Judges 17 - Introduction

XVII.

Judges 17:1. An Ephraimite, named Micah, first steals eleven hundred shekels from his mother, and then restores them. Judges 17:3. She blesses him, and uses them, with his assistance, for the establishment of an idolatrous form of worship. Judges 17:6. Anarchy of the times. Judges 17:7. A wandering Levite comes from Bethlehem to the house of Micah, and consents to become priest of the new worship.

The two narratives which occupy the five remaining Chapter s of the Book of Judges are disconnected from one another and from what precedes. They are, in fact, two Appendices, which serve the purpose of showing the social anarchy, religious confusion, and moral degradation to which tribes and individuals were liable during this period. In date they belong to an earlier time than most of the preceding Chapter s, and they are connected by various terms of phraseology with the preface (Judges 17:1; Judges 2:5). The migration of Dan in Judges 18 (Joshua 19:47) is accounted for by the pressure to which the tribe was subjected by the Amorites, as related in Judges 1:34. The story of Micah, so valuable and interesting as a sketch of manners, seems to have been preserved solely from its bearing on the fortunes of this tribe. The fact that Jonathan, the grandson of Moses (Judges 18:30), and Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron (Judges 20:28), are prominent characters in the two narratives shows that the events must have happened (as Josephus states) at a time shortly subsequent to the death of Joshua, and previous to the career of many of the judges. The first narrative (Judges 16:17) still bears on the fortunes of Dan, the tribe of Samson; and in both the narratives the tribe of Judah — which has been almost unnoticed in the body of the book — occupies an important position (Judges 16:9; Judges 18:12; Judges 19:1; Judges 19:10; Judges 20:18). These Chapter s belong, in fact, mainly to the annals of Dan and Judah. It is somewhat remarkable that both of them turn on the fortunes of a Levite of Bethlehem-Judah (Judges 17:7; Judges 19:1).