his mothers curse, but no consciousness of guilt. His confession and restitution are not the result of repentance, but of superstitious fear.
2. His mother shows no grief at the revelation of his conduct, but only delight at seeing the money, and a desire to remove the effect of her curse by pronouncing a blessing on her son.
3. Subsequently the young man dreads to touch the money which is affected with his mother s curse, though she offers it to him, and she feels bound to use it, or part of it, in the service of God.
4. Religious feelings do not seem to affect the moral conduct of either person, but only to incline them to image-making. Thus worldly greed drags down religion till this becomes merely a worldly habit of gross idolatry and magic spells. We may see in the present day religions of mere ritual and superstitious practices attracting the most worldly people, and not restraining, but rather shaping themselves into the mould of their low and earthly affections. A.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Micahs mother
Jdg_17:1-13
Micah.
Read full note →
Micahs mother
In the second verse of this chapter Micah makes a clean confession of a great wrong which he had done to his mother. It seems, says Matthew Henry, that this old woman, with long scraping and saving, had hoarded a considerable sum of money--eleven hundred pieces of silver. It is likely she intended, when she died, to leave it to this son. In the meantime, it did her good to count it over and call it her own. On discovering that she had been relieved of her treasure, Micahs mother became justly indignant. She scolded and called down curses on the one who had robbed her. This she did in her sons presence, and though she made no direct charge of the offence upon him, her conduct greatly disturbed his conscience. Some time later he made an open acknowledgment to his mother of the whole matter, and restored the stolen treasure. The reappearance of the lost shekels had a remarkably soothing effect on her disposition. She forgot all about the wrong done to her, and all about her own distemper. Blessed be thou of the Lord, my son, said this forgiving mother. Is it not wonderful what a difference a little money makes in ones disposition and feelings? She who could curse at its loss now as readily blesses with its return. One can imagine a very different state of things had Micah come to her with his confession, but without the eleven hundred pieces of silver. Note now another incident in this transaction. After this money had been stolen Micahs mother gave as one reason for feeling so badly that she had dedicated it wholly to the Lord. When she had it in her possession she had not the heart to do this, but as soon as it was gone she made known her good intentions. For some reason Micah was moved to restore to his mother the money which belonged to her. What did she do with it? Did she give it to the Lord; according to her reported oath of dedication? The record shows she gave to Him but the veriest part of it. Nine hundred shekels she kept for herself. The remaining two hundred she devoted to religious uses. What a picture in this conduct of Micah and his mother of poor, weak, vacillating, human nature, sinning and confessing, cursing and blessing, as circumstances determine! What wonder, says Matthew Henry, that such a mother had such a son! She paved the way for his theft, by her probable stinginess. In her poverty she professed generous feeling towards the Lords cause. When her money came back, she gave to it less than one-fifth of the all she had promised. (W. H. Allbright.)
There was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Anarchy
At the first, one would think that it were a merry world if every man might do what he listed. But yet sure those days were evil. This, a complaint. To let you see, then, what a monster lurketh under these smooth terms, doing that which is right in our eyes. Two parts there be, the eye, and the hand. To begin with the eye, and that which is right in the eye. There began all evil in the first temptation--even from this persuasion, they should need no direction from God, or from any; their own eye should be their director to what was right. Three evils are in it. It is not safe to commit the judgment of what is right to the eye; and yet it is our surest sense, as that which apprehendeth greatest variety of differences. But I know withal, the optics (the masters of that faculty) reckon up twenty several ways, all which it may be and is deceived. The object full of deceit; things are not as they seem. The medium is not evenly disposed. Take but one: that of the oar in the water. Though the oar be straight, yet, if the eye be judge, it seemeth bowed. And if that which is right may seem crooked, that which is crooked may seem right.. So the eye is no competent judge. But admit we will make the eye judge, yet not every mans eye; that were too much. Many weak and dim eyes there be, many goggle and mis-set; many little better than blind; shall all and every of these be allowed to define what is right? Some, it may be (perhaps the eagle), but shall the owl and all? I trow not. Many mis-shapen kinds of right shall we have if that may be suffered. We all know self-love, what a thing it is, how it dazzleth the sight; how everything appeareth right and good that appeareth through those spectacles. Therefore, not right by the eye. At least, not every mans eye. Nay, not any man is right by his own eye. I now pass to the next point. Here is a hand, too. For here at this breaketh in the whole sea of confusion, when the hand followeth the eye, and men proceed to do as lewdly as they see perversely. And sure the hand will follow the eye, and men do as seemeth right to them, be it never so absurd.
1. Micah liked an idol well; Micah had a good purse; he told out two hundred shekels, and so up went the idol.
2. The men of Dan liked well of spoiling; they were well appointed, their swords were sharp; they did it.
3. They of Gibeah, to their lust, rape seemed a small matter; they were a multitude, no resisting them; and so they committed that abominable villainy. But what, shall this be suffered and no remedy sought? God forbid. First, the eye, error in the eye, is harm enough; and order must be taken even for that. For men do not err in judgment but with hazard of their souls; very requisite, therefore, that men be travailed with, that they may see their own blindness. But, if they be strongly conceited of their own sight, and will not endure any to come near their eyes: if we cannot cure their eyes, what, shall we not hold their hands neither? Yes, in any wise. We see, then, the malady; more than time we sought out a remedy for it. That shall we best do if we know the cause. The cause is here set down. If the cause be there is no king, let there be one: that is the remedy. A good king will help all, if it be of absolute necessity that neither Micah, for all his wealth, nor Dan, for all their forces, nor Gibeah, for all their multitude, do what they list. This is then Gods means. We cannot say His only means, in that there are states that subsist without them, but this we may say, His best means--the best for order, peace, strength, steadiness. The next point is, no king in Israel. That this is not noted as a defect in gross, or at large, but even in Israel, Gods own chosen people. It is a want, not in Edom or Canaan, but even in Israel. Truly Israel, being Gods own peculiar people, might seem to claim a prerogative above other nations, in this, that they had the knowledge of His laws, whereby their eyes were lightened and their hands taught. Of which there needeth no reason but this: that a king is a good means to keep them Gods Israel. Here, for want of a king, Israel began, and was fair onward, to be no longer Israel, but even Babel. I come to the third part: and to what end a king? What will a king do unto us? He will in his general care look to both parts, the eye and the hand--the eye, that men sin not blindly for want of direction; the hand, that men sin not with a high hand for want of correction. But this is not all; the text carrieth us yet further--that it is not only the charge of the king, but the very first article in his charge. (Bp. Andrewes.)
Anarchy
I. The tragical antecedent: In those days there was no king in Israel.
II. The terrible consequent: Every one did that which was right in their own eyes.
III. The infallible connection between that cause and this effect. (Thos. Cartwright, D. D.)
The evil of unbridled liberty
To live as we please would be the ready way to lose our liberty, and undo ourselves. Tyranny itself were infinitely more tolerable than such an unbridled liberty. For that, like a tempest, might throw down here and there a fruitful tree, but this, like a deluge, would sweep away all before it. Many men, many minds, and each strongly addicted to his own. If, therefore, every man should be his own judge, so as to take upon him to determine his own right, and according to such determination to proceed in the maintenance of it, not only the government, but the kingdom itself would quickly come to ruin; and yet admit of the former, and you cannot exclude the latter. Diseases in the eye, errors in the judgment, are dangerous; and there being not one reason in us, there is the more need of one power over us. Yet they who see amiss, hurt none, they say, but themselves; but how if their unquiet opinions will not be kept at home? but prove as thorns in their sides, and will not suffer them to take any rest, till from liberty of thinking, they come to liberty of acting! Nor is there any reason we should be lawless, to do what we please, for we cannot fathom the depth and deceitfulness of our own hearts, much less of the hearts of other men. Only this we know, we are all the worse for that which we mistake for liberty (mistake, I say), for to live as we please is indeed to lose our liberty, of which the law is so far from being an abridgement that it is the only firm foundation upon which it must be built. (Thos. Cartwright, D. D.)
