Micah's Idol
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The narrative of Micah's Idol, recounted in the
Book of Judges The Book of Judges (, ') is the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. In the narrative of the Hebrew Bible, it covers the time between the conquest described in the Book of Joshua and the establishment of a kingdom i ...
( chapters 17 and 18), concerns the
Tribe of Dan The Tribe of Dan (, "Judge") was one of the twelve tribes of Israel, according to the Torah. They were allocated a coastal portion of land when the people of Israel entered the Promised Land, later moving northwards. Biblical narrative In th ...
, their conquest of Laish, and the sanctuary that was subsequently created there.


Biblical narrative

The narrative, as it stands in Judges 17, states that a man named Micah, who lived in the region of the
Tribe of Ephraim According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Ephraim ( he, אֶפְרַיִם, ''ʾEp̄rayīm,'' in pausa: אֶפְרָיִם, ''ʾEp̄rāyīm'') was one of the tribes of Israel. The Tribe of Manasseh together with Ephraim formed the ''House of ...
, possibly at
Bethel Bethel ( he, בֵּית אֵל, translit=Bēṯ 'Ēl, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; el, Βαιθήλ; la, Bethel) was an ancient Israelite sanct ...
, had stolen 1100 silver
shekel Shekel or sheqel ( akk, 𒅆𒅗𒇻 ''šiqlu'' or ''siqlu,'' he, שקל, plural he, שקלים or shekels, Phoenician: ) is an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly —and became c ...
s from his mother, but when his mother cursed about it he returned them. The mother then consecrated the money to
Yahweh Yahweh *''Yahwe'', was the national god of ancient Israel and Judah. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age if not somewhat earlier, and in the oldest biblical literature he posse ...
for the purpose of creating a carved image and silver idol, and she gave 200 shekels to a silversmith who made them into a carved image and an idol. These were placed in a shrine in Micah's house, and he made an
ephod An ephod ( he, אֵפוֹד ''ʾēfōḏ''; or ) was a type of apron, which according to the Hebrew Bible, was worn by the Jewish high priest the kohen gadol, an artifact and an object to be revered in ancient Israelite culture, and was closely ...
and
teraphim Teraphim ( he, תְּרָף ''tərāf''; plural: he, תְּרָפִים ''tərāfīm'') is a Hebrew word from the Bible, found only in the plural, of uncertain etymology. Despite being plural, ''Teraphim'' may refer to singular objects, using the ...
, and installed one of his sons as a priest. A young Levite, from Bethlehem in Judah, who lived near Micah (some translations render the underlying Hebrew term as ''sojourning'', though it literally means ''resident alien'') and was wandering the land, passed Micah's house, and so Micah asked him to be his priest, in return for 10 silver shekels a year, clothes, and food, to which the Levite agreed. The Tribe of Dan, who at this time were without territory, sent five warriors from
Zorah Zorah ( he, צרעה) or Tzorah (), was a biblical town in the Judaean Foothills. It is identified with the depopulated village of Sar'a. It has been identified with the former village of Sar'a, now often referred to as Tel Tzora. Location Zor ...
and
Eshtaol ( he, אֶשְׁתָּאוֹל) is a moshav in central Israel, and a Hebrew Bible, biblical location mentioned in the Book of Joshua, Books of Joshua and Book of Judges, Judges and in the 1 Chronicles, first Book of Chronicles. Located north of ...
, representative of their clans, to scout out the land. In the text, when the scouts chanced upon Micah's house, they spent the night; when they chanced upon Micah's house, they recognised the Levite's voice (
Biblical scholars Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible (the Old Testament and New Testament).''Introduction to Biblical Studies, Second Edition'' by Steve Moyise (Oct 27, 2004) pages 11–12 For ...
believe this refers to recognition of his dialect or to priestly intonation'' Peake's Commentary on the Bible''), and asked him what he was doing there, so he explained. Upon return to the rest of the tribe of Dan, the scouts told them about Laish, an unmilitarised town in fertile land that was similar to the
Sidonians Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...
', but was unallied as Sidon was far away. The Tribe of Dan consequently sent 600 warriors to attack Laish, and during their journey passed Micah's house, which the five scouts then told them about. The five scouts then went into Micah's house, and stole the idol, ephod, teraphim, and carved image, and took them out of the house, while the 600 warriors were standing at the gate. The priest asked them what they were doing, but was persuaded to go with them as then he could be the priest of a whole tribe rather than just a house. When Micah discovered what had happened, he gathered his neighbours together and set off in pursuit of the warriors. When he reached them he was threatened with violence, so, realising he was outnumbered, gave up the pursuit and returned home empty-handed. The warriors eventually reached Laish, which they put to the sword and burnt to the ground. The Tribe of Dan then rebuilt the town, named it Dan, installed the idols, and made Jonathan the son of
Gershom According to the Bible, Gershom ( ''Gēršōm'', "a sojourner there"; la, Gersam) was the primogeniture, firstborn son of Moses and Zipporah. The name means "a stranger there" in Hebrew, ( ''ger sham''), which the text argues was a reference to ...
, and his descendants, the priest. This is presumably the Levite who has featured in the story, but his name had been withheld.Webb, Barry G. ''The Book of Judges'', p. 448. Gershom and his sons were priests until ''the captivity of the land'' and the idols remained in use as long as ''the house of God was at Shiloh''. Scholars think that ''the captivity of the land'' refers to the Assyrian conquest of the Kingdom of Israel by
Tiglath-pileser III Tiglath-Pileser III (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "my trust belongs to the son of Ešarra"), was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 745 BC to his death in 727. One of the most prominent and historically significant Assyrian kings, Tig ...
in 733/732 BCE, and that ''the house of God was at Shiloh'' refers to the time of
Hezekiah Hezekiah (; hbo, , Ḥīzqīyyahū), or Ezekias); grc, Ἐζεκίας 'Ezekías; la, Ezechias; also transliterated as or ; meaning "Yahweh, Yah shall strengthen" (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the 13th king of Kingdom of Jud ...
's religious reform; an alternative possibility, however, supported by a minority of scholars, is that ''time of captivity of the land'' is a
typographic error A typographical error (often shortened to typo), also called a misprint, is a mistake (such as a spelling mistake) made in the typing of printed (or electronic) material. Historically, this referred to mistakes in manual type-setting (typography) ...
and should read ''time of captivity of the ark'', referring to the battle of
Eben-Ezer Eben-Ezer (, ''’éḇen hā-‘ézer'', "the stone of help") is a location that is mentioned by the Books of Samuel as the scene of battles between the Israelites and Philistines. It is specified as having been less than a day's journey by f ...
, and the Philistine capture of the Ark, and that the ceasing of the ''house of God'' being in Shiloh refers to this also.


