Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This chapter, Judges 17, is actually a preliminary introduction to Judges 18, explaining the origin of that Danite shrine. It tells of the founding of an illegal centre of worship in the hill country of Ephraim. A part of God’s Old Covenant with Israel was the restriction of the worship of God to the authorised tabernacle. What Micah did in this chapter was a gross violation of God’s commandments. The evil character of Micah, as well as that of his mother, contrasts sharply with the righteousness of Manoah and his wife, the parents of Samson.’
Josephus placed these events shortly after the time of Joshua in the days of Othniel the Judge.
As we have seen over the last few chapters, the days of the Judges were Israel’s darkest age. A time of lawlessness, confusion, and idolatry, in other words, it was a moral mess. It was a troubling time of near anarchy, which is always going to happen when societies reject absolute law and develop their own.
In the remaining chapters, we’re going to read about idolatry, theft, murder, sodomy, rape, kidnapping, and civil war. We’re going to see that Israel’s enemy is no longer external but internal, and we’re going to read about things which we could easily read about today on the front page of any modern newspaper.
This chapter begins by telling us that Micah’s mother didn’t know that her son had stolen the family’s silver, Judges 17:1-2. Eleven hundred shekels of silver is around twenty-eight pounds, Judges 17:2.
When the superstitious Micah, whose name means who is like Yahweh heard that his mother had uttered a curse on the thief, Matthew 26:63 / Leviticus 5:1, he restored the stolen property, Judges 17:2. She then blesses her son, Judges 17:2 / Genesis 14:19.
The Interpreter’s Bible says the following.
‘The mother’s prompt pronouncement of a blessing upon her son reflects another passage from the Pentateuch, namely Exodus 12:32. The adjuration could not be removed, but it could be counteracted by a blessing, Exodus 12:32.’
Micah stole a bunch of silver from his mother, but gave it back to her, Judges 17:3. She’s very happy about that, and so, she uses the silver to make a graven image for her son so he can worship God in his own house, Judges 17:3-4 / Judges 8:27 / Judges 11:31 / 1 Kings 12:28-29.
Keil, in his commentary, says the following.
‘There can hardly be any doubt that it was a representation of Jehovah as a bull, like the golden calf that Aaron made at Sinai, Exodus 32:4, and the golden calves that Jeroboam set up in Northern Israel, and one of which was set up at Dan, 1 Kings 12:29.’
What did she do with the other nine hundred pieces of silver? Judges 17:4 / Judges 17:2. No one really knows. Micah had a shrine and made an ephod, Genesis 31:19 / Judges 8:27, and some household gods and installed one of his sons as his priest, Judges 17:5 / Exodus 29:35 / Leviticus 8:33. He basically decides that he might as well make his son a priest and turn his house into a temple.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following concerning the shrine.
‘In Genesis 31:19, Rachel is said to have stolen the teraphim of her father, and from this, it is supposed that these small idols were associated with the pagan habit of adoring household gods. Significantly, it is Rachel’s posterity who, in this chapter, are involved in such pagan worship.’
Why did Micah and his mother do this? ‘In those days Israel had no king, and everyone did as they saw fit’, Judges 17:6 / Judges 18:1 / Judges 19:1 / Judges 21:25. In other words, Israel had turned to man instead of turning to God as their King, and so they became a law unto themselves.
A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been living within the clan of Judah, left that town in search of some other place to stay and on his way, he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim, Judges 17:7.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The Hebrew words for ‘he sojourned there’ are the words used in Judges 18:30, in the genealogy of this young Levite, whose name was ‘Jonathan, the son of Gershom’. Hence, some read here, ‘the son of Gershom.’
Micah asked him where he was from, and he said he was a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and he was looking for a place to stay, Judges 17:8-9. When this young Levite comes along, Micah decided that he would be perfect to act as his father and priest and so, he more or less pays for him to do so, Judges 17:10.
The term ‘father’ refers to a position of respect and influence, the term ‘priest’ refers to the God-designated office the Levites were to have among the people of Israel.
He’s willing to pay him ten shekels of silver a year, which is around four ounces, Exodus 38:24, his clothes and his food, Judges 17:10. The Levite agrees to live with Micah, Exodus 2:21, and the young man became like one of his sons to him, Judges 17:11.
Then Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house, Judges 17:12. The Levites were to work among all the people of Israel serving in the temple, Numbers 8:14, and they certainly weren’t to be bought and confined to a particular individual or group of people in Israel, Luke 4:42-44.
Micah’s feeling pretty good right now and says, ‘Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest,’ Judges 17:13. Micah more or less bought his own personal religious officer in hope that God would bless his idolatrous beliefs and behaviour.
Keil, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This arrogant superstition for which Micah was so soon to atone, proves that at that time (shortly after the death of Joshua) the tribe of Levi held the position assigned to it in the Law of Moses, that is to say, that it was regarded as the tribe elected by God for the performance of divine worship.’
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This shows the ignorance as well as the superstition of the age, 2 Kings 18:22, and gives a picture of the lawlessness of the times. The incidental testimony to the Levitical priesthood is to be noted, but the idolatrous worship in the immediate neighbourhood of Shiloh is passing strange.’
Here is a man who is now getting into idolatry, creating his own priest, making it official because the priest is a Levite, and it’s all done in the comfort of his own home. Why? In those days, Israel had no king, and everyone did as they saw fit, Judges 17:6 / Judges 18:1 / Judges 19:1 / Judges 21:25.