The Levite was content.--
The young Levite; or, rich content
His morals were bad, but his spirit of general contentedness was good. Can it be said of men now that they are content? How much unrest is there all around us! The discontented spirit is easily discovered. The merchant, in his office or on the market, makes certain profits, but frets himself that he has not made more. The tradesman bitterly complains of the badness of trade, and the artisan of slackness of work. When he has succeeded in finding employment he will be found quarrelling with the rate of payment. Nor is the discontented spirit confined to the town; it is found in rural districts too. Speak with the occupier, and what a string of complaints he has about home or weather; speak with the wife, and she complains of her wayward family; with the son, and you find that he is weary of country life, and longs for the excitement of a city; with the daughter, and she is annoyed that school life has to be followed by what she terms home drudgery. You may go away from such a place of beauty in complete disgust. The appearances have completely belied the reality. Even the Indian, for whom a blanket and weapon would appear to suffice, is ofttimes discontented because game is scarce or his maize plot unproductive. It is difficult to find any person who is without some reason for discontent, or any position which places a man beyond its reach. The joy of the early Church (Act_2:46) grew out of its contentedness. Its first experience of the results of religion was so joyous that it was a foretaste of millennial bliss. It lasted, unfortunately, too short a time, and yet long enough to show what should be the ideal of life.
1. This simplicity of heart, this contentedness of mind, is not always inherited, does not always come by nature, but may be obtained. It can only come fully when the heart is at peace with God through Christ. The man is alive to God. He gives all his affection to God, because he lives in the love which God has to him. His greatest desire is to have his whole nature subdued to Christ, and serve Him in singleness of heart.
2. Again, this state is not one which comes to all suddenly. Indeed, it comes to most gradually. Paul, the apostle, only attained it by degrees.
3. There is a temporary advantage in discontent. But for dissatisfaction with our spiritual state and progress, we should not strive to make any advance.
4. Look at some of the results which follow the attaimnent of the contented spirit.
(1) There will be a readiness to make the best of any position in which we may be placed. There was a schoolmaster among the Cumberland Hills, of whom Robertson speaks in one of his lectures--a man who rested content with a very small school, small salary, and small house; though his abilities would have obtained for him a position much higher in the eyes of the world, but who refused every inducement to remove. He said, I reckon that the privilege of living amid beautiful scenery much more than compensates for a large salary with work in the stifling atmosphere of some town. It is possible, therefore, to gain contentedness in respect to position, and the more surely if we can have the assurance that Christ has taken up His abode in our hearts.
(2) Where this spirit obtains, there will be a more cheerful view of life cherished. A little girl once inquired, Mamma, did the cheerful God make all the beautiful flowers? The childs idea of God was far higher than of many Christians. Her expression, which was apparently bold, was one indicative of sweet simplicity and singleness of heart. Would that we could be in spirit as that little child.
(3) Where this spirit of content obtains, there will be a more earnest performance of any duty that may fall upon us. That which our hands find to do we shall do with our might. We shall ever search out occasions of usefulness. If we see any wrong, we shall not be content to let it rest. If we see ignorance and sin around, we shall strive to remove it.
(4) Where there is this rich content and true singleness of heart there will be a clearer and yet clearer perception of Gods truth and will. There is a clearness of vision following on singleness of desire.
(5) Moreover, there will be perfect willingness to leave everything in Gods hands. Much of the fret and worry of life will thus be saved. (F. Hastings.)
Micah consecrated the Levite.--
An unauthorised ordination; or, a pastor-elects recognition services
I. The pastor.
1. A recognised minister.
2. Without a charge.
3. Very poor.
4. In search of a ministry.
5. Of a good character.
6. A young pastor.
II. The call.
1. Its nature.
(1) To a small church.
(2) Unanimous.
(3) With little inquiries.
(4) Upon his own merit.
(5) By a very rich church.
2. Its condition.
(1) Much respected.
(2) Poor stipend.
III. The acceptance of the call.
1. Immediate.
2. Without a scruple.
IV. The recognition service.
1. An unauthorised ordination.
2. Without any ceremony.
3. With a good purpose.
V. The great satisfaction of the church in their choice. (M. Jones.)
Now know I that the Lord will do me good.--
The great religious want and mistake of humanity
I. The great religious want of humanity.
1. A friendly relation with the Eternal.
2. Some mediator to procure this friendship.
II. The great religious mistake of humanity. This man concludes that he shall obtain the Divine favour simply because he has a priest in his house. He may have drawn this false and dangerous conclusion from one of the following popular assumptions:
1. That there was something morally meritorious in merely supporting a minister of the Lord.
2. That the priest would have some special power with Heaven to obtain good.
3. That by his formally attending to the religious ordinances which this Levite prescribed the Lord would do him good. (Homilist.)
Micah and the Levite
I. Selfishness in religion. This lies at the foundation of Micahs trouble. The institution of Micahs new form of worship had its root in this vice. He did not break away from the old form of things because he was dissatisfied with it, but because it caused self-denial and money to support the established order of worship at Shiloh. It took time to go up there, and means to convey himself and family. Why could he not manage the matter more economically and just as satisfactorily at home, and thus avoid the annoyance and expense? Many a man has made this mistake of Micah, in think- ing he could worship God as acceptably in his own way as in any other--in thinking there is no difference between a man-made and a Divinely-appointed religion. In Micahs case selfishness defeated itself, as it does invariably. In departing from the true religion he soon came to have no religion at all. And is not this the inevitable course of religious declension? If I could paint a picture that would preach a sermon, it would be Micah running after his gods and his renegade priest, and crying: Ye have taken away my gods and my priest, and what have I more?
II. Imitation in religion. Micahs worship was a cross between Judaism and heathenism. He had the priest and the ephod on one side, and the molten and graven images on the other. Either he did not perceive the incongruity, or he thought it would make no difference. Some form of worship he considered a necessity. He was not ready to throw religion overboard. His difficulty was in thinking it made little difference after all what kind of religion a man has so long as he has some form of worship. Having no true idea as to the place of worship, he came soon to have no true idea of worship itself. This is a natural order of declension. Men nowadays break away from the sanctuary, not meaning to give up all religion. Having no stated place of worship, they go here and there for a time, and then cease to go altogether. Breaking with the established order of worship, Micah manufactured a worship of his own. He mistook the sign for the thing signified. His religion was an imitation--a counterfeit--and a counterfeit is more or less a copy of the genuine. Many a man has made this mistake of Micah, in thinking that some religion was better than none--that a poor thing was better than nothing at all. Counterfeits and shams abound in religion. Imitations and incongruities are seen on every hand. One is forced to inquire, Is there anything real and genuine? Is every man the maker of his own idols? Is each and every one to be guided by his own ideas of worship? God forbid! If it be so, then unity is impossible, and confusion and bitterness and babble are the inevitable sequence.
III. Self-complacency. With his young priest and his heathen gods Micah was satisfied. Because he was, he thought God would be. Hence his complacent utterance: Now know I that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest. We have seen, even in our day, instances not altogether dissimilar. Families depending on the orthodoxy of the Church for the Divine approbation; Churches expecting all will go well from the ecclesiastical standing or ordination vows of their ministers. How often families and Churches and ministers have been disappointed! The truth is, there can be but one way of securing Gods blessing, whether for the individual, the family, or the Church. That one way is the way of loving and faithful obedience to His requirements. Not what we think, but what He thinks; not what we consider best, but what He commands, is our duty and happiness. Religion is not a human invention, but a Divine obligation. It is not a matter of mental caprice, but of joyful submission to the will of Heaven. (W. H. Allbright.)