Textual analysis

The text has many doublets; Laish is described as peaceful, unmilitarised, and impractically allied to just the Sidonians in both and 18:7 and 18:27–28; it is stated that Israel had no king in both 17:6 and 18:1; the Levite begins to live with Micah in 17:11 and in 17:12. The text seemingly has contradictions. In 17:7 the Levite is a young man who lived in the neighborhood of Micah, while in the following verse he is a wandering Levite; in 18:19 the priest voluntarily goes with them, in 18:27 he is taken; in 18:30 the idols are used until the ''captivity of the land'' but in 18:31 it is until the ''house of God'' ceased to be in Shiloh"Micah"
''Jewish Encyclopedia''.
Textual scholars thus believe that the text probably was formed from two earlier spliced together narratives; the majority view being that the one of these spliced together narratives was Judges 17:1, 17:5, 17:8–11a, 17:12a, 17:13, 18:1, parts of 18:2, 18:3b, 18:4b–6, 18:8–10, parts of 18:11, 18:12, parts of 18:13, 18:14, 18:16, 18:18a, 18:19–29, and 18:31, and that the remaining verses are the other narrative. Unsplicing these narratives, one finds that in the first narrative, *Micah is from Ephraim, and has a shrine containing an ephod and teraphim *Micah initially installs his son as priest *the Levite is passing by and installed by Micah in exchange for wages, clothes, and food *the five scouts are sent by the Tribe of Dan from Zorah and Eshatol, spend the night at Micah's house, and are blessed by the Levite *the Levite is persuaded to join the warriors because he could then be a priest for a whole tribe *Micah and his neighbours pursue the Danites but are dissuaded from fighting *the Danites reach Laish, a fertile region, and weakly protected city, attack the population, and burn the city *Laish is rebuilt and renamed ''Dan'', and Micah's idols are used there until the ''house of God'' ceases to be in Shiloh. In the second narrative, *Micah stole money from his mother, and she consecrated them to Yahweh, and had a fraction of them turned into a carved image and silver idol *The Levite lives nearby as a resident alien (the Hebrew word is however sometimes translated as ''sojourner'', making this more similar to the first narrative) *The Levite was like a son to Micah *The five scouts, representative of their clans, pass Micah's house and recognise the voice of the Levite *The scouts report back that Laish is surrounded by a fertile region, and is a weakly protected city, so the Danites decide to attack it *The scouts take the idols from Micah while the Levite, who protests, is with the 600 warriors stood at the gate *Once at Laish, the Tribe of Dan set up the idols, install Jonathan son of Gershom, and descendants, as priests, and this state of affairs continues until the ''captivity of the land'' In addition, the first four verses (17:1–4) use a different form of the name ''Micah'' than the remainder of the text. Scholars think these verses have been subject to scribal corruption and are misplaced from their original order. The original order is probably that the mother first consecrated the silver to Yahweh, and only then did the son own up to the theft — the consecration of the silver likely being a ploy by the mother to get the son to own up to the theft (particularly as she only puts a fraction to the purpose it was consecrated for). There is some debate between textual scholars as to the provenance of each narrative; among those who subscribe to
Hexateuch The Hexateuch ("six scrolls") is the first six books of the Hebrew Bible: the Torah (''Pentateuch'') and the book of Joshua. Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. Overview The term ''Hexateuch'' came into scholar ...
-like theories there is even uncertainty as to whether the first narrative should be considered
Elohist According to the documentary hypothesis, the Elohist (or simply E) is one of four source documents underlying the Torah,McDermott, John J., ''Reading the Pentateuch: A Historical Introduction'' (Pauline Press, 2002) p. 21. Via Books.google.com.a ...
(or Elohist-like) or Jahwist (or Jahwist-like), and the origin of the second narrative is even more debated. Textual scholars believe that the whole narrative is ultimately designed as a slur on the sanctuary at Dan, which became a significant sanctuary in the Kingdom of Israel, by a writer or writers who were opposed to the presence of idols there. It is notable that everyone except the people of Laish is portrayed negatively — Micah is a thief (at least in the second narrative), his mother consecrates 1100 shekels but only gives 200 of them for the purpose to which they were consecrated (again in the second narrative), the mother has molten and graven idols created (second narrative) - which violates the
Mitzvot In its primary meaning, the Hebrew word (; he, מִצְוָה, ''mīṣvā'' , plural ''mīṣvōt'' ; "commandment") refers to a commandment commanded by God to be performed as a religious duty. Jewish law () in large part consists of discus ...
against this, the Tribe of Dan steal the idols, the Levite is disloyal (in the first narrative), and Dan brutally conquer and destroy the peaceful and unmilitarised city of Laish (in the first narrative).


