Judges 17:5

Judges 17:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
• New International Version (NIV)Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household gods and installed one of his sons as his priest.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household gods, and ordained one of his sons, who became his priest.
• New King James Version (NKJV)The man Micah had a shrine, and made an ephod and household idols; and he consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.

Context of Judges 17:5

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.’ 4So Micah's mother took 200 pieces of silver. She gave them to a man who used silver to make things. He made an image and an idol for her. She put them in Micah's house. Micah had a special room to worship his gods. He made an ephod and some more idols for it. He chose one of his sons to be a priest to serve his gods. 6At that time, Israel had no king to rule over them. Everyone did what they thought was right. 7There was a young man who lived in Bethlehem, a town in Judah. He was a Levite.

Judges 17:5 word by word

וְהָאִ֣ישׁ מִיכָ֔ה ל֖וֹ בֵּ֣ית אֱלֹהִ֑ים וַיַּ֤עַשׂ אֵפוֹד֙ וּתְרָפִ֔ים וַיְמַלֵּ֗א אֶת־יַ֤ד אַחַד֙ מִבָּנָ֔יו וַיְהִי־ל֖וֹ לְכֹהֵֽן׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And the manאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
• Micahמִיכָהmîykâh · MicahH4318
• had an houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: templeH1004
• of godsאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• and madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• an ephodאֵפוֹד'êphôd 'êphôd · ephodH646
• and teraphimתְּרָפִיםterâphîym · teraphimH8655
• and consecratedיָדyâd · hand: donateH3027
• and consecratedמָלֵאmâlê' mâlâ' · to fillH4390
• oneאֶחָד'echâd · oneH259
• of his sonsבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
• who became his priestכֹּהֵןkôhên · priestH3548

Cross-references for Judges 17:5

• Judges 18:24Micah replied, ‘You have taken away the gods that I made. You have also taken my priest. Now I have nothing left. You should not ask me, “What is the problem?” ’
• Genesis 31:30I know that you want very much to return to your father's house. That is why you have left my home. But why did you take my idols?’
• Ezra 1:7Then King Cyrus brought the valuable things that King Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Lord's temple in Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar had taken them from Jerusalem and brought them to Babylon. He had put them in the temple of his own gods.
• Hosea 8:14Israel's people have built beautiful palaces. But they have forgotten me, who made them into a nation! Judah's people have built many strong cities. But I will send fire to destroy their cities and their strong buildings.’
• Judges 8:27Gideon used the gold to make an image of an ephod. He put it in Ophrah, where he lived. All the Israelites came there and they worshipped the image. It caused them to turn away from the true God. It became like a trap that caught Gideon and his family.
• Judges 18:14The five men who had explored the land of Laish said to their relatives, ‘Do you know that in one of these houses there is an ephod, some small idols, an image and a metal idol. Think carefully and decide what to do.’
• Exodus 28:4These are the clothes that they must make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a long shirt, a linen hat, and a long belt of cloth. They must make these special clothes for your brother Aaron and for his sons. Then Aaron and his sons will serve me as my priests.
• 1 Samuel 23:6When Ahimelech's son Abiathar had run away, he had come to David at Keilah. And he had brought the priests' ephod with him.
• Genesis 31:19Before they left, Laban had gone to cut the wool from his sheep. While he was away from the house, Rachel took the idols that Laban worshipped in his house.
• Hosea 3:4In the same way, the Israelites will have to live for many days without a king or any other leader. They will not be able to make sacrifices. They will not have their pillars, their ephods or their idols to help them.
• Exodus 29:9Put the cloth hats on their heads. Tie the long cloth belts around Aaron and on his sons. These men and their descendants will always be priests. That is a law that continues for ever. That is how you must make Aaron and his sons God's special servants.
• 1 Kings 12:31Jeroboam also built places on hills for people to worship. He chose men who were not from Levi's tribe to be priests.
• 1 Kings 13:33Even after this happened, Jeroboam did not stop doing evil things. He chose ordinary people to be priests for the altars on the hills. If somebody wanted to become a priest, Jeroboam agreed to make him a priest.
• Hebrews 5:4Nobody decides for himself to become a leader of the priests. God himself must choose him. That is how Aaron became a priest.
• Exodus 24:5Moses sent young Israelite men to burn animals there, as offerings to the Lord. They also killed young bulls as friendship offerings to the Lord.

Commentaries on Judges 17:5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5The man Micah had a house of gods - אלהים בית beith Elohim should, I think, be translated house or temple of God; for it is very likely that both the mother and the son intended no more than a private or domestic chapel, in which they proposed to set up the worship of the true God. Made an ephod - Perhaps the whole of this case may be stated thus: Micah built a house of God - a chapel in imitation of the sanctuary; he made a graven image representing the…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5ephod: See study note on Judges 8:27. household idols: Compare Genesis 31:19–32; 2 Kings 23:24; Zechariah 10:2. The Bible criticizes the powerlessness of these personal gods. Micah making his son his personal priest was very unusual: The father was supposed to lead the family's religious activities (Deuteronomy 6:7; Job 1:5), only Aaron's descendants could be priests (Exodus 28:1–29:37; 30:30–33; 40:12–15), and priests served all of Israel, not just one…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. the man Micah had an house of gods--Hebrew, "a house of God"--a domestic chapel, a private religious establishment of his own. an ephod--(see on Ex 28:6). teraphim--tutelary gods of the household (see Ge 31:19 and see on Ge 31:26). consecrated one of his sons who became his priest--The assumption of the priestly office by any one out of the family of Aaron was a direct violation of the divine law (Nu 3:10; 16:17; De 21:5; He 5:4).Read the comment

Topics related to Judges 17:5

• Ephod
• Polytheism
• Teraphim

In the dictionaries

• Micah
• Idol
• Teraphim
• Thummim
• Bethlehem
• Consecrate; Consecration
• Ephod (1)
• Ezekiel
• Gods
• Images

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