.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Judges 17, Judges 18
THE STOLEN GODS
Judges 17, Judges 18
Read full note →
THE portion of the Book of Judges which begins with the seventeenth chapter and extends to the close is not in immediate connection with that which has gone before. We read {Jdg_18:30} that "Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land." But the proper reading is, "Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses." It would seem that the renegade Levite of the narrative was a near descendant of the great lawgiver. So rapidly did the zeal of the priestly house decline that in the third or fourth generation after Moses one of his own line became minister of an idol temple for the sake of a living. It is evident, then, that in the opening of the seventeenth chapter, we are carried back to the time immediately following the conquest of Canaan by Joshua, when Othniel was settling in the south and the tribes were endeavouring to establish themselves in the districts allotted to them. The note of time is of course far from precise, but the incidents are certainly to be placed early in the period.
We are introduced first to a family living in Mount Ephraim consisting of a widow and: her son Micah, who is married and has sons of his own. It appears that on the death of the father of Micah a sum of eleven hundred shekels of silver, about a hundred and twenty pounds of our money-a large amount for the time-was missed by the widow, who after vain search for it spoke in strong terms about the matter to her son. He had taken the money to use in stocking his farm or in trade and at once acknowledged that he had done so and restored it to his mother, who hastened to undo any evil her words had caused by invoking upon him the blessing of God. Further she dedicated two hundred of her shekels to make graven and molten images in token of piety and gratitude.
We have here a very significant revelation of the state of religion. The indignation of Moses had burned against the people when at Sinai they made a rude image of gold, sacrificed to it and danced about it in heathen revel. We are reading of what took place say a century after that scene at the foot of Sinai, and already those who desire to show their devotion to the Eternal, very imperfectly known as Jehovah, make teraphim and molten images to represent Him. Micah has a sort of private chapel or temple among the buildings in his courtyard: He consecrates one of his sons to be priest of this little sanctuary. And the historian adds in explanation of this, as one keenly aware of the benefits of good government under a God-fearing monarch-"in those days there was no king in Israel. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes."
We need not take for granted that the worship in this hill chapel was of the heathen sort. There was probably no Baal, no Astarte among the images; or, if there was, it may have been merely as representing a Syrian power prudently recognised but not adored. No hint occurs in the whole story of a licentious or a cruel cult, although there must have been something dangerously like the superstitious practices of Canaan. Micahs chapel, whatever the observances were, gave direct introduction to the pagan forms and notions which prevailed among the people of the land. There already Jehovah was degraded to the rank of a nature divinity, and represented by figures.`
In one of the highland valleys towards the north of Ephraims territory Micah had his castle and his ecclesiastical establishment-state and church in germ. The Israelites of the neighbourhood, who looked up to the well to do farmer for protection, regarded him all the more that he showed respect for religion, that he had this house of gods and a private priest. They came to worship in his sanctuary and to inquire of the ecclesiastic, who in some way endeavoured to discover the will of God by means of the teraphim and ephod. The ark of the covenant was not far away, for Bethel and Gilgal were both within a days journey. But the people did not care to be at the trouble of going so far. They liked better their own local shrine and its homelier ways; and when at length Micah secured the services of a Levite the worship seemed to have all the sanction that could possibly be desired.
It need hardly be said that God is not confined to a locality, that in those days as in our own the true worshipper could find the Almighty on any hill top, in any dwelling or private place, as well as at the accredited shrine. It is quite true, also, that God makes large allowance for the ignorance of men and their need of visible signs and symbols of what is unseen and eternal. We must not therefore assume at once that in Micahs house of idols, before the widows graven and molten figures, there could be no acceptable worship, no prayers that reached the ear of the Lord of Hosts. And one might even go the length of saying that, perhaps, in this schismatic sanctuary, this chapel of images, devotion could be quite as sincere as before the ark itself. Little good came of the religious ordinances maintained there during the whole period of the judges, and even in Elis latter days the vileness and covetousness practised at Shiloh more than countervailed any pious influence. Local and family altars therefore must have been of real use. But this was the danger, that leaving the appointed centre of Jehovah worship, where symbolism was confined within safe limits, the people should in ignorant piety multiply objects of adoration and run into polytheism. Hence the importance of the decree, afterwards recognised, that one place of sacrifice should gather to it all the tribes and that there the ark of the covenant with its altar should alone speak of the will and holiness of God. And the story of the Danite migration connected with this of Micah and his Levite well illustrates the wisdom of such a law, for it shows how, in the far north, a sanctuary and a worship were set up which, existing long for tribal devotion, became a national centre of impure worship.
The wandering Levite from Bethlehem-Judah is one, we must believe, of many Levites, who having found no inheritance because the cities allotted to them were as yet unconquered spread themselves over the land seeking a livelihood, ready to fall in with any local customs of religion that offered them position and employment. The Levites were esteemed as men acquainted with the way of Jehovah, able to maintain that communication with Him without which no business could be hopefully undertaken. Something of the dignity that was attached to the names of Moses and Aaron ensured them honourable treatment everywhere unless among the lowest of the people; and when this Levite reached the dwelling of Micah beside which there seems to have been a khan or lodging place for travellers, the chance of securing him was at once seized. For ten pieces of silver, say twenty-five shillings a year, with a suit of clothes and his food, he agreed to become Micahs private chaplain. At this very cheap rate the whole household expected a time of prosperity and divine favour. "Now know I," said the head of the family, "that the Lord will do me good seeing I have a Levite to my priest," We must fear that, he took some advantage of the mans need, that he did not much consider the honour of Jehovah yet reckoned on getting a blessing all; the same. It was a case of seeking the best religious privileges as cheaply as possible, a very common thing in all ages.
But the coming of the Levite was to have results Micah did not foresee. Jonathan had lived in Bethlehem, and some ten or twelve miles westward down the valley one came to Zorah and Eshtaol, two little towns of the tribe of Dan of which we have heard. The Levite had apparently become pretty well known in the district: and especially in those villages to which he went to offer sacrifice or perform some other religious rite. And now a series of incidents brought certain old acquaintances to his new place of abode.
Even in Samsons time the tribe of Dan, whose territory was to be along the coast west from Judah, was still obliged to content itself with the slopes of the hills, not having got possession of the plain. In the earlier period with which we are now dealing the Danites were in yet greater difficulty, for not only had they Philistines on the one side but Amorites on the other. The Amorites "would dwell," we are told, "in Mount Heres, in Aijalon and in Shaalbim." It was this pressure which determined the people about Zorah and Eshtaol to find if possible another place of settlement, and five men were sent out in search. Travelling north they took the same way as the Levite had taken, heard of the same khan in the hill country of Ephraim, and made it their resting place for a night. The discovery of the Levite Jonathan followed and of the chapel in which he ministered with its wonderful array of images. We can suppose the deputation had thoughts they did not express, but for the present they merely sought the help of the priest, begging him to consult the oracle on their behalf and learn whether their mission would be successful. The five went on their journey with the encouragement, "Go in peace; before the Lord is your way wherein ye go."
Months pass without any more tidings of the Danites until one day a great company is seen following the hill road near Micahs farm. "There are six hundred men girt with weapons of war with their wives and children and cattle, a whole clan on the march, filling the road for miles and moving slowly northward. The five men have indeed succeeded after a fashion. Away between Lebanon and Hermon, in the region of the sources of Jordan, they have found the sort of district they went to seek. Its chief town Laish stood in the midst of fertile fields with plenty of wood and water. It was a place, according to their large report, where was no want of anything that is in the earth." Moreover the inhabitants, who seem to have been a Phoenician colony, dwelt by themselves quiet and secure, having no dealings or treaty with the powerful Zidonians. They were the very kind of people whom a sudden attack would be likely to subdue. There was an immediate migration of Danites to this fresh field, and in prospect of bloody work the men of Zorah and Eshtaoi seem to have had no doubt as to the rightness of their expedition; it was enough that they had felt themselves straitened. The same reason appears to suffice many in modern times. Were the aboriginal inhabitants of America and Australia considered by those who coveted their land? Even the pretence of buying has not always been maintained. Murder and rapine have been the methods used by men of our own blood, our own name, and no nation under the sun has a record darker than the tale of British conquest.
