Judges 17:5

Micah’s Idolatry · Judges 17:1–13
Read Judges 17

Translations

Modern
Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.
Traditional
And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
Literal
And the man Micah had a shrine of gods, and he made an ephod and teraphim, and he filled the hand of one of his sons, and he was to him for a priest.
Latin
Qui ædiculam quoque in ea deo separavit, et fecit ephod, et theraphim, id est, vestem sacerdotalem, et idola: implevitque unius filiorum suorum manum, et factus est ei sacerdos.

Original

Hebrew
English
Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.

Notes

We do not know what Micah’s mother did with the other 900 shekels. Perhaps she used them to pay for the shrine (literally house of gods).

These two epilogues (Judges 17–18 and 19–21) show that inspired but unstructured leadership cannot last. As society moved toward chaos and civil war, the phrase, In those days there was no king in Israel appears four times. The phrase, everyone did what was right in his own eyes is added twice (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). The era of inspired leadership declined and ended in disorder. Something important was missing.

Theme notes and profiles

Social Chaos in Judges

People

Micah: A man from Ephraim who set up idolatrous worship

Glossary

Ephod (Garment) Idols, Idolatry Judges, Book of Micah (Person) Priests and Levites Teraphim

Topics

Ephod: A Sacred Vestment Worn by the High Priest: Made by Gideon, Became an Idolatrous Snare to Israel Idolatry: Micah Idolatry: Objects of, Worshipped in Private Houses Polytheism: General Scriptures Concerning Teraphim used by Micah, Stolen by the Danites The Ephod for the High Priest used by Idolatrous Priests