Judges 17-18
New Catholic Bible
Appendices: Stories of Dan and Benjamin[a]
Chapter 17
Micah and the Levite. 1 There was a man named Micah in the hill country of Ephraim. 2 He said to his mother, “I have those eleven hundred pieces of silver that were stolen from you and over which you uttered a curse. I took them.” His mother said, “May the Lord bless you, my son.” 3 He returned the eleven hundred silver pieces to his mother. His mother said, “I solemnly consecrate my silver to the Lord for my son to produce a molten image. I will give it back to you.”
4 When he returned the silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith, who made a molten image and a carved idol. They were placed in the house of Micah. 5 This Micah had a temple, and he made an ephod and a teraphim. He consecrated one of his sons as his priest. 6 In those days Israel had no king,[b] and everyone did what in his own opinion he thought to be right.
7 There was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah. He was living among the clan of Judah.[c] 8 The man left the city of Bethlehem in Judah to seek another place to live. On his way he came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah. 9 Micah asked him, “Where do you come from?” He answered, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am seeking a place to live.” 10 Micah said to him, “Live with me; you can be like a father and a priest to me. I will give you ten silver pieces a year along with your clothes and your food.” So the Levite went in.
11 The Levite was pleased to live with the man. It was as if the young man were one of his sons. 12 Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became Micah’s priest, and he lived in his house. 13 Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, for the Levite has become my priest.”[d]
Chapter 18
The Danites Overtake Micah. 1 At that time, there was no king in Israel. In those days the tribe of the Danites were seeking a place[e] where they could dwell, because up to that time they had not yet come into their inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 2 The Danites sent out five men, one from each of its clans, brave warriors. They went out from Zorah and Eshtaol to investigate the land and to explore it. They said to them, “Go and explore the land.”
They came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and they stayed there. 3 As they drew near the house of Micah, they heard the voice of the young Levite, so they turned in there and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?” 4 He told them what Micah had done for him and said, “He hired me, and I am his priest.” 5 Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God whether our journey will be successful.” 6 He replied, “Go in peace. The Lord is with you on your journey.”
7 The five men left and came to Laish. They saw that the people there were living in safety, just like the Sidonians lived, quiet and secure. There were no rulers in the land who could shame them in anything. They were quite far away from the Sidonians, and they had no ties to anyone.
8 They came back to their brethren in Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brethren said to them, “What do you have to say?” 9 They said, “Arise so that we can attack them. We have seen the land, and it is truly very good. Do not delay in going there so that you can enter and take possession of the land. 10 When you enter, you will find a people living in security in a vast land. God has given it into your hands. It is a place where you will not lack anything upon the earth.”
11 Six hundred men from the clans of the Danites went out from Zorah and Eshtaol dressed in battle gear. 12 They went up and camped in Kiriath-jearim in Judah. (This is why this place is called Mahaneh-dan up to this day. It lies to the west of Kiriath-jearim.) 13 They went on from there to the hill country of Ephraim, coming to the house of Micah.
14 The five men who had gone out to investigate the land around Laish said to their brethren, “Do you know that in these houses there are an ephod, teraphim, and a carved molten image? What do you think we should do?” 15 They turned aside and went to the house of the young Levite (the house of Micah) and they greeted him. 16 The six hundred armed men, the Danites, stood by the entrance to the gate.
17 The five men who had gone out to investigate the land then arrived there. They took the carved image, the ephod, the teraphim and the molten image. The priest stood at the entrance to the gate with the six hundred men who were armed for war. 18 When they went into Micah’s house and took the carved image, the ephod, the teraphim and the molten image, the priest asked them, “What are you doing?” 19 They said to him, “Be quiet! Put your hand over your mouth, and come with us to be a father and a priest to us. Is it better to be a father and a priest to one man’s household, or to be father and priest to a tribe and a clan in Israel?” 20 This pleased the priest. He took the ephod, the teraphim, and the carved image and traveled with those people. 21 They then turned and departed, with their children, their cattle, and their possessions in the front of the march.
22 When they had traveled some distance from the house of Micah, the men who lived in the houses near Micah’s house overtook the Danites. 23 When they shouted out, the Danites turned and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you, calling out such a group?” 24 [f]He replied, “You took the gods that I made and the priest, and then you went on your way. What else do I have? How could you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’ ” 25 The Danites said to him, “Keep quiet, or these men could get angry, and you and your household could lose their lives.” 26 So the Danites continued on their journey. When Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned back and went home.
27 They took away the things that Micah had made and his priest, and they arrived in Laish. This land was quiet, with people who lived in security, and they put them to the sword and burned the city down. 28 There was no one to deliver them, for Sidon was far away and they had no allies. This happened in the valley near Beth-rehob. They built a city and dwelt there. 29 They named the city Dan after their forefather who was called Dan. He was the son of Israel. The city had originally been called Laish. 30 The Danites set up the carved idol, and they chose Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons as priests to the Danites, and they continued to serve until they were exiled from the land.[g] 31 They maintained the carved idol that Micah had made, and it remained there the whole time that the house of God was in Shiloh.
Footnotes
- Judges 17:1 The ancient traditions with which the Book of Judges ends were collected at a time when Jerusalem, capital of the Davidic dynasty, was also regarded as the only legitimate sanctuary of God. Every other place of worship, therefore, was suspect of separatism and impiety. Thus one of the chroniclers does not fail to give prominence to the following ancient story that presents in a somewhat flattering light, the origins of the sanctuary of Dan: it was founded in defiance of the traditional prohibition against any image of God (Deut 4:15f) and in the absence of any real authority that would later guarantee the legitimacy of religious practices.
- Judges 17:6 Israel had no king: this lament, repeated in Jdg 18:1; 19:1; 21:25, indicates that the Book of Judges was written during the time of the monarchy and reiterates that lawlessness and cultic behavior were a continuing problem while there was no king among the Israelites.
- Judges 17:7 The Levite’s name, Jonathan, will be given later (Jdg 18:30).
- Judges 17:13 Micah was hedging his bets when he appointed a Levite as his priest. God, however, would never condone Micah’s sinful behavior and deceptive ways.
- Judges 18:1 Seeking a place: the Danites’ lack of faith and trust in God prevented them from taking possession of their rightful allotment (see Jdg 1:34); they are now looking to possess land elsewhere.
- Judges 18:24 Micah finally admits to the complete loss of everything he foolishly valued, but even in his misery he does not repent and return to the true God.
- Judges 18:30 Jonathan is therefore a descendant of Moses (Ex 2:22) and this is the reading in the Septuagint, whereas the Hebrew text has “Manasseh.”