Men who go forth to steal land are quite fit to attempt the strange business of stealing gods that is appropriating to themselves the favour of divine powers and leaving other men destitute. The Danites as they pass Micahs house hear from their spies of the priest and the images that are in his charge. "Do you know that that there is in these houses an ephod and teraphim and a graven image and a molten image? Now therefore consider what ye have to do." The hint is enough. Soon the court of the farmstead is invaded, the images are brought out and the Levite Jonathan, tempted by the offer of being made priest to a clan, is fain to accompany the marauders. Here is confusion on confusion. The Danites are thieves, brigands, and yet they are pious; so pious that they steal images to assist them in worship. The Levite agrees to the theft and accepts the offer of priesthood under them. He will be the minister of a set of thieves to forward their evil designs, and they, knowing him to be no better than themselves, expect that his sacrifices and prayers will do them good. It is surely a capital instance of perverted religious ideas.
As we have said, these circumstances are no doubt recounted in order to show how dangerous it was to separate from the pure order of worship at the sanctuary. In after times this lesson was needed, especially when the first king of the northern tribes set his golden calves the one at Bethel, the other at Dan. Was Israel to separate from Judah in religion as well as in government? Let there be a backward look to the beginning of schism in those extraordinary doings of the Danites. It was in the city founded by the six hundred that one of Jeroboams temples was built. Could any blessing rest upon a shrine and upon devotions which had such an origin, such a history?
May we find a parallel now? Is there a constituted religious authority with which soundness of belief and acceptable worship are so bound up that to renounce the authority is to be in the way of confusion and error, schism and eternal loss? The Romanist says so. Those who speak for the Papal church never cease to cry to the world that within their communion alone are truth and safety to be found. Renounce, they say, the apostolic and divine authority which we conserve and all is gone. Is there anarchy in a country? Are the forces that make for political disruption and national decay showing themselves in many lands? Are monarchies overthrown? Are the people lawless and wretched? It all comes of giving up the Catholic order and creed. Return to the one fold under the one Shepherd if you would find prosperity. And there are others who repeat the same injunction, not indeed denying that there may be saving faith apart from their ritual, but insisting still that it is an error and a sin to seek God elsewhere than at the accredited shrine.
With Jewish ordinances we Christians have nothing to do when we are judging as to religious order and worship now. There is no central shrine, no exclusive human authority. Where Christ is, there is the temple; where He speaks, the individual conscience must respond. The work of salvation is His alone, and the humblest believer is His consecrated priest. When our Lord said, "The hour cometh and now is-when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth"; and again, "Where two or three are gathered together in My name there am I in the midst of them"; when He as the Son of God held out His hands directly to every sinner needing pardon and every seeker after truth, when He offered the one sacrifice upon the cross by which a living way is opened into the holiest place, He broke down the walls of partition and with the responsibility declared the freedom of the soul.
And here we reach the point to which our narrative applies as an illustration. Micah and his household worshipping the images of silver, the Levite officiating at the altar, seeking counsel of Jehovah by ephod and teraphim, the Danites who steal the gods, carry off the priest and set up a new worship in the city they build-all these represent to us types and stages of what is really schism pitiful and disastrous-that is, separation from the truth of things and from the sacred realities of divine faith. Selfish untruth and infidelity are schism, the wilderness and outlawry of the soul.
1. Micah and his household, with their chapel of images, their ephod and teraphim, represent those who fall into the superstition that religion is good as insuring temporal success and prosperity, that God will see to the worldly comfort of those who pay respect to Him. Even among Christians this is a very common and very debasing superstition. The sacraments are often observed as signs of a covenant which secures for men divine favour through social arrangements and human law.
2. The spiritual nature and power of religion are not denied, but they are uncomprehended. The national custom and the worldly hope have to do with the observance of devout forms rather than any movement of the soul heavenward. A church may in this way become like Micahs household, and prayer may mean seeking good terms with Him who can fill the land with plenty or send famine and cleanness of teeth. Unhappily many worthy and most devout persons still hold the creed of an early and ignorant time. The secret of nature and providence is hid from them. The severities of life seem to them to be charged with anger, and the valleys of human reprobation appear darkened by the curse of God. Instead of finding in pain and loss a marvellous divine discipline they perceive only the penalty of sin, a sign of Gods aversion, not of His Fatherly grace. It is a sad, a terrible blindness of soul. We can but note it here and pass on, for there, are other applications of the old story.
3. The Levite represents an unworthy worldly ministry. With sadness must confession be made that there are in every church pastors unspiritual, worldlings in heart, whose desire is mainly for superiority of rank or of wealth, who have no vision of Christs cross and battle except as objective and historical. Here, most happily, the cases of complete worldliness are rare. It is rather a tendency we observe than a developed and acknowledged state of things. Very few of those in the ranks of the Christian ministry are entirely concerned with the respect paid to them in society and the number of shekels to be got in a year. That he keeps pace with the crowd instead of going before it is perhaps the hardest thing that can be said of the worldly pastor. He is humane, active, intelligent; but it is for the church as a great institution, or the church as his temporal hope and stay. So his ministry becomes at the best a matter of serving tables and providing alms-we shall not say amusement. Here indeed is schism; for what is farther from the truth of things, what is farther from Christ?
Once more we have with us today, very much with us, certain Danites of science, politics, and the press who, if they could, would take away our God and our Bible, our Eternal Father and spiritual hope, not from a desire to possess but because they hate to see us believing, hate to see any weight of silver given to religious uses. Not a few of these are marching, as they think triumphantly, to commanding and opulent positions whence they will rule the thought of the world. And on the way, even while they deride and detest the supernatural, they will have the priest go with them. They care nothing for what he says; to listen to the voice of a spiritual teacher is an absurdity of which they would not be guilty; for to their own vague prophesying all mankind is to give hoed, and their interpretations of human life are to be received as the bible of the age. Of the same order is the socialist who would make use of a faith he intends to destroy, and a priesthood whose claim is offensive to him, on his way to what he calls the organisation of society. In his view the uses of Christianity and the Bible are temporal and earthly. He will not have Christ the Redeemer of the soul, yet he attempts to conjure with Christs words and appropriate the power of His name. The audacity of these would be robbers is matched only by their ignorance of the needs and ends of human life.
We might here refer to the injustice practised by one and another band of our modem Israel who do not scruple to take from obscure and weak households of faith the sacraments and Christian ministry, the marks and rights of brotherhood. We can well believe that those who do this have never looked at their action from the other side, and may not have the least idea of the soreness they leave in the hearts of humble and sincere believers.
In fine, the Danites with the images of Micah went their way and he and his neighbours had to suffer the loss and make the best of their empty chapel, where no oracle thenceforth spoke to them. It is no parable, but a very real example of the loss that comes to all who have trusted in forms and symbols, the outward signs instead of the living power of religion. While we repel the arrogance that takes from faith its symbolic props and stays we must not let ourselves deny that the very rudeness of an enemy may be an excellent discipline for the Christian. Agnosticism and science and other Danite companies sweep with them a good deal that is dear to the religious mind and may leave it very distressed and anxious-the chapel empty, the oracle as it may appear lost forever. With the symbol the authority, the hope, the power seem to be lost irrecoverably. What now has faith to rest upon? But the modern spirit with its resolution to sweep away every unfact and mere form is no destroyer. Rather does it drive the Christian to a science, a virtue far beyond its own. It forces we may say on faith that severe truthfulness and intellectual courage which are the proper qualities of Christianity, the necessary counterpart of its trust and love and grace. In short, when enemies have carried off the poor teraphim and fetishes which are their proper capture they have but compelled religion to be itself, compelled it to find its spiritual God, its eternal creed and to understand its Bible. This, though done with evil intent, is surely no cruelty, no outrage. Shall a man or a church that has been so roused and thrown back on reality sit wailing in the empty chapel for the images of silver and the deliverances of the hollow ephod? Everything remains, the soul and the spiritual world, the law of God, the redemption of Christ, the Spirit of eternal life.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1
IDOLATRY IN ITS INCIPIENT STAGE—BY IMAGE-WORSHIP
(Jdg_17:1-13.)
