Micah's Idol

Biblical Text

The episode appears in Judges 17–18. Micah, who lived in the hill country of Ephraim, stole eleven hundred pieces of silver from his mother and later returned them. His mother declared that she dedicated the silver to the LORD and gave two hundred pieces of it to a silversmith, who made a graven image and a molten image (Judges 17:1–4). Micah kept a shrine in his house and made an ephod and teraphim (household guardian images). At first he consecrated one of his sons as priest. Later he met a young Levite wandering from Bethlehem in Judah and engaged him as his own priest, promising him ten pieces of silver a year, a suit of clothing, and his food. Micah expressed his confidence in the arrangement: "Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest" (Judges 17:13).

In chapter 18 the tribe of Dan, seeking land in which to settle, sent out five spies, who lodged at Micah's house. Afterward six hundred armed men came, seized the image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and took the priest with them. Micah pursued them and protested, but he turned back when confronted with their superior strength. The Danites attacked Laish, a city whose people lived in quiet security, and burned it; they then rebuilt the city and named it Dan. There they set up the image and appointed Jonathan the son of Gershom, together with his descendants, as priests. The text records that the image remained there all the time that the house of God was at Shiloh (Judges 18:30–31).

Background

Chapters 17–21 form the conclusion of the book of Judges. This section repeats the refrain "In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (Judges 17:6; 21:25), underscoring the disorder of the period of the judges. The tribe of Dan had been forced out of its original allotment by the Amorites (Judges 1:34). Joshua 19:47 also briefly reports the Danites' capture of Leshem (Laish). Laish is commonly identified with the archaeological site of Tel Dan, near the sources of the Jordan River at the foot of Mount Hermon.

The name Micah means "Who is like the LORD?" in Hebrew. Many commentators have therefore noted the contrast between his name and his conduct in making an image while invoking the name of the LORD.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

Micah and the Danites believed that they were serving the LORD. Their actions, however, violated the commandment of the Ten Commandments forbidding images (Exodus 20:4–5) and the command to worship at the place God would choose (Deuteronomy 12:5). They also departed from the law that entrusted the priesthood to the descendants of Aaron. For this reason the story is read as a representative example of the mingling of the worship of the LORD with idolatry. Some interpreters connect it with Jeroboam's later setting up of golden calves at Dan and Bethel (1 Kings 12:28–30). The New Testament does not refer to this episode directly, but it resonates with the exhortations to flee idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:14; 1 John 5:21) and with the theme of worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:23).

Interpretation and Points of Discussion

• Jonathan's ancestry: In Judges 18:30 the Masoretic Text inserts a small suspended letter nun (נ) above the line in the name "Moses," so that it reads "Manasseh." This is commonly explained as a scribal effort to conceal the fact that a descendant of Moses became a priest of an idol. Some manuscripts of the Septuagint and the Vulgate read "Moses," and Korean Bible translations each adopt one of the two readings. The young Levite of chapter 17 is generally identified with Jonathan, although chapter 17 itself does not give his name.
• "The day of the captivity of the land": Some understand this expression as a reference to the Assyrian conquest and the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel. Others, connecting it with 18:31, take it to refer to the time when the sanctuary at Shiloh was destroyed (1 Samuel 4).
• The tribal list in Revelation: Dan is absent from the list of tribes in Revelation 7:5–8. Some interpreters link this omission to the idolatry of the tribe of Dan, and some Church Fathers, such as Irenaeus, held that the Antichrist would come from the tribe of Dan. Because the text does not state why Dan is omitted, such interpretations are regarded as inferences.
• The use of images: The Reformed tradition has cited this passage as grounds for strict caution regarding images in worship. Lutherans, Anglicans, and others tend to regard the veneration of images, rather than images themselves, as the problem.

In the Korean Church

The phrase "every man did that which was right in his own eyes" is frequently used in sermons warning against a faith that places one's own standards above the will of God. Micah's assumption that he would be blessed for taking in a Levite is often cited in critiques of prosperity-oriented faith. The Levite who left in pursuit of a more prominent post is often cited as an occasion for reflection on the calling and conduct of ministers.