3He 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.”
4When 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.
3 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.”
4 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.
KJVKing James Version
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.
4 Yet he restored the money 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.
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JPSJPS Tanakh (1917)
3 And he restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said: 'I verily dedicate 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.'
4 And when he restored the money unto his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image; and it was in the house of Micah.
Exodus 20:4(v3)“You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or…
Leviticus 19:4(v3)“ ‘Don’t turn to idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I am Yahweh your God.
Exodus 20:23(v3)You shall most certainly not make gods of silver or gods of gold for yourselves to be alongside me.
Isaiah 46:6-7(v4)Some pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver in the balance. They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god. They fall down— yes, they…
Exodus 34:17(v3)“You shall make no cast idols for yourselves.
Show all 17 cross-references
Deuteronomy 12:3(v3)You shall break down their altars, dash their pillars in pieces, and burn their Asherah poles with fire. You shall cut down the engraved…
Judges 17:13(v3)Then Micah said, “Now I know that Yahweh will do good to me, since I have a Levite as my priest.”
Judges 18:5(v3)They said to him, “Please ask counsel of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.”
Psalms 115:4-8(v3)Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they don’t speak. They have eyes, but they don’t see. They…
Isaiah 40:18-25(v3)To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him? A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with…
Isaiah 44:9-20(v3)Everyone who makes a carved image is vain. The things that they delight in will not profit. Their own witnesses don’t see, nor know, that…
Isaiah 66:3(v3)He who kills an ox is as he who kills a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, as he who breaks a dog’s neck; he who offers an offering, as he who…
Jeremiah 10:3-5(v3)For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the ax. They…
Jeremiah 10:8(v3)But they are together brutish and foolish, instructed by idols! It is just wood.
Jeremiah 10:9-10(v4)There is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the engraver and of the hands of the…
Habakkuk 2:18-19(v3)“What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions…
John 16:2(v3)They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time comes that whoever kills you will think that he offers service to God.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (15 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn v3Contrary to the commandment of God and true religion…
Contrary to the commandment of God and true religion practiced under Joshua, they forsook the Lord and fell to idolatry.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv3–4Jdg 17:3 And when he had restored the eleven…
Jdg 17:3 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.
Ver. 3. And when he had restored.] Restore your ill-gotten goods, saith father Latimer, or else you will cough in hell, and the devil will laugh at you.
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I had wholly dedicated the silver.] Many women are very superstitious. In the Papacy, sundry crosses graven in the pavements of their churches, have indulgences annexed for every time they are kissed: which is so often done, by the women especially, that hard marble is worn with it. {a}
To make a graven image.] To despite the Lord with seeming honours. A good intention here excused not. Men that would be approved in Christ, as Apelles was, {Rom 16:10} must "come to the light" of God’s word, "that it may be made manifest that their deeds are wrought in God." {Joh 3:21}
{a} Spec. Europ.
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 Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv3–4The Lord; in the Hebrew it is Jehovah, the…
The Lord; in the Hebrew it is Jehovah, the incommunicable name of God; whereby it is apparent that neither she nor her son intended to forsake the true God or his worship; as appears from his rejoicing when he had got a priest of the Lord’s appointment, of the tribe of Levi, Jdg 17:13; but only to worship God by an image; which also it is apparent that both the Israelites, Exo 32:1, &c., and Jeroboam afterwards, designed to do.
For my son; either, first, For the honour and benefit of thyself and family; that you need not be continually going to Shiloh to worship, but may do it as well at home by these images. Or, secondly, That thou mayst cause these things to be made; to which end she restored all the money to him, as it here follows.
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A graven image and a molten image; many think this was but one image, partly graven, and partly molten. But it seems more probable that they were two distinct images, because they are so plainly distinguished, Jdg 18:17,18, where also some other words come between them. It is true, the graven image alone is mentioned, Jdg 18:20,30,31, not exclusively to the other, as appears from what is said just before; but by a common synecdoche, whereby one is put for all, especially where that one is esteemed the chief.
I will restore it unto thee to dispose of, as I say.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv3–4And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels…
And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother,.... The whole sum, having embezzled none of it:
his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord from my hand, for my son to make a graven image and a molten image; this she had done either before it was stolen, and it troubled her the more, and caused her the rather to curse the man that had taken it; or after it was stolen, that if it should be recovered again she would appropriate it to such an use; so Abarbinel; and by the Lord, or Jehovah, she doubtless meant the true God; for she had no intention to forsake him, but to worship him in and by these images, and which she designed for the use of her son and his family, that they might not go so far as Shiloh to worship at the tabernacle there:
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therefore I will restore it unto thee; for that use, and so gave him the money again, to be laid out in images, or to make images of it.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv3–4The Lord - In the Hebrew it is, Jehovah,…
The Lord - In the Hebrew it is, Jehovah, the incommunicable name of God. Whereby it is apparent, that neither she, nor her son, intended to forsake the true God; as appears from his rejoicing when he had got a priest of the Lord's appointment, but only to worship God by an image; which also both the Israelites, Exod. xxxii, 1, &c. and Jeroboam afterwards, designed to do. For my son - For the benefit of thyself and family; that you need not be continually going to Shiloh to worship, but may do it at home. To thee - To dispose of, as I say.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv3–4Verse 3. I had wholly dedicated] From this it…
Verse 3. I had wholly dedicated] From this it appears that Micah's mother, though she made a superstitious use of the money, had no idolatrous design, for she expressly says she had dedicated it ליהוה layhovah, to Jehovah; and this appears to have been the reason why she poured imprecations on him who had taken it.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv3–4Jdg 17:3. I had wholly dedicated the silver unto…
Jdg 17:3. I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord — The meaning seems to be, that when she had lost the money, she vowed, that if she recovered it, she would dedicate it to the Lord, and her superstitious ignorance made her conceive that she could do this in no better way than in laying it out in images of some kind to be made use of in his worship. In the Hebrew here, the word for Lord is Jehovah, the incommunicable name of the true God, whereby it is apparent that neither she nor her son intended to forsake the true God, but only to worship him by an image, which also the Israelites designed to do when they made the calf in the wilderness, (Exo 32:1,) and Jeroboam afterward. Hence this Micah rejoiced when he had got a priest of the Lord’s appointment. Their error lay in worshipping God according to their own fancies, and not as he had commanded. But this chapter and the following show that the Israelites were at this time fallen into a most deplorable and shameful ignorance of God and his law. For my son — For the benefit of thyself and family; that you need not be continually going to Shiloh to worship, but may do it at home. Therefore I will restore it unto thee — To dispose of it, as I say, in making an image.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv3–4Such a superstitious and unlawful mode of worshipping Yahweh…
Such a superstitious and unlawful mode of worshipping Yahweh is quite of a piece with Jdg 8:27; Jdg 11:31; 1Ki 12:28, etc. It argues but slight acquaintance with the Ten Commandments, which, from the ignorance of reading and writing, were probably not familiar to the Israelites in those unsettled times. The mother intimates that the consecration of the silver was for the benefit of her son and his house, not for her own selfish advantage: and that she adheres to her original design of consecrating this silver for her son’s benefit.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn v3God. Hebrew pesel umaseca. The word thing, would perhaps…
God. Hebrew pesel umaseca. The word thing, would perhaps be as well substituted, as (Haydock) all are not convinced that the woman was guilty of idolatry. (Cajetan) --- The same figure might be both graven and molten. The image was first carved, and then covered with plates of gold, &c., in the more ancient times. (Calmet) --- There might be two figures made by Michas. (Salien) --- The Theraphim denote "images which foretel what is to happen." (Rabbins; Tirinus) --- But this is not always the case. (Haydock)
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn v3a 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. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv3–43. I had wholly dedicated — Rather, I have…
3. I had wholly dedicated — Rather, I have wholly dedicated. Her purpose to sanctify the silver unto the Lord seems to have originated with the pleasure with which she received it from the hand of her son.
Graven image and a molten image — The former was carved out of either metal or wood, the latter cast or poured; but the difference of form or make between the two is hard to determine. Keil conjectures that the graven image was an image of a bull, like the golden calf at Sinai. But these images were not meant for idols to be worshipped, though they naturally led to idolatry. They seem to have been looked upon as household or tutelary gods, not to be worshipped as gods, yet to be reverenced as talismans. This act of Micah and his mother was, however, a coming nearer to idolatry than the act of Gideon in setting up his famous ephod in Ophrah, and yet this home idolatry of Micah may have been a consequence of Gideon’s wrong example. Compare note on Jdg_8:27.