Read full note →
HOMILETICS
I. Idolatry begins with those who are not upright in moral conduct. Jdg_17:1-4.
Micah himself is first heard of as stealing a large sum of money, and his mother is first mentioned as uttering curses on the head of the offender, whoever he might be. Subsequently, when the money is given up, and the offender is discovered to be her own son, the mother entirely loses sight of the immoral character of the act, and though no sorrow is expressed by him for the evil of his conduct, she at once proceeds to pour blessings on his head, simply because the money was restored. Further, she professes to have devoted the whole of the money to the service of God’s house, yet when coming to the decision as to how much shall be given for that purpose, she gives really less than one-fifth of the whole to that service. No wonder, if those, who had already made a god of their money, should hold very cheaply by the name of the true God.
II. God has established in the heart of every criminal the means of detecting his own crime. Jdg_17:2.
How long Micah may have kept his theft a secret is not said, but memory and conscience, as two detectives working together, made every place too hot for him, until he made a full confession (Psa_32:3-5). The work of detection was done most effectively, for no man can flee from himself, and it was done directly, without any slow process of going round about (Jos_7:16-21). Fears were aroused in his superstitious mind, lest a mother’s curse should fall upon him, and disquieting thoughts like wandering ghosts rose up before him in his fancies by day and his dreams by night, to scare him into a full disclosure of the evil act.
III. The powerlessness of human cursing. Jdg_17:2.
The mother cursed the thief. Was there anything in that to rouse Micah’s fears? Had he any good reason to fear that the curse would really come? That a certain power both of blessing and cursing was vested in the father, in the patriarchal age, is undoubted (Noah, Isaac, Jacob, etc.). The father was then the priest and prophet in the family. But when he either bestowed a blessing, or pronounced a curse, it seemed always to be when he was Divinely commissioned to do so (Gen_9:25-26). Isaac having blessed Jacob could not alter it, nor confer the blessing on Esau also. There were limits to the power of blessing; and so with cursing. The blessing, or the curse, would not come at the mere caprice of him who pronounced it, but only as it came from the Divine Spirit, resting on the person authorised to give it. Some of the female sex were prophetesses, but only as such could they either bless or curse (Judges 5)
IV. Conscience compels a tribute to religion, even from the avaricious heart Jdg_17:3.
What the leading motive may have been for erecting a sanctuary in their dwelling, we are not informed, but one thing is clear in this case, that though Micah and his mother were both avaricious, they felt that the claims of religion were strong, and must have large external respect paid to them. Where any tenderness of conscience is left, there is a secret instinctive conviction, that man must have a God, whom he is bound to serve, and to whom he owes the deepest homage. So the mother spoke at first of devoting the whole 1,100 shekels (about £140), to the purpose of establishing a system of image-worship in their household. Even the hard-fisted Laban had his gods (Gen_31:19; Gen_31:30; Mic_6:7.)
V. The deceitfulness of the heart in thinking it can bribe conscience.
So much is parted with, that the heart may keep all the rest and enjoy it in quietude. An opiate is given to conscience in the religious offerings made, to lull it asleep or to blunt its sting. Every wicked man feels that he must, at any cost, still that stern voice and buy off its threatenings. But it is vain to think of closing up the black and yawning gulf of fears, which conscious guilt opens in the soul, by casting into it silver and gold, prayers and penances, deeds of charity, and formal observances of religious worship (Mic_6:7). Nothing can purge conscience but the blood of Christ (Heb_9:14).
VI. The error of departure from the rule laid down by God for His own worship.
Micah departed from this rule broadly in making a graven image, which is expressly forbidden in the most solemn language uttered on Sinai (Exo_20:4), and which had the first of the heavy curses pronounced upon it at Mount Ebal (Deu_27:15). He erred also in following only the thoughts of his own heart, without asking counsel at the mouth of the Lord; whereas it is the very foundation of true religion to acknowledge Him in everything, and reverently observe what He appoints. For a man to try to carve out a religion for himself, different from what God has appointed, is itself an act of irreligion. Again, he appointed first his son, and afterwards a Levite, to be his priest, whereas none but the sons of Aaron could lawfully execute the duties of that office. The place too was unlawful—his own dwelling, for all acceptable public worship was required to be carried on before the ark at Shiloh. All this was highly presumptuous and irreverent. It was for a man to tell God, that he would take the matter of His worship into his own hands, and decide for himself, when, where, and how he would discharge his religious obligations.
Besides all this, it was an express refusal to accept the mode of worship already appointed by God, as exhibited at Shiloh, at no great distance from where Micah lived. When God has already spoken, it is for every right-hearted worshipper to obey. To bring in another mode, or to bring in a modification of His mode, would indeed be most irreverent.
VII. It is dangerous to frame a religion merely according to one’s own wishes.
This is first of all to insult the Divine Majesty, as if the creature might presume to dictate to the Creator what duties He should require it to fulfil. This of itself must be a heinous offence. It is also most distrustful, as if the Creator were not infinitely kind, wise, faithful and true, and worthy of the most absolute confidence. But it implies more; it amounts to a casting off the authority of the Creator entirely, at the moment when it professes to acknowledge Him as the Object of worship. Besides, a religion so framed will be a hideous misrepresentation of all that God is, and an exhibition of what the vile and wicked heart of man would wish him to be. This is strikingly exemplified in all the religions of the heathen world, without a single exception.
VIII. Those who have no religion in the heart take the more pains to show it in the externals.
This is one of the many phases of the deceitful workings of the human heart. By making a bustle about external forms and ceremonies, a man persuades himself, either that he has something of reality about him after all, or that God will, at any rate, accept the very ardour of his manner as counting for so much. But all the while the heart will not give up itself. This is specially exemplified among those who attach excessive importance to forms, ceremonies, gestures, intonations of voice, and the like; also among those who rest on the regularity of observances, the mere number of services gone through, and the amount of penance self-inflicted. Micah gave himself a great deal of trouble with the externals, but we do not find any evidence to prove that he had any real love to God, and delight in communion with Him in the heart. Pretence of religion is seen in such cases as Hos_7:14; Mal_3:14; Mat_6:5; Mat_6:7; Mat_6:16; 1Ki_18:26, &c. Opposite examples: Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet. The beloved disciple listening with breathless attention to the gracious words that came from the Saviour’s lips. The publican smiting his breast, &c. The long-afflicted invalid saying—“If I but touch Him I shall be whole.” “Lord lift on me the light of Thy countenance.” In these cases we see the heart at work in giving itself to God.
IX. Some people are proud of having the name of being religious. Jdg_17:5.
Micah wished not only to be as good as his neighbours, but he wished to have a name for religion, and so he turns his dwelling into a sanctuary. “The man Micah has a house of God.” This is how he was spoken of in the world. He seemed to wish to have his house full of religion. The meaning, however, is not a house with many gods in it. The word Elohim seems to denote God simply. But his house contained a regular establishment of the worship of God. There was the image, as a representation of the object of worship; the ephod, or sacred dress, without which no acceptable service could be done before God; the teraphim, to be consulted as oracles; and the priest, or recognised official for conducting religious services. Was not Micah a good Pharisee? Ought not his name to go out as one zealous towards God, and abounding in religious services?
Many still regard a religious name as giving respectability, and hence they do much to gain it. They also regard it as a source of influence and so covet it.
X. The great sin of using a high religious profession as a means of getting gain.
This appears to have been the chief aim of Micah in building up his idolatrous establishment. He thought to make his house a resort for religious worshippers, or a shrine where offerings would be presented, and fees would be charged for inquiry at the oracle. It is not likely, that so avaracious a man would put out so much money on the sacred materials, without expecting to receive as much again with profit superadded. And this explains the agonising wail which he raised, when his establishment was broken up by the unceremonious Danites, “Ye have taken away my gods, and what have I more?” It is a fearful provocation to a holy God, when His great name and hallowed worship are prostrated to serve the ends of covetousness.