In rabbinic literature

Micah is variously identified in
rabbinic literature Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writ ...
; some Rabbis consider him to be identical with
Sheba son of Bichri In the Old Testament, Sheba was a Benjaminite leader who revolted against King David, recounted in 2 Samuel. In the Bible Sheba was a son of Bichri, of the family of Becher, the son of Benjamin, and thus of the tribe of King Saul. When David r ...
and others with Nebat, the father of Jeroboam. The rabbinical sources thus regard ''Micah'' as an appellation, and give it an etymology (not supported by modern linguists) where it means ''the crushed one'', in reference to a haggadah narrative concerning the Biblical story of bricks without straw in the
Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
cycle. In the haggadah narrative, the Israelites were so desperate to complete the task of making bricks, and simultaneously unable to do so, that they felt compelled to put their children in the brickwork where the bricks were lacking; Moses rescued one child, namely Micah, already crushed by the bricks above him, and restored him to life and health. Classical rabbinical sources all report that Micah was among
The Exodus The Exodus (Hebrew language, Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yeẓi’at Miẓrayim'': ) is the founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four books of the Torah (or Pentateuch, corresponding to the first five books of the ...
, but some rabbinical sources state that it was believed that Micah took the idol with him from Egypt, while others argue that he only took the silver from which the idol was made. There is also a tradition that it was Micah who caused the golden calf to be made; in this tradition, Moses retrieved Joseph's coffin from the
Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...
by throwing a
splinter A splinter (also known as a sliver) is a fragment of a larger object, or a foreign body that penetrates or is purposely injected into a body. The foreign body must be lodged inside tissue to be considered a splinter. Splinters may cause initia ...
with the words ''come up ox'' (comparing Joseph to an ox) into the river in the wilderness, and Micah retrieved the splinter after this, and threw it into the fire which Aaron had cast the gold into, causing a golden calf to come out. Despite his clear
idolatry Idolatry is the worship of a cult image or "idol" as though it were God. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, the Baháʼí Faith, and Islam) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the A ...
, Micah was not treated as a completely negative figure, and was highly praised for his hospitality; in one rabbinical narrative, God prevents
angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
s from casting down Micah's idol simply because of Micah's kindness.Sanhedrin 103b
Louis Ginzberg Louis Ginzberg ( he, לוי גינצבורג, ''Levy Gintzburg''; russian: Леви Гинцберг, ''Levy Ginzberg''; November 28, 1873 – November 11, 1953) was a Russian-born American rabbi and Talmudic scholar of Lithuanian-Jewish desce ...
's classic ''The Legends of the Jews'' further mentions that Micah's mother was none other than
Delilah Delilah ( ; , meaning "delicate";Gesenius's ''Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon'' ar, دليلة, Dalīlah; grc, label=Greek, Δαλιδά, Dalidá) is a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. She is loved b ...
, and that the Philistines bribed her with the 1,100 shekels for
Samson Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...
's secret.


See also

*
Dan (ancient city) Dan ( he, דן) is an ancient city mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, described as the northernmost city of the Kingdom of Israel, and belonging to the tribe of Dan. The city is identified with a tell located in Upper Galilee, northern Israel, know ...


References


External links

* {{The Bible and warfare Deities in the Hebrew Bible Biblical phrases Book of Judges Hebrew Bible objects Idolatry Massacres in the Bible Tribe of Dan Silver sculptures Golden calf