Judges 18:19

18:19 They said to him, “Shut up! Put your hand over your mouth and come with us! You can be our adviser¹ and priest. Wouldn’t it be better to be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for just one man’s family?”²

Judges 17:12

17:12 Micah paid³ the Levite; the young man became his priest and lived in Micah’s house.

Judges 18:4

18:4 He told them what Micah had done for him, saying,⁴ “He hired me and I became his priest.”

Judges 18:6

18:6 The priest said to them, “Go with confidence.⁵ The Lord will be with you on your mission.”⁶

Judges 17:5

17:5 Now this man Micah owned a shrine.⁷ He made an ephod⁸ and some personal idols and hired one of his sons to serve as a priest.⁹

Judges 17:13

17:13 Micah said, “Now I know God will make me rich,¹⁰ because I have this Levite as my priest.”

Judges 18:18

18:18 When these men broke into Micah’s house and stole¹¹ the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

Judges 18:20

18:20 The priest was happy. He took the ephod, the personal idols, and the carved image and joined the group.¹²

Judges 18:24

18:24 He said, “You stole my gods that I made, as well as this priest, and then went away. What do I have left? How can you have the audacity to say to me, ‘What do you want?’”¹³

Judges 17:10

17:10 Micah said to him, “Stay with me. Become my adviser¹⁴ and priest. I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, plus clothes and food.”¹⁵

Judges 18:17

18:17 The five men who had gone to spy out the land broke in and stole¹⁶ the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, while the priest was standing at the entrance to the gate with the six hundred fully armed men.¹⁷

Judges 18:27

18:27 Now the Danites¹⁸ took what Micah had made, as well as his priest, and came to Laish, where the people were undisturbed and unsuspecting. They struck them down with the sword and burned the city.¹⁹

Judges 18:30

18:30 The Danites worshiped²⁰ the carved image. Jonathan, descendant²¹ of Gershom, son of Moses,²² and his descendants²³ served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the exile.

¹tn See the note on the word “adviser” in 17:10.

²tn Heb “Is it better for you to be priest for the house of one man or for you to be priest for a tribe, for a clan in Israel?”

³tn Heb “filled the hand of.”

⁵tn Heb “He said to them, ‘Such and such Micah has done for me.’” Though the statement is introduced and presented, at least in part, as a direct quotation (note especially “for me”), the phrase “such and such” appears to be the narrator’s condensed version of what the Levite really said.

⁷tn Heb “in peace.”

⁸tn Heb “In front of the LORD is your way in which you are going.”

⁹tn Heb “house of God.”

¹⁰sn Here an ephod probably refers to a priestly garment (cf. Exod 28:4-6).

¹¹tn Heb “and he filled the hand of one of his sons and he became his priest.”

¹¹tn Heb “do good for me.”

¹³tn Heb “These went into Micah’s house and took.”

¹⁵tn Heb “and went into the midst of the people.”

¹⁷tn Heb “What is this you say to me, ‘What to you?’”

¹⁹tn Heb “father.” “Father” is here a title of honor that suggests the priest will give advice and protect the interests of the family, primarily by divining God’s will in matters, perhaps through the use of the ephod. (See R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 257; also Gen 45:8, where Joseph, who was a diviner and interpreter of dreams, is called Pharaoh’s “father,” and 2 Kgs 6:21; 13:14, where a prophet is referred to as a “father.” Note also 2 Kgs 8:9, where a king identifies himself as a prophet’s “son.” One of a prophet’s main functions was to communicate divine oracles. Cf. 2 Kgs 8:9ff.; 13:14-19).

²⁰tn The Hebrew text expands with the phrase: “and the Levite went.” This only makes sense if taken with “to live” in the next verse. Apparently “the Levite went” and “the Levite agreed” are alternative readings which have been juxtaposed in the text.

²¹tn Heb “went up, went in there, took.”

²²tn Heb “six hundred men, equipped with the weapons of war.”

²³tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁴tn The Hebrew adds “with fire.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.

²⁵tn Heb “erected for themselves.”

²⁶tn Heb “son.”

²⁷tc Several ancient textual witnesses, including some LXX mss and the Vulgate, support the reading “Moses” (מֹשֶׁה, mosheh) here. Many Hebrew mss have a nun (נ) suspended above the name between the first two letters (מנשׁה), suggesting the name Manasseh (מְנַשֶּׁה, mÿnasheh). This is probably a scribal attempt to protect Moses’ reputation. For discussion, see G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 401-2.

²⁸tn Heb “sons.”