What shall we say of gifts presented at shrines, of the sale of indulgences, of the sale too of church livings, of the presenting of unholy men to church benefices, merely for the sake of a living, and such-like practices? Or what can we think of those who take the name of Christian professor, and connect themselves with a certain church in order thereby to increase their incomes, or advance their position in society, with many varieties of the same principle? It all savours much of the Micah spirit, and must end in some fit manifestation of the Divine frown.
XI. Idolatry is a most God-dishonouring sin.
(1.) It is an inconceivable degradation to the Divine nature, to suppose it to be represented by dumb wood, or stone, graven by art and man’s device, the work of the hands of the worshippers themselves!
(2.) Though it begins with the professed intention of worshipping the true God through the image, yet the constant presence of the image in the act of worship, and its continual association with the giving of Divine honours, insensibly leads after a time to the worship of the image itself. Thus another object becomes honoured and not God, and the substitute is merely a piece of wood, or a stone!
(3.) The spirituality of the Divine nature is lost sight of.
(4.) God Himself is lost sight of, and creations of man’s wicked nature take His place, leading to all manner of sinful deeds.
XII. The heart’s power of self-deception in matters of religion.
He supposed that now God would do him good, seeing he had a Levite to be his priest. What miserable logic does an unrenewed man show, when trying to make out a favourable case for himself as regards his personal religion. He was not right even in the one point, which he thought to be so good that it would serve for all the rest. It was not the right thing for a Levite to discharge priestly duties. Such honour belonged to Aaron and his sons alone. And then Micah was wrong everywhere else. It was not right to have the sanctuary of God in his own private dwelling. It was not right to have an image representing God. It was not right for any one to wear the ephod except at Shiloh in association with the ark. It was not right for him to presume to carve out his religion for himself. In truth, he was wrong all over, and yet he thought he was wonderfully near the mark.
What a small vestige of evidence will suffice, for an ungodly man to think himself “almost a Christian.” A short formal prayer offered up once a day; a chapter of the Book of God read once a week; one attendance at Divine Service on the Lord’s Day; a small coin given for religions purposes; those, together with a fair reputation for good morality, are held to be a sufficient proof that his name ought to go on the Christian list, though all the time he is a stranger to the power of religion, and has had no experience of having had his heart warmed with the constraining influence of the love of Christ.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain On v1 Division 3. (Jdg 17:1-13; Jdg 18:1-31; Jdg 19:1-30; Jdg…
Division 3. (Jdg 17:1-13; Jdg 18:1-31; Jdg 19:1-30; Jdg 20:1-48; Jdg 21:1-25.)
The corruption at heart manifest.
Read full note →
We have now reached the last division of the book, in which we have the revelation of the internal condition of the people, Godward and manward, -the clear illumination of the whole history. For this, therefore, we go back before the history; for of this it is not the consequence, but the cause, and an abiding cause: for the Danite idolatry lasts, as we are told, quite through the whole period of the book. Not that this, by itself, is anything more than a sample of the state in general, having just its significance in this -that it is but a sample.
Another thing is manifested in connection with this -the need of a king. Men are, indeed, very far from doing even what is right in their own eyes; but to do this also is not enough. Give man a law, he cannot be trusted as to the interpretation of the law. It needs that there should be one apart from the influence of private ends and motives, to interpret for him, as well as with power adequate to the enforcement of the interpretation. This shows us how the book of Judges prepares the way for those of Kings; although in these, also, it is soon evident that among all that follow, the best are but the shadows of the true King, for whom all creation waits. Thus history becomes prophecy, and Messianic: for the longing born of the Spirit must have its accomplishment, and the "Desire of all nations" come. The Old Testament is but an unfinished and broken utterance apart from the New, -a witness to its own utter barrenness.
Yet though Christ has come, we are still typically in the days of Judges merely, as we have seen, and the want of a king is not less manifest now than then. Even Christianity has no perfection apart from the personal presence of Him whom it has made necessary to us. If the light has brightened -how much! -since those Old Testament days, the shadows, too, have darkened. We, too, that have the first fruits of the Spirit groan within ourselves, waiting for the manifestation of the power to be put forth when He who is to come shall come, and change our bodies into the likeness of His glorious body, and take the whole world into His almighty new-creative hands. "Amen! Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"
Subdivision 1. (Jdg 17:1-13; Jdg 18:1-31.)
Godward: will-worship in the typical "judge" (Dan).
The witness to man’s condition here is, as commonly, a double one; and as the second table of the law is based upon the first, it is with the first that we must begin. The idolatry in Dan precedes in moral order, probably historically also, the Benjamite war, though the latter was early, for Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, was then high priest. On the other hand, the seizure of Laish or Leshem by the Danites is given in the book of Joshua (19: 47). It is quite plain, therefore, that we have thus a new beginning, all the more significant as looked back to from the end, as God will one day require again the things that are past.
(1) The idolatry in Dan is not original with them, but the transplanting of a sin begun in the house of a man no way prominent, as it would seem, in Israel. Leprosy will spread, in whatever member of a body it begins; and none may think himself too little or mean to become a propagator of disease that may infect a nation. There is, moreover, in sin a power of real and rapid evolution, a transmutability of species such as that it is certain that from one covetous act in Eden all the myriad forms of wickedness with which the world is filled today have been derived. Traced to its origin, as the Spirit of God would trace it for our profit, we have first a man’s theft from his mother of eleven hundred silver pieces, which, terrified by her curses, but without any repentance toward God, he restores. Apparently on the impulse of the moment, soon regretted, she dedicates it to Jehovah for a purpose absolutely forbidden by Him, to which finally she applies less than a fifth part. It is the old sin of the wilderness that she repeats, a founder making of it a graven image and a molten image, and she solemnly passes them over from her hand for her son to Jehovah, making no doubt of the acceptability of this to Him.
Thus she is doing what is right in her own eyes, evidently; though of any movement of her heart to God there is not a trace. To make his own god and have it is the natural desire everywhere of the human heart away from Him. We need not use as much silver as did the woman here to make one. We may be less ignorant or more indifferent, possibly both; but will-worship is everywhere essentially of the same pattern. This is why the case before us is so instructive to us.
Morality and religion are sundered by superstition. The brigand has his crucifix and his rosary, and is still a brigand. "Nowhere is the Virgin more fervently adored than in the prisons [of Italy] by the malefactors and camorristi. The first demand made of a new-comer, immediately on his entry into the cells, is for a penny to furnish oil for the Virgin’s lamp." This was the style of devotion of the mother of Micah, and the stream will rise no higher than its source. The man adopts his mother’s religion, and the change is indicated in the clipping of his name, which, from Micajehu ("who is like Jehovah?") becomes Micah simply, meaning, probably, "who is dull of sight?"
Dull of sight he is, assuredly, keenly looking after his own interest all the while, for what more profitable than a god of your own manufacture and in your own possession? And all this takes place not in some remote corner of even the little Israelitish land, but in Mount Ephraim, quite near to Shiloh, where was the ark of God. Just so the golden calf was made under the shadow of Mount Sinai: for distance from God cannot be measured by latitude and longitude; heathenism is not the sigh of a heart that says, "Oh, that I knew where I might find Him!" No; it was "when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened," -which is just the transformation of a Micajehu into Micah.
Mount Ephraim is the place where Micah dwells, as it is the home of the Levite also in the story that follows this. It is in the practical life that diseases of this kind break out. We have seen the pride of Ephraim already developing itself in relation to Gideon and to Jephthah. Afterwards the rival kingdoms are a more enduring memorial of it, and Jeroboam’s calf-worship is established close upon its border. Even true fruitfulness has its danger in this direction, and pride and idolatry are never far apart. We do not know the forms of Micah’s idols: no doubt this is left vague, as unimportant: what matter what supplants God in the heart? -the evil is only that He is supplanted.
(2) Yet there is development: the thing is a living germ that grows. Micah with his gods must have his house of gods. Then he must have his ephod and his priest, and his gods themselves must be supplemented with the teraphim. All this was still "right" in Micah’s eyes. When we are thus committed to the guidance of our own minds, quite a system may be easily elaborated; the further we advance, the more completely do we get astray. How careful need we to be as to beginnings!
The matter of priesthood troubles him. He first consecrates one of his sons to be his priest, but he is uneasy about it: some reminiscence of the law will not allow him peace. Strange that we find nothing to indicate any alarm of conscience about his rival tabernacle, or even about his carved and molten gods! And we often find this strange anomaly among men. Conscience may be alive and sensitive upon certain points, when upon others it seems dead or paralyzed. And it is often the minor thing to which it is sensitive, while to the greater it yields no response. Nor is this limited to unbelievers either, but the same thing is found among those that are truly the Lord’s. In this case, however, as with Micah, it is generally the case that the awakened soul is easily quieted again, and with some half-truth which is but the perversion of truth. A Levite becomes his priest: and now he is radiant with satisfaction, and knows assuredly that Jehovah will do him good!
The Levite himself is another sign of the times. He is of the Levites of Judah, has been for a while in Bethlehem-judah, and wandered away again to find where he may another temporary resting-place. His is the restless foot of a stranger where he might have claimed inheritance, and he is ready to find a home where he should have been a stranger. Little solicitation prevails with him: his sustenance, a suit of clothes, a salary, has prevailed with many in all ages of the world, and the Levite exchanges his ministry for priesthood in the house of Micah, where the idolatry of the place is sanctified with Jehovah’s name. All this is simple enough to read by those that care, and Christendom has exhibited every detail of this transformation, -not, alas, as it would seem, a long process: a manufactured priesthood for manufactured gods, all covered with a fair name of orthodoxy, and men doing with great satisfaction what is right in their own eyes!
(2.) And the evil does not stop with this. We are now to see how the private sin becomes a public sin, and roots itself in a tribe of Israel. The tribe of Dan we have seen long since as linked in Jacob’s prophecy with apostasy. Dan is the typical judge, and it is here the failure begins, and is so disastrous. With Samson’s failure the book ends; but here we see the Danite, from the first and all through, a failure. No tribe so signally fails to lay hold on its inheritance; and this is the only way in which we can understand that their lot had not fallen to them. They had suffered the Philistines to regain the cities upon the sea-coast, and the Amorites had forced them into the mountains. This loss of what is our own, and should be made our own, is often the reason of much restless activity among the people of God, and of much that looks like success in other directions. Their history, as far as their original possession is concerned, clings around Zorah and Eshtaol, significant names when cut off from the rest that God had allotted them. They are here seen forced by their own slothfulness or timidity to seek an inheritance elsewhere; and were then as violent and rapacious as before they were indolent. Human nature in fallen man commonly shows itself in extremes of this kind.
From Zorah and Eshtaol they send out spies to search the land. Refusing God’s choice for us we have, of course, to search out for ourselves. This becomes a snare to them by means of Micah’s images: the path that is not with God is always exposed to Satan’s ambushes.
Micah finds his judgment also through the Levite who was to be the means of blessing to him from Jehovah. The wandering Levite had been known to these wandering Danites, and they learn from him all about his present employment. He is not ashamed to speak of his hired priesthood, and they are quite ready to consult his oracle. They get the usual ambiguous response, which they interpret according to their own desires: but the end of this is not yet.
So the five men come to Laish, and here find the opportunity they seek. The Canaanites are living quiet and secure, in lawless self-indulgence, which shows them ripe for the judgment of God. They are evidently an easy prey; and they return with the good news to their expectant brethren. God’s good news they would have it; for we see with keen eyes the sins of others, and pronounce God’s judgments readily enough. Self-interest and self-flattery are potent in begetting a kind of religion; and the spies talk piously and fervently to their brethren. Soon there is a little army assembled at Kirjath-jearim, the forest city, which gives its suited character to the "Camp of Dan."
(2) The six hundred follow the road taken by the spies, and come to the house of Micah; and here the union of superstition with immorality once more manifests itself in a startling way. The spies recall their visit to the Levite, and the opportunity of securing the images for themselves seems to them all too favorable to let pass. Gods so helpless and so beneficent, whose virtue they perhaps supposed they had already proved, -for in idolatry it is vain to deny an efficacy attributed to the image, and thus the superiority of this to that Madonna, although as representations they are all the same. But blindness here is absolute: "they that make them are like unto them," says the inspired Word; "so is every one that trusteth in them."
The hireling priest shows himself but a hireling. A greater personal advantage to himself outweighs at once all obligations to his employer, and he is "glad" of the robbery by which he is to benefit. For the Danites, as with other sacerdotalists today, it is not necessary to respect the man who by reason of his office is supposed to have the ear of God. Once again, morality is divorced from religion, and He is not glorified but dishonored in those that draw near to Him.
Little comment, surely, is needed here. The gainers have lost; the loser, if he knows it, has gained. The Danites depart with their booty in peace.
(3) The third part shows us, briefly, the end of this sad story. The surprise of Laish is complete; and the Canaanites, doomed of God before, are cut off. Laish becomes Dan. But there the idolatrous system begun by Micah is established, and abides till the captivity of the land; that is, as we are informed, as long as the house of God continued at Shiloh. When the ark went into captivity among the Philistines, the sanctuary at Shiloh came to an end (Psa 78:60-61); and with the reformation under Samuel, the idolatry under Dan was no doubt swept away.
But now we have revealed one of the saddest proofs of the decline in Israel that had already taken place. The name of the Levite priest is Jonathan ("Jehovah hath given,") the son of Gershom, the son of Moses: scarcely the grandson, but certainly a descendant not far removed, of the great lawgiver. Of this and not Manasseh, as the true reading, there is no doubt. Only respect for so honored a name that of Moses induced the alteration, -the "n" alone needed for it being suspended also over, rather than written in the word. "The significance of the statement," as Cassel observes, lies in the contrast between descendant and ancestor." So early and grave was the degeneracy of the people.
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 The Migrations of the Danites, and the Feud between…
The Migrations of the Danites, and the Feud between Benjamin and the other tribes (Judges 17-21)
This concluding section is really an appendix. Instead of describing a further deliverance, it recounts two tribal stories m which the rough manners and primitive religious ideas of the time are shown with most valuable and vivid detail. Redundancies and discrepancies in the narratives (see on Jdg_17:3; Jdg_18:17) as well as differences in the language, suggest that more than one account has been used in each of the stories. This is no sign, however, that they are not historical; and they must probably be placed earlier rather than later in the general framework of the period.
Read full note →
The Story of Micah
This story, which is continued in the following c, is undoubtedly a very old one. In striking contrast to many other narrative portions of the Old Testament, there is in the body of this narrative no condemnation of the image-worship to which the Danites attached such importance, nor of their mode of securing it. We can but wonder the more at the heights, which the religion of Israel was to climb from such beginnings as this. Cp. Jos_19:47.
1-6. Micab's idols.
1 Ephraim] see on Jdg_3:27.
2. Eleven hundred] see on Jdg_16:5. Taken] as appears from the following clause, stolen. The mother's curse (though she is ignorant of the thief) will not allow Micah to rest till the money is restored.
3, 4. As the text stands, Micah restored the money twice over. This can hardly be correct. 'Yet' (Jdg_17:4) should be 'and,' as in RV. Observe that the images are to be made in honour of Jehovah.
3. Graven image] specifically, an idol carved out of wood or stone, or, generally, any kind of idol. 'Molten image' was added, not (as it would seem) to denote a second idol ('they' in Jdg_17:4 should be 'it'; see also Jdg_18:30-31), but to show that the idol was covered over with the silver.
