Story of Micah
1 A man named Micah lived in the mountains of Ephraim. One day
2 he said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver taken from you and about which you uttered a curse, well, it was I who took that silver. And now, I return it to you.”
3 His mother answered, “May Yahweh bless my son!” So he returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother.
But his mother said to him, “I had consecrated this money to Yahweh with my own hand, so that with this money, my son could make a statue cast in metal. So I am giving this silver back to you.”
4 He, however, returned the silver to his mother who set aside two hundred pieces for the silversmith, who made a statue cast in metal.
5 This was placed in the house of Micah, so that Micah had a house of God. He also made an ephod to consult Yahweh as they cast lots, and some small idols, and consecrated also one of his sons as his priest.
6 At that time, there was no king in Israel and each one did what seemed right to him.
7 A young Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, a descendant of Moses who lived there as a foreigner,
8 left Bethlehem one day and set out to see where he could live as a guest. He came to the house of Micah in the mountains of Ephraim,
9 and Micah asked him, “Where do you come from?” He answered, “I am a Levite and I have come walking from Bethlehem; I am in search of a place where I can stay as a guest.”
10 Micah said to him, “Stay in my house and be a father and priest to me; I shall give you ten pieces of silver a year, clothing and food.” So the Levite went in to his house.
11 The Levite agreed to stay in Micah’s house and became like one of his sons.
12 Micah consecrated the Levite, and this young man became his priest and re mained in the house of Micah.
13 And Micah said, “Now I know that Yahweh will bestow favors on me for this Levite has become my priest.”
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Comments Judges, Chapter 17
• 17.1 The Book of Judges concludes with two typical stories about the life of Israel at that time. After having extolled that epoch during which there was no need for kings (see 8:22), the author recognizes the evils that anarchy produced.
In Chapters 17–18, the absence of religious authority results in a situation where priests do as they please. Let us bear in mind that, at that time, men of the tribe of Levi were dedicated to Yah weh’s service (see Num 3).
In 18:27 we have one of those passages in the Bible where great indifference is shown regarding a savage massacre. The Israelites at that time did not know how to value human life, either that of an enemy or their own. Indivi duals did not count but only the people collectively. To them it was not more serious to wipe out a foreign people than to destroy a forest.