Priest living before Israel's Monarchy
Micah, a man from the hill country of Ephraim, set up idolatrous worship in his house, which was later adopted by the Danites.
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Micah is a man from the hill country of Ephraim who is featured in a narrative in the book of Judges (Jdg.17-18). He stole 1,100 pieces of silver from his mother but later returned them. His mother then dedicated 200 pieces of silver to the Lord for Micah to make a carved image and a metal idol (Jdg.17.1-4). Micah set up these idols in his house, along with an ephod and household gods, and installed one of his sons as his priest (Jdg.17.5). Later, a Levite from Bethlehem came to Micah's house, and Micah hired him to be his personal priest (Jdg.17.8-13). The Danites, who were seeking land to settle, sent spies who stayed at Micah's house. They later returned with 600 armed men, stole Micah's idols and his priest, and went on to conquer the city of Laish (Jdg.18.1-29). This narrative highlights the religious and moral decline in Israel during the time of the judges, when "everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Jdg.17.6; 21.25).
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19 verses in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H4318
Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim
So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into a graven image and a molten idol. And they were placed in the house of Micah.
Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.
This man left the city of Bethlehem in Judah to settle where he could find a place. And as he traveled, he came to Micahʼs house in the hill country of Ephraim.
“Where are you from?” Micah asked him. “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” he replied, “and I am on my way to settle wherever I can find a place.”
“Stay with me,” Micah said to him, “and be my father and priest, and I will give you ten shekels of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your provisions.” So the Levite went in
Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house.
Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest.”
So the Danites sent out five men from their clans, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. “Go and explore the land,” they told them. The men entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night.
And while they were near Micahʼs house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; so they went over and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?”
“Micah has done this and that for me,” he replied, “and he has hired me to be his priest.”
And from there they traveled to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micahʼs house.
So they turned aside there and went to the home of the young Levite, the house of Micah, and greeted him.
When they entered Micahʼs house and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten idol, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”
After they were some distance from Micahʼs house, the men in the houses near Micahʼs house mobilized and overtook the Danites.
When they called out after them, the Danites turned to face them and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you that you have called out such a company?”
So the Danites went on their way, and Micah turned to go back home, because he saw that they were too strong for him.
After they had taken Micahʼs idols and his priest, they went to Laish, to a tranquil and unsuspecting people, and they struck them with their swords and burned down the city.
So they set up for themselves Micahʼs graven image, and it was there the whole time the house of God was in Shiloh.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.