Judges chapter 17

After reading chapter 17:

*This story surprised me. I don't remember ever having read it or heard about it before. I read on to the next couple of chapters and was even more amazed. It will become clear why no one ever talks about the next few stories. What is not clear is why they are in the book of Judges when they are not about individual judges.  The one common thread is a phrase stating "these things happened before there was a king in Israel, when everyone did as they saw fit." It would appear that the stories  were written after there was a king to show people who complained about being under the rule of a king that things could be worse. Or that statement could have been  added to the original text to show disapproval of former religious practices.

 *A man named Micah goes to his mother and says,"Mom, remember those 1,100 shekels (coincidentally the same amount Delilah was given to betray Samson) that got stolen and how you put a curse on the person who stole them? Well, that was me. Then his mother blessed him in the name of Yahweh, which is kind of odd, but maybe it was supposed to counteract the curse. The son returned the money, but the mother decided the silver would be consecrated to Yahweh for her son. So, she took 200 of the shekels to a silver smith who made them into an idol, presumably of Yahweh, which is against the law of Moses. However, this passage does not condemn her actions, even though my study bible commentary does. The mother and Micah don't appear to be