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The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

Judges 17:5

JUDGES—NOTE ON Judges 17:5 a shrine. Literally, “a house of God.” This was a perversion of the true sanctuary where worship was to take place (compare “the house of God” at Shiloh in Judges 18:31). Micah also made an ephod (compare Judges 8:27) and various household gods (compare Genesis 31:19); these are later condemned as idolatry (1 Samuel 15:23). Micah further violated the Mosaic law by appointing his own son as his private priest, an office meant for serving all of Israel. Furthermore, Micah’s son was not descended from Aaron (as the priests were supposed to be), nor was he even a Levite (see Exodus 28:1; Numbers 16:39; Numbers 17:8).

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See also Judges 17:5 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    Verse Judges 17:5. _THE MAN MICAH HAD A HOUSE OF GODS_] בית אלהים _beith_ _Elohim_ should, I think, be translated _house_ or _temple of God_; for it is very likely that both the mother and the son int...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    III. THE APPENDIX: ISRAEL'S INTERNAL CORRUPTION 1. Micah's and Dan's Idolatry and Its Punishment CHAPTER 17 The Images Made and the Hired Priest _ 1. The stolen money restored and the images (Judge...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    JUDGES 17-18. This section is the first of two supplements. It explains the origin of the famous shrine at Dan, and the _naî veté_ of its moral and religious ideas proves how ancient it is. In not a f...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    MICAH'S GRAVEN IMAGE. The dread of a curse, uttered by an indignant mother against the unknown thief of her money, made the culprit, her own son, confess his guilt. At a certain stage of religious dev...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    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). EPH...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    _had an house of gods_ But according to his lights Micah was a zealous worshipper of Jehovah; so follow Marg. _had an house of_ GOD, i.e. a private shrine. The narrative hardly permits the identificat...

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    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...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    DOUBLE APPENDIX Judges 17:1 to Judges 21:25 The Idolatry of Dan Judges 17:1 to Judges 18:31 Micah's Images...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    _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._ The man Micah had an house of gods, х_ BEEYT_ (H1004) _ 'ªLOHIYM_ (H...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    THE STORY OF MICAH This 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...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    HOUSE OF GODS] i.e. a private shrine, la Heb. the word for 'god' may be read; either as singular or plural. EPHOD] see on Judges 8:27. The ephod is often connected with oracular responses (cp. Isaiah...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    LIFE WITHOUT LAW JUDGES _PHILIP SMITH_ CHAPTER 17 V1 There was a man called Micah from the hilly country where Ephraim’s *tribe lived. V2 He said to his mother, ‘Someone stole the 1100 pieces of...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    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...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    וְ הָ אִ֣ישׁ מִיכָ֔ה לֹ֖ו בֵּ֣ית אֱלֹהִ֑ים

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    THE STOLEN GODS Judges 17:1, Judges 18:1 THE portion of the Book of Judges which begins with the seventeenth chapter and extends to the close is not in immediate connection with that which has gone b...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    Here begins the final section of the Book of Judges which is of the nature of an appendix. The events here recorded must have taken place closely following the death of Joshua. They give us a picture...

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an (c) ephod, and (d) teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. (c) He would serve both God and idols. (d) By Teraphim some u...

  • George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

    That....idols is added by the Vulgate. St. Jerome supposes that the ephod denotes all the sacerdotal vestments, and the theraphim whatever else was requisite for priestly functions, ep. ad Marcel. Gro...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    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. Here we read of many gods. And indeed, when the one true God be not tho...

  • Introductory Lectures - Commentary by William Kelly

    My object being no more than a sketch, as most of you know, I desire to say but a few words on such of the Chapter s as bear a similar character to that which has been already pointed out in the early...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY COVERS CHAPTER S 17 THROUGH 21. The Chapter s that follow (17-21) are not comprised in the historical order of this book. They lift the veil to disclose some incidents of the...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    AND THE MAN MICAH HAD AN HOUSE OF GODS,.... Having two images in it, besides teraphim, which were a sort of idols; and the Targum is, an house of images, or idols; though it may be rendered "an house...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    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. Ver. 5. _And the man Micah had an house of gods._] _Aediculam sacram._...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _The man Micah had a house of gods_ The Hebrew בית אלהים, _Beth Elohim_, may more properly be translated _a house of God;_ that is, he had made, or at least intended to make, in his own dwelling, an i...

  • KJV Original Language Details

    1 Of the money that Micah first stole, then restored, his mother maketh Images, 5 and hee ornaments for them. 6 He hireth a Leuite to be his Priest. 1 AND there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose na...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    THE MAKING OF THE IMAGE...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    And the man Micah had an house of gods, a place where he worshiped, AND MADE AN EPHOD, a garment like that worn by the high priest, with the Urim and Thummim, Exodus 39, AND TERAPHIM, small household...

  • Leslie M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible

    BOLD IDOLATRY IN ISRAEL (vv. 1-13) Samson was the last judge in Israel. The last five Chapter s of Judges -- 17 to 21 -- deal with conditions during the time of the Judges, so do not necessarily tak...

  • Marginal Notes in the King James Version (1611)

    CONSECRATED: _ Heb._ filled the hand...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    1-6 What is related in this, and the rest of the chapters to the end of this book, was done soon after the death of Joshua: see chap. Judges 20:28. That it might appear how happy the nation was under...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    AN HOUSE OF GODS, i.e. an house or place consecrated for the service of God in this manner. AN EPHOD; an eminent part of the priestly garments, EXODUS 28:4, which, some think, is here put for all of t...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Judges 17:5 man H376 Micah H4318 shrine H1004 H430 made H6213 (H8799) ephod H646 idols H8655 consecrated...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    ‘ And the man Micah had a house of God (or ‘gods'), and he made an ephod and a teraphim, and installed (‘filled the hand of') one of his sons who became his priest.' The fact that he at this stage ins...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: Micah's worship in self will. CHARACTERS: Micah, his mother, a Levite. CONCLUSION: The love of money makes much mischief; destroys the duty and comfort of every relation and frequently lea...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    Judges 17:1. _A man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah._ This was soon after the death of Joshua, says Josephus, and before the civil war with Benjamin. Judges 17:2. _About which thou cursedst._...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Micah._ MICAH’S MOTHER In the second verse of this chapter Micah makes a clean confession of a great wrong which he had done to his mother. “It seems,” says Matthew Henry, “that this old woman, with...

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    IDOLATRY IN ITS INCIPIENT STAGE—BY IMAGE-WORSHIP (Judges 17:1.) _HOMILETICS_ I. IDOLATRY BEGINS WITH THOSE WHO ARE NOT UPRIGHT IN MORAL CONDUCT. Judges 17:1. Micah himself is first heard of as stea...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION JUDGES 17:1 We here light upon quite a different kind of history from that which has preceded. We no longer have to do with judges and their mighty deeds in delivering Israel from his oppr...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    At this point the book of Judges, as far as its history, ends. What remains in the book of Judges is not now in chronological order. This is an appendix to the book of Judges as we get into chapter se...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    1 Kings 12:31; 1 Kings 13:33; 1 Kings 13:34; 1 Samuel 23:6; Exodus 24

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    Of gods — That is, an house consecrated for the service of God in this manner. Teraphim — A sort of images so called. One of his sons — Because the Levites in that corrupt estate of the church, neglec...

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