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Now therefore I will restore — Rather, and now I restore it to thee, that is, for the purpose of making images to place in Micah’s house of gods. Jdg_17:5.
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 Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv3–43. from my hand for my son] LXX. cod.…
3. from my hand for my son] LXX. cod. A and Luc. reads from my hand alone, with a slight change in the Hebr.; i.e. the mother alone, the rightful owner, could carry out the vow; so Moore, Lagrange. But the emphasis on alone is not particularly required, and the text may be retained. Following the rearrangement above, the mother, not suspecting who the culprit is, consecrates her money for the benefit of her son.
a graven image and a molten image] According to etymology the one (pesel) was carved out of stone or wood, the other (massçkah) cast in metal; elsewhere both are named together to denote idols of any kind (Deu_27:15, Isa_42:17); and in usage the etymological distinction was not always observed, a pesel, for example, could be cast in gold and silver (Isa_40:19; Isa_44:10). In the present narrative the two words are combined, as though two images were meant; but Jdg_17:4 end and Jdg_18:20 refer to only one pesel in Micah’s house, the one which was afterwards set up at Dan, Jdg_18:30-31. Probably, therefore, we must take and a molten image as an explanatory addition inserted here and in Jdg_17:4, Jdg_18:14; Jdg_18:17-18 by a scribe who thought that the silver and the founder in Jdg_17:4 necessarily implied a massçkah.
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The pesel here must have been an image of Jehovah, for it was made of silver which had been consecrated to Him; and the writer, so far from expressing an objection to the thing, records the making of it as a pious act. Throughout the early period images were used in the worship of Jehovah. Golden bull-calves symbolized Jehovah at Dan and Beth-el, 1Ki_12:28, cf. Exo_32:4; the prohibition of molten gods (massçkah) in the ancient code Exo_34:17 J may be aimed at these. It was not till the viiith century that the prophets began to oppose the use of images (Hos_10:5; Hos_10:8; Hos_13:2, Amo_8:14); and in agreement with the prophets, the Decalogue forbids an image (pesel) of any kind, Exo_20:4 E = Deu_5:8. But while images of Jehovah existed in the various local shrines, we hear of none at Shiloh (Jdg_18:31) and Jerusalem, where the ark was kept; these sanctuaries had a different character, and probably maintained a higher type of worship.
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 Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv3–4(3) I had wholly dedicated the silver.—Literally, Consecrating, I…
(3) I had wholly dedicated the silver.—Literally, Consecrating, I consecrated—either, “I have now consecrated it” as a thanksgiving for its restoration, or “I had done so before it was stolen.”
For my son—i.e., for your benefit.
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To make a graven image and a molten image.—Whether in the universal decadence of religion, the people, untaught by a careless priesthood, had become ignorant of the second commandment, or whether she justified her conduct by the same considerations which have been used even in the Christian Church in favour of image-worship, we cannot tell. The word used for a graven image is pesel, and for a molten image is massecah. They are the very words used in the curse against idolaters in Deu_27:15. Some suppose the two words to be used by Hendiadys (like “cups and gold” for “golden cups” ) to describe one silver image adorned with sculptured ornament. All that is clear is that the pesel is the more prominent, but the details are left quite vague. It is therefore impossible to determine whether the graven and molten image consisted of one or of two silver “calves,” like that of the wilderness, and those afterwards set up by Jeroboam at Dan and Bethel. This, however, was a form which the violation of the second commandment was constantly liable to take, and it probably involved much less blame than other violations of it—not, as is often stated, because the Israelites had become familiar with the worship of Apis and Mnevis in Egypt, but because the calf was a recognised cherubic emblem, and had consequently been deliberately sanctioned in the symbolism of the Temple. (See Exo_20:4; Exo_20:23; Exo_32:4-5; 1Ki_7:25, &c.) Some suppose that the massecah was the pedestal of the pesel, and that it was too heavy for the Danites to carry away, since it is not mentioned among the things which they seized.
