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 adviser ¹  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 paid ³  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 ephod ⁸  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 stole ¹¹  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 adviser ¹⁴  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 stole ¹⁶  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 Danites ¹⁸  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 worshiped ²⁰  the carved image. Jonathan, descendant ²¹  of Gershom, son of Moses, ²²  and his descendants ²³  served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the exile.

[18:19]  ¹ tn See the note on the word “adviser” in 17:10.

[18:19]  ² tn 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?”

[17:12]  ³ tn Heb “filled the hand of.”

[18:4]  ⁵ tn 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.

[18:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “in peace.”

[18:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “In front of the LORD is your way in which you are going.”

[17:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “house of God.”

[17:5]  ¹⁰ sn Here an ephod probably refers to a priestly garment (cf. Exod 28:4-6).

[17:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and he filled the hand of one of his sons and he became his priest.”

[17:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “do good for me.”

[18:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “These went into Micah’s house and took.”

[18:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and went into the midst of the people.”

[18:24]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “What is this you say to me, ‘What to you?’”

[17:10]  ¹⁹ tn 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).

[17:10]  ²⁰ tn 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.

[18:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “went up, went in there, took.”

[18:17]  ²² tn Heb “six hundred men, equipped with the weapons of war.”

[18:27]  ²³ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:27]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew adds “with fire.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.

[18:30]  ²⁵ tn Heb “erected for themselves.”

[18:30]  ²⁶ tn Heb “son.”

[18:30]  ²⁷ tc 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.

[18:30]  ²⁸ tn Heb “sons.”