5. House of gods] i.e. a private shrine, la Heb. the word for 'god' may be read; either as singular or plural. Ephod] see on Jdg_8:27. The ephod is often connected with oracular responses (cp. Isa_23:6-9 also Exodus 28 Leviticus 8); the priest in charge of it can make inquiry of Jehovah. Teraphim] cp. Hos_3:4 : also Gen_31:19; 1Sa_15:23; 1Sa_19:13. The word is plural in form, and seems to denote household idols of some kind; cp Jdg_18:24. Consecrated] Took into his employment for the performance of religious duties: cp. Jdg_17:10, Jdg_18:4; 1Sa_7:1.
6. Cp. Jdg_18:1; Jdg_19:1; Jdg_21:25.
7-13. The engagement of the Levite. Levite] The word denotes not his tribe but his calling. Sojourned] The regular term used in connexion with a 'resident alien' who intends at some time to return to his home.
10. Father] cp. 2Ki_2:12; 2Ki_6:21 : also Gen_45:8 a title of respect, which might be quite consistent with the priest's being supported as a son (Jdg_17:11).
13. The professional knowledge of the Levite, in matters of ritual, gives him (and his employer) an advantage over others who might be selected as priests.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv1, 13 The character and work of Samson are alike enigmatical.…
judged
The character and work of Samson are alike enigmatical. Announced by an angel Jdg 13:1-21. He was a Nazarite; Num 6:1-27; Jdg 13:5 who constantly defiled his Nazarite separation through fleshly appetites. Called of God to judge Israel, and endued wonderfully with the Spirit, he wrought no abiding work for Israel, and perished in captivity to his enemies the Philistines. What was real in the man was his mighty faith in Jehovah in a time of doubt and apostasy, and this faith God honoured Heb 11:32.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 1. Micah’s and Dan’s Idolatry and Its Punishment
III. THE APPENDIX: ISRAEL’S INTERNAL CORRUPTION
1. Micah’s and Dan’s Idolatry and Its Punishment
Read full note →
CHAPTER 17 The Images Made and the Hired Priest
1. The stolen money restored and the images (Jdg 17:1-6)
2. The Levite hired for a priest (Jdg 17:7-13)
The last five chapters of the book form an appendix. The events given did not occur after Samson’s death, but they happened many years before. These chapters are not in chronological order but arranged in this way to teach the root of the evil and its results. This answers much, if not all, of the objections of the critics. These chapters reveal the internal corruption which existed in Israel during the different declensions. Idolatry and lawlessness are the two characteristic features. True worship and dependence on God is given up and then follows the dreadful fruit of this, which is hatred, strife culminating in lawlessness. The predictions in the New Testament reveal the same two phases. Departure from the faith is followed by moral corruption (1Ti 4:1; 2Ti 3:1-4). Then we find in these chapters a statement which does not appear elsewhere in the book. “There was no king in Israel” is the statement made four times (17:6; 18:1, 19:1; 21:25). A king was needed to remedy these sad internal conditions, this departure from God and strife of one against the other. This is an evident link with and preparation for the history which follows. Even so in this age of evil, darkness and cunning lawlessness; what the world needs is a king, the King of Righteousness and Peace. When He comes, order will be brought out of chaos, all strife and war, all bloodshed and lawlessness will cease.
Into what a scene this chapter introduces us! The thieving son, the cursing mother. He, for the fear of the curse (true faith was not there, but superstition), restores the money and that ungodly woman can say, “Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son.” Then she used two hundred shekels of silver and has two images made. Micah, whose wicked life belies his name (Micah means “who is like Jehovah”), had a house full of gods, made an ephod, teraphim and then “ordained” one of his sons for a priest. Then a wandering Levite passed by and to make his idolatrous worship a little more “religious” he hires the Levite to be a “father” and “a priest.” He also promises him a yearly salary, his board and clothing. Then he settled down and said, “Now know I that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.”
There is no need of much comment. The typical application is seen at a glance. Here is a man-made god, a man-made worship and a man-made priest. Such is the state of ritualistic Christendom. Much of that which is called worship is simply man-made and dishonors God as much, or even more, than the idolatry of heathendom. And how the false priesthood is here typified! We have but one Priest as the people of God and that is our gracious Lord. Through His infinite grace all true believers are constituted priests with Him. We are a holy and a royal priesthood. Any other priesthood is man-made and a wicked assumption which has corrupted and is corrupting Christianity. The hirelings too are represented in this scene. Religious service is so much reduced to a commercial basis. And there is the delusion of thinking that the Lord must surely bless and give prosperity.
The Levite himself is another sign of the times. He is of the Levites of Judah, has been for a while in Bethlehem-judah and wandered away again to find, where he may, another temporary resting place. His is the restless foot of a stranger where he might have claimed inheritance, and he is ready to find a home where he should have been a stranger. Little solicitation prevails with him: his sustenance, a suit of clothes, a salary, has prevailed with many in all ages of the world, and the Levite exchanges his ministry for priesthood in the house of Micah, where the idolatry of the place is sanctified with Jehovah’s name. All this is simple enough to read by those that care, and Christendom has exhibited every detail of this transformation--not, alas, as it would seem, a long process: a manufactured priesthood for manufactured gods, all covered with a fair name of orthodoxy, and men doing with great satisfaction what is right in their own eyes!
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 7 The Making of the Image
The Making of the Image
v. 1. And there was a man of Mount Ephraim whose name was Micah. The fine meaning of this man’s name, "who is like Jehovah," does not change the fact that the evils of the period were growing, that the decay of the priesthood had set in, that there was a general prevalence of discord and immorality, not to speak of idolatry, in Israel.
Read full note →
v. 2. And he said unto his mother, evidently a widow to whom her husband had left a considerable sum of money, The eleven hundred shekels of silver (about $700) 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. So the awful curse spoken upon the unknown thief by his mother caused Micah to return the money to her, since he feared the effect of the curses in his case. "As one shakes off rain, so he would free himself of this curse-laden money. " And his mother said, in an effort to save her son from the effects of her terrible malediction, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my son! She praised him for his confession, although her own religion does not seem to have been any too pure any more.
v. 3. And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, 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; now, therefore, I will restore it unto thee. The money which her son handed back to her, after having taken it secretly, she immediately consecrated to the Lord for the purpose of equipping the sanctuary which Micah had planned.
v. 4. Yet he restored the money unto his mother, still from fear of the curse which she had uttered; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver (about $128), her ardor for Jehovah having evidently cooled since she actually had the money in her hands once more, and gave them to the founder, to the silversmith, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image, image and cast-work, the pedestal probably being cast, and the picture, apparently an ox or calf, being carved or chiseled; and they were in the house of Micah, they were added to the equipment of his private sanctuary.
v. 5. And the man Micah had an house of gods, a place where he worshiped,and made an ephod, a garment like that worn by the high priest, with the Urim and Thummim, Exodus 39, and teraphim, small household gods, oracle gods, and consecrated one of his sons, filled his hand, made him his priest, Lev 7:37, who became his priest. It was a peculiar situation which obtained in the house of Micah: he and his mother had not openly broken with the worship of Jehovah,-they rather prided themselves upon their being members of His people—but their hearts were not wholly with the true God, as the maintaining of this private sanctuary shows. The situation has its parallel in our days, when thousands of men claim for themselves the Christian name and protest their belief in the true God, while still setting up their own private gods, whom they then designate with some high-sounding name to dupe themselves and to deceive others.
v. 6. In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. This note is added by the author in order to give one reason for such conditions as here described, namely, the absence of a central civil authority. The sin of Micah is committed throughout the length and breadth of the so-called civilized countries, both by gross and by fine idolatry.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 12 There was a man
There was a man
This is a way to introduce a new person to the story line. (See: Introduction of New and Old Participants)
Read full note →
Micah
This is the name of a man. It is not the same man who wrote the book of Micah. (See: How to Translate Names)
1,100 pieces
"one thousand one hundred pieces" (See: Numbers)
that were taken from you
This can be stated in active form. AT: "which someone stole from you" (See: Active or Passive)
I stole it
"I was the one who took it"
translationWords
Ephraim
silver
curse
Yahweh
bless
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.