Now therefore I will restore it unto thee.—Rather, for thee—in which case “I will restore it” may possibly mean “use it for its original purpose for thy advantage.” If not, a slight correction would give us the much simpler reading of the Syriac, “restore it to me.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv3–4I had wholly dedicated. It is not clear whether…
I had wholly dedicated. It is not clear whether the words are to be rendered as in the A.V, had dedicated, expressing the dedication of them before they were stolen, or whether they merely express her present purpose so to dedicate them. But the A.V makes very good sense. Her former purpose had been that the money should be given for her son"s benefit to make his house a house of gods. Now that he had confessed, she resumed her purpose. Now therefore I restore it unto thee that is, in the shape of the graven and molten images, as it follows in the next verse. The narrative gives a curious example of the semi-idolatry of the times. A graven image and a molten image. There is a good deal of difficulty in assigning the exact meaning of the two words here used, and their relation to one another in the worship to which they belong. The molten image (massechah), however, seems to be pretty certainly the metal, here the silver, image of a calf, the form which the corrupt worship of Jehovah took from the time when Aaron made the molten calf Exo_32:4, called there egel massechah, a molten calf) to the time when Jeroboam set up the golden calves at Dan and Bethel. (1Ki_12:28, 1Ki_12:29) And that massechah means something molten is certain both from its etymology (nasach, to pour) and from what Aaron said in Exo_32:24: "I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf." Here too Micah"s mother gives the silver to the founder, i.e. to the fuser of metals. The pesel, or graven image, on the other hand, is something hewn or graven, whether in wood or stone, and sometimes overlaid with gold and silver. (Deu_7:25) One might have thought, from the language of ver. 4, and from the mention of the pesel alone in Jud_1:18:30, 31, that only one image is here intended, which was graven with the chisel after it was cast, as Aaron"s calf seems to have been. But in Jud_1:18:17, 18 they are mentioned separately, with the ephod and teraphim named between them, so that they must be distinct. From the above passages the pesel or graven image would seem to have been the most important object, and the difficulty is to assign the true relation of the massechah or molten image to it. Hengstenberg thinks the massechah was a pedestal on which the pesel stood, and that the ephod was the robe with which the pesel was clothed, and that the teraphim were certain tokens or emblems attached to the ephod which gave oracular answers. But this is not much more than guess-work. Berthean considers the ephod, here as elsewhere, to be the priest"s garment, put on when performing the most solemn services, and specially when seeking an answer from God. And he thinks that the massechah formed a part of the ornament of the ephod, because in Jud_1:18:18 the Hebrew has "the pesel of the ephod." The teraphin he thinks are idols, a kind of Dii minores associated with the worship of Jehovah in this impure worship. But there does not seem to be any means at present of arriving at any certainty. The massechah might be a rich gold or silver overlaying of the wooden image, possibly movable, or it might be the separate image of a calf supposed to belong, as it were, to the pesel, and to symbolise the attributes of the Godhead.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On v31,100 pieces
1,100 pieces
"one thousand one hundred" (See: Numbers)
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set apart
This means to dedicate something to a specific purpose. AT: "dedicate" (See: Idiom)
cast metal
metal that has been melted and poured into a mold to form a special shape
I restore it to you
"I give it back to you"
two hundred pieces of silver
"200 pieces of silver" (See: Numbers)
they were placed in the house of Micah
The word "they" refers to the metal figures. This may be stated in active form. AT: "Micah placed them in his house" (See: Active or Passive)
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v3 Contrary to the commandment of God and true religion…
Contrary to the commandment of God and true religion practiced under Joshua, they forsook the Lord and fell to idolatry.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv3–4 Jdg 17:3 And when he had restored the eleven…
Jdg 17:3 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.
Ver. 3. And when he had restored.] Restore your ill-gotten goods, saith father Latimer, or else you will cough in hell, and the devil will laugh at you.
Read full note →
I had wholly dedicated the silver.] Many women are very superstitious. In the Papacy, sundry crosses graven in the pavements of their churches, have indulgences annexed for every time they are kissed: which is so often done, by the women especially, that hard marble is worn with it. {a}
To make a graven image.] To despite the Lord with seeming honours. A good intention here excused not. Men that would be approved in Christ, as Apelles was, {Rom 16:10} must "come to the light" of God’s word, "that it may be made manifest that their deeds are wrought in God." {Joh 3:21}
{a} Spec. Europ.
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 vv3–4 The Lord; in the Hebrew it is Jehovah, the…
The Lord; in the Hebrew it is Jehovah, the incommunicable name of God; whereby it is apparent that neither she nor her son intended to forsake the true God or his worship; as appears from his rejoicing when he had got a priest of the Lord’s appointment, of the tribe of Levi, Jdg 17:13; but only to worship God by an image; which also it is apparent that both the Israelites, Exo 32:1, &c., and Jeroboam afterwards, designed to do.
