Judges 17:1

Judges 17:1 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
• New International Version (NIV)Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim
• English Standard Version (ESV)There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Now there was a man from the mountains of Ephraim, whose name was Micah.

Context of Judges 17:1

There was a man who lived in the hill country of Ephraim. His name was Micah. 2He said to his mother, ‘I know about the 1,100 pieces of silver that somebody took from you. You cursed the person who had robbed you and I heard you. Look! Here are the pieces of silver. I took them myself. But now I am giving them back to you.’ His mother said, ‘Thank you, my son. I pray that the Lord will bless you.’ 3When Micah gave the 1,100 pieces of silver back to his mother, she said, ‘I will now give this silver to the Lord. We will use it to make an image and a metal idol. In that way, I will give it back to you, my son.’

Judges 17:1 word by word

וַֽיְהִי־אִ֥ישׁ מֵֽהַר־אֶפְרָ֖יִם וּשְׁמ֥וֹ מִיכָֽיְהוּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And there was a manאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
• of mountהַרhar · mountain: hill countryH2022
• Ephraimאֶפְרַ֫יִם'ephrayim · EphraimH669
• whose nameשֵׁםshêm · nameH8034
• Micahמִיכָֽיְהוּmîykâyehû mikâyehû · MicahH4321

Cross-references for Judges 17:1

• Judges 17:6At that time, Israel had no king to rule over them. Everyone did what they thought was right.
• Judges 10:1After Abimelech's death, another man became Israel's leader, to rescue them. He was Tola, the son of Puah and grandson of Dodo. He belonged to Issachar's tribe. He lived in Shamir, in the hill country of Ephraim.
• Joshua 15:9From there it went to the springs of Nephtoah and onto the cities near Mount Ephron. It went towards Baalah (also called Kiriath-Jearim).
• Joshua 17:14Joseph's descendants asked Joshua, ‘Why have you given only one part of the land for us to live in? The Lord has blessed us with many children, so there are many people in our tribe.’

Commentaries on Judges 17:1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1And there was a man of Mount Ephraim - It is extremely difficult to fix the chronology of this and the following transactions. Some think them to be here in their natural order; others, that they happened in the time of Joshua, or immediately after the ancients who outlived Joshua. All that can be said with certainty is this, that they happened when there was no king in Israel; i.e., about the time of the Judges, or in some time of the anarchy, Judges…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1See the introduction to the Book of Judges. The only point of contact with the preceding history of Samson is, that we are still concerned with the tribe of Dan. See Judges 18:1-2, note. Josephus combines in one narrative what we read here and in Judges 1:34, and places it, with the story in Judges 1821, immediately after the death of Joshua.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1The beginning of idolatry in Israel, Micah and his mother. (1-6) Micah hires a Levite to be his priest. (7-13) Verses 1-6 What is related in this, and the rest of the chapters to the end of this book, was done soon after the death of Joshua: see chap. Jud 20:28. That it might appear how happy the nation was under the Judges, here is showed how unhappy they were when there was no Judge. The love of money made Micah so undutiful to his mother as to rob her…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1Micah is a shortened name meaning “Who is like the Lord?” It emphasizes the difference between the Lord and a carved image or idol. The hill country of Ephraim was a natural gathering place in central Israel (Judges 17:7–8; 18:2, 13; 19:1, 16).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-41. a man of mount Ephraim--that is, the mountainous parts of Ephraim. This and the other narratives that follow form a miscellaneous collection, or appendix to the Book of Judges. It belongs to a period when the Hebrew nation was in a greatly disordered and corrupt state. This episode of Micah is connected with Jud 1:34. It relates to his foundation of a small sanctuary of his own--a miniature representation of the Shiloh tabernacle--which he stocked with…Read the comment

In the dictionaries

• Ephraim
• Micah
• Mount Ephraim
• Teraphim
• Bethlehem
• Ephod (1)
• Ezekiel
• Israel, History of
• Israel, Religion of
• Jonathan (1)

Commentaries on Judges 17

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• Darby Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary