Judges 17:4 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother took 200 pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a carved image and a metal image. And it was in the house of Micah.

NIV: So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol. And it was put in Micah's house.

NASB: So when he returned the silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith, who made them into a carved image and a cast metal image, and they were in the house of Micah.

CSB: So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took five pounds of silver and gave it to a silversmith. He made it into a carved image and a silver idol, and it was in Micah's house.

NLT: So when he returned the money to his mother, she took 200 silver coins and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into an image and an idol. And these were placed in Micah’s house.

KJV: Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah.

NKJV: Thus he returned the silver to his mother. Then his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to the silversmith, and he made it into a carved image and a molded image; and they were in the house of Micah.

Micah's mother has shown mercy and forgiveness to her son (Judges 17:1–3). Instead of punishing him further for stealing a huge sum of money from her, she has proclaimed a blessing on him. She offered this "by Yahweh"—supposedly, in the name of the God of Israel—to replace the curse she uttered against the thief. She then proclaimed that the silver was to be dedicated to the Lord.

Rather than stopping there, she demonstrated the problem with Israel's worship during her era. She gives a portion of the silver to an artist, who creates at least one idol from it. The phrasing "a carved image and a metal image" could mean two separate objects, or a sculpture overlaid with a thin layer of precious metals. It's most likely two items, given later descriptions of Micah's shrine (Judges 18:17–18). Using this precise set of words seems like a direct reference to Deuteronomy 27:15 which explicitly condemns those exact things. Whether one item or two, the product of the artist's work is placed in Micah's house, along with other supposedly sacred objects.

It's difficult to imagine how a faithful Israelite could think it was reasonable to make carved idols as part of their worship when God had clearly told them not to do this (Exodus 20:3–5). This is part of the lesson of the last chapters of the book of Judges: the people were either ignorant of God's commands or didn't think they mattered. Instead, they made their own rules for spirituality. These fit more comfortably and easily into their times and culture.

Judges 17:1–6 begins a new focus in the book of Judges, showing lack of commitment to God in the lives of everyday Israelites. A man named Micah confesses to his mother that he stole from her. She blesses him and has the stolen sliver made into an idol. Micah has a house shrine with household gods and totems and ordains one of his own sons as his priest. In just a few verses, the family manages to violate almost all of God's primary Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1–7). This summarizes Israel's profound lack of leadership and spiritual maturity during that era.

A man named Micah overhears his mother speaking a curse on whoever stole a hefty sum of money from her. He confesses that it was him so she attempts to replace her curse with a blessing from God. She has a carved religious object made from the silver for Micah, which he puts in his household shrine full of other idols and relics. A young Levite man comes to Micah's house, and Micah hires him as the personal family priest, convinced God will prosper him because of it. This demonstrates Israel's lack of spiritual commitment during the era of the judges.

Judges 17 marks a new direction for the book. Having completed the stories of the judges themselves, the focus shifts to everyday Israelites. A man confesses to stealing from his mother, and she donates the silver to make an idol. The man puts this in a shrine in his house along with other religious objects. He hires a Levite to be the family priest, which he assumes will guarantee blessings from God. The same priest will willingly leave with a group of raiders from the tribe of Dan (Judges 18). This leads to one the Bible's most disturbing stories, involving an abused woman whose fate sparks a civil war within Israel (Judges 19—20).

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).