For my son; either, first, For the honour and benefit of thyself and family; that you need not be continually going to Shiloh to worship, but may do it as well at home by these images. Or, secondly, That thou mayst cause these things to be made; to which end she restored all the money to him, as it here follows.
Read full note →
A graven image and a molten image; many think this was but one image, partly graven, and partly molten. But it seems more probable that they were two distinct images, because they are so plainly distinguished, Jdg 18:17,18, where also some other words come between them. It is true, the graven image alone is mentioned, Jdg 18:20,30,31, not exclusively to the other, as appears from what is said just before; but by a common synecdoche, whereby one is put for all, especially where that one is esteemed the chief.
I will restore it unto thee to dispose of, as I say.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv3–4 And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels…
And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother,.... The whole sum, having embezzled none of it:
his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord from my hand, for my son to make a graven image and a molten image; this she had done either before it was stolen, and it troubled her the more, and caused her the rather to curse the man that had taken it; or after it was stolen, that if it should be recovered again she would appropriate it to such an use; so Abarbinel; and by the Lord, or Jehovah, she doubtless meant the true God; for she had no intention to forsake him, but to worship him in and by these images, and which she designed for the use of her son and his family, that they might not go so far as Shiloh to worship at the tabernacle there:
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therefore I will restore it unto thee; for that use, and so gave him the money again, to be laid out in images, or to make images of it.
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 vv3–4 The Lord - In the Hebrew it is, Jehovah,…
The Lord - In the Hebrew it is, Jehovah, the incommunicable name of God. Whereby it is apparent, that neither she, nor her son, intended to forsake the true God; as appears from his rejoicing when he had got a priest of the Lord's appointment, but only to worship God by an image; which also both the Israelites, Exod. xxxii, 1, &c. and Jeroboam afterwards, designed to do. For my son - For the benefit of thyself and family; that you need not be continually going to Shiloh to worship, but may do it at home. To thee - To dispose of, as I say.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv3–4 Verse 3. I had wholly dedicated] From this it…
Verse 3. I had wholly dedicated] From this it appears that Micah's mother, though she made a superstitious use of the money, had no idolatrous design, for she expressly says she had dedicated it ליהוה layhovah, to Jehovah; and this appears to have been the reason why she poured imprecations on him who had taken it.
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 vv3–4 Jdg 17:3. I had wholly dedicated the silver unto…
Jdg 17:3. I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord — The meaning seems to be, that when she had lost the money, she vowed, that if she recovered it, she would dedicate it to the Lord, and her superstitious ignorance made her conceive that she could do this in no better way than in laying it out in images of some kind to be made use of in his worship. In the Hebrew here, the word for Lord is Jehovah, the incommunicable name of the true God, whereby it is apparent that neither she nor her son intended to forsake the true God, but only to worship him by an image, which also the Israelites designed to do when they made the calf in the wilderness, (Exo 32:1,) and Jeroboam afterward. Hence this Micah rejoiced when he had got a priest of the Lord’s appointment. Their error lay in worshipping God according to their own fancies, and not as he had commanded. But this chapter and the following show that the Israelites were at this time fallen into a most deplorable and shameful ignorance of God and his law. For my son — For the benefit of thyself and family; that you need not be continually going to Shiloh to worship, but may do it at home. Therefore I will restore it unto thee — To dispose of it, as I say, in making an image.
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 vv3–4 Such a superstitious and unlawful mode of worshipping Yahweh…
Such a superstitious and unlawful mode of worshipping Yahweh is quite of a piece with Jdg 8:27; Jdg 11:31; 1Ki 12:28, etc. It argues but slight acquaintance with the Ten Commandments, which, from the ignorance of reading and writing, were probably not familiar to the Israelites in those unsettled times. The mother intimates that the consecration of the silver was for the benefit of her son and his house, not for her own selfish advantage: and that she adheres to her original design of consecrating this silver for her son’s benefit.
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 v3 God. Hebrew pesel umaseca. The word thing, would perhaps…
God. Hebrew pesel umaseca. The word thing, would perhaps be as well substituted, as (Haydock) all are not convinced that the woman was guilty of idolatry. (Cajetan) --- The same figure might be both graven and molten. The image was first carved, and then covered with plates of gold, &c., in the more ancient times. (Calmet) --- There might be two figures made by Michas. (Salien) --- The Theraphim denote "images which foretel what is to happen." (Rabbins; Tirinus) --- But this is not always the case. (Haydock)
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v3 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 vv3–4 3. I had wholly dedicated — Rather, I have…
3. I had wholly dedicated — Rather, I have wholly dedicated. Her purpose to sanctify the silver unto the Lord seems to have originated with the pleasure with which she received it from the hand of her son.
Graven image and a molten image — The former was carved out of either metal or wood, the latter cast or poured; but the difference of form or make between the two is hard to determine. Keil conjectures that the graven image was an image of a bull, like the golden calf at Sinai. But these images were not meant for idols to be worshipped, though they naturally led to idolatry. They seem to have been looked upon as household or tutelary gods, not to be worshipped as gods, yet to be reverenced as talismans. This act of Micah and his mother was, however, a coming nearer to idolatry than the act of Gideon in setting up his famous ephod in Ophrah, and yet this home idolatry of Micah may have been a consequence of Gideon’s wrong example. Compare note on Jdg_8:27.
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Now therefore I will restore — Rather, and now I restore it to thee, that is, for the purpose of making images to place in Micah’s house of gods. Jdg_17:5.
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 vv3–4 3. from my hand for my son] LXX. cod.…
3. from my hand for my son] LXX. cod. A and Luc. reads from my hand alone, with a slight change in the Hebr.; i.e. the mother alone, the rightful owner, could carry out the vow; so Moore, Lagrange. But the emphasis on alone is not particularly required, and the text may be retained. Following the rearrangement above, the mother, not suspecting who the culprit is, consecrates her money for the benefit of her son.
a graven image and a molten image] According to etymology the one (pesel) was carved out of stone or wood, the other (massçkah) cast in metal; elsewhere both are named together to denote idols of any kind (Deu_27:15, Isa_42:17); and in usage the etymological distinction was not always observed, a pesel, for example, could be cast in gold and silver (Isa_40:19; Isa_44:10). In the present narrative the two words are combined, as though two images were meant; but Jdg_17:4 end and Jdg_18:20 refer to only one pesel in Micah’s house, the one which was afterwards set up at Dan, Jdg_18:30-31. Probably, therefore, we must take and a molten image as an explanatory addition inserted here and in Jdg_17:4, Jdg_18:14; Jdg_18:17-18 by a scribe who thought that the silver and the founder in Jdg_17:4 necessarily implied a massçkah.
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The pesel here must have been an image of Jehovah, for it was made of silver which had been consecrated to Him; and the writer, so far from expressing an objection to the thing, records the making of it as a pious act. Throughout the early period images were used in the worship of Jehovah. Golden bull-calves symbolized Jehovah at Dan and Beth-el, 1Ki_12:28, cf. Exo_32:4; the prohibition of molten gods (massçkah) in the ancient code Exo_34:17 J may be aimed at these. It was not till the viiith century that the prophets began to oppose the use of images (Hos_10:5; Hos_10:8; Hos_13:2, Amo_8:14); and in agreement with the prophets, the Decalogue forbids an image (pesel) of any kind, Exo_20:4 E = Deu_5:8. But while images of Jehovah existed in the various local shrines, we hear of none at Shiloh (Jdg_18:31) and Jerusalem, where the ark was kept; these sanctuaries had a different character, and probably maintained a higher type of worship.
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 vv3–4 (3) I had wholly dedicated the silver.—Literally, Consecrating, I…
(3) I had wholly dedicated the silver.—Literally, Consecrating, I consecrated—either, “I have now consecrated it” as a thanksgiving for its restoration, or “I had done so before it was stolen.”
For my son—i.e., for your benefit.
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To make a graven image and a molten image.—Whether in the universal decadence of religion, the people, untaught by a careless priesthood, had become ignorant of the second commandment, or whether she justified her conduct by the same considerations which have been used even in the Christian Church in favour of image-worship, we cannot tell. The word used for a graven image is pesel, and for a molten image is massecah. They are the very words used in the curse against idolaters in Deu_27:15. Some suppose the two words to be used by Hendiadys (like “cups and gold” for “golden cups” ) to describe one silver image adorned with sculptured ornament. All that is clear is that the pesel is the more prominent, but the details are left quite vague. It is therefore impossible to determine whether the graven and molten image consisted of one or of two silver “calves,” like that of the wilderness, and those afterwards set up by Jeroboam at Dan and Bethel. This, however, was a form which the violation of the second commandment was constantly liable to take, and it probably involved much less blame than other violations of it—not, as is often stated, because the Israelites had become familiar with the worship of Apis and Mnevis in Egypt, but because the calf was a recognised cherubic emblem, and had consequently been deliberately sanctioned in the symbolism of the Temple. (See Exo_20:4; Exo_20:23; Exo_32:4-5; 1Ki_7:25, &c.) Some suppose that the massecah was the pedestal of the pesel, and that it was too heavy for the Danites to carry away, since it is not mentioned among the things which they seized.
Now therefore I will restore it unto thee.—Rather, for thee—in which case “I will restore it” may possibly mean “use it for its original purpose for thy advantage.” If not, a slight correction would give us the much simpler reading of the Syriac, “restore it to me.”
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 vv3–4 I had wholly dedicated. It is not clear whether…
I had wholly dedicated. It is not clear whether the words are to be rendered as in the A.V, had dedicated, expressing the dedication of them before they were stolen, or whether they merely express her present purpose so to dedicate them. But the A.V makes very good sense. Her former purpose had been that the money should be given for her son"s benefit to make his house a house of gods. Now that he had confessed, she resumed her purpose. Now therefore I restore it unto thee that is, in the shape of the graven and molten images, as it follows in the next verse. The narrative gives a curious example of the semi-idolatry of the times. A graven image and a molten image. There is a good deal of difficulty in assigning the exact meaning of the two words here used, and their relation to one another in the worship to which they belong. The molten image (massechah), however, seems to be pretty certainly the metal, here the silver, image of a calf, the form which the corrupt worship of Jehovah took from the time when Aaron made the molten calf Exo_32:4, called there egel massechah, a molten calf) to the time when Jeroboam set up the golden calves at Dan and Bethel. (1Ki_12:28, 1Ki_12:29) And that massechah means something molten is certain both from its etymology (nasach, to pour) and from what Aaron said in Exo_32:24: "I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf." Here too Micah"s mother gives the silver to the founder, i.e. to the fuser of metals. The pesel, or graven image, on the other hand, is something hewn or graven, whether in wood or stone, and sometimes overlaid with gold and silver. (Deu_7:25) One might have thought, from the language of ver. 4, and from the mention of the pesel alone in Jud_1:18:30, 31, that only one image is here intended, which was graven with the chisel after it was cast, as Aaron"s calf seems to have been. But in Jud_1:18:17, 18 they are mentioned separately, with the ephod and teraphim named between them, so that they must be distinct. From the above passages the pesel or graven image would seem to have been the most important object, and the difficulty is to assign the true relation of the massechah or molten image to it. Hengstenberg thinks the massechah was a pedestal on which the pesel stood, and that the ephod was the robe with which the pesel was clothed, and that the teraphim were certain tokens or emblems attached to the ephod which gave oracular answers. But this is not much more than guess-work. Berthean considers the ephod, here as elsewhere, to be the priest"s garment, put on when performing the most solemn services, and specially when seeking an answer from God. And he thinks that the massechah formed a part of the ornament of the ephod, because in Jud_1:18:18 the Hebrew has "the pesel of the ephod." The teraphin he thinks are idols, a kind of Dii minores associated with the worship of Jehovah in this impure worship. But there does not seem to be any means at present of arriving at any certainty. The massechah might be a rich gold or silver overlaying of the wooden image, possibly movable, or it might be the separate image of a calf supposed to belong, as it were, to the pesel, and to symbolise the attributes of the Godhead.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v3 1,100 pieces
1,100 pieces
"one thousand one hundred" (See: Numbers)
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set apart
This means to dedicate something to a specific purpose. AT: "dedicate" (See: Idiom)
cast metal
metal that has been melted and poured into a mold to form a special shape
I restore it to you
"I give it back to you"
two hundred pieces of silver
"200 pieces of silver" (See: Numbers)
they were placed in the house of Micah
The word "they" refers to the metal figures. This may be stated in active form. AT: "Micah placed them in his house" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
restore
silver
Yahweh
son
works
house
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.