Judges 17:4-5

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Judges 17:5

house of gods. The true house of God was neglected, and as hard to find as it is to-day (Judges 21:19 ); and, when found, dancing was the prominent feature, not sacrifice or worship (Judges 21:21-23 ). ephod. In imitation of Aaron's. Exodus 25:7 ; Exodus 28:4 . consecrated. See note on Exodus 28:41 .Leviticus 9:17 . his priest. Not Jehovah's, but "made with hands". read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Judges 17:4

MICAH SETS UP HIS OWN CENTER OF WORSHIP"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. And 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: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.""His mother took two... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Judges 17:5

Judges 17:5. An house of gods— This might be rendered more properly, a temple or house of God; אלהים בית beith elohim: so the LXX and the Vulgate render it, as well as Houbigant, aedes deo sacra. Micah and his family were desirous to have a little tabernacle, a place consecrated to the elohim, at their own house, without the trouble of going up to Shiloh. Respecting the teraphim, see Genesis 31:17. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Judges 17:5

5. the man Micah had an house of gods—Hebrew, "a house of God"—a domestic chapel, a private religious establishment of his own. an ephod—(see on :-). teraphim—tutelary gods of the household (see Genesis 31:19 and see on Genesis 31:19- :). consecrated one of his sons who became his priest—The assumption of the priestly office by any one out of the family of Aaron was a direct violation of the divine law (Numbers 3:10; Numbers 16:17; Deuteronomy 21:5; Hebrews 5:4). read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Judges 17:1-6

Micah’s unlawful worship 17:1-6The writer told us nothing about Micah’s background, except that he originally lived in the Hill Country of Ephraim, with or near his mother (Judges 17:1-2). Micah’s name means "Who is like Yahweh." As is true of so many details in this story, Micah’s name is ironic. He was anything but like Yahweh. The fact that Micah’s mother blessed him in the name of Yahweh creates a positive impression, but other features of the story demonstrate that her veneer of orthodox... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Judges 17:1-13

1. The idolatry of Micah ch. 17The story of Micah (ch. 17) introduces the account of the setting up of image worship in the North (ch. 18). read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 17:1-13

The Story of MicahThis 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. Joshua 19:47.1-6. Micab’s idols.1 Ephraim] see... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 17:1-25

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 Judges 17:3; Judges 18:17) as well as differences in the language, suggest that more than one account has... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Judges 17:4

(4) Yet.—Rather, And.Two hundred shekels of silver.—Bertheau supposes that these two hundred shekels were not apart of the eleven hundred, but the trespass-money of one-fifth, which by the law Micah had to pay for his theft (Lev. 5:24). But apart from the sum not being exact, no such impression is given by the narrative. It is left to be understood that the remaining nine hundred shekels were spent in other parts of the idolatrous worship. (It may be mentioned, by way of passing illustration,... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Judges 17:5

(5) Had an house of gods.—The Hebrew is Beth Elohim, which may mean equally well “a house of God” (Vulg., œdiculam Deo, and so too the LXX.). It is quite clear that Micah did not abandon the worship of God under the names of Jehovah and Elohim, by which He was known to the Israelites. How he coordinated this worship with his grossly idolatrous symbols, or whom those symbols were intended to represent, it is impossible to say. The fact remains that in the Beth-Micah we find “a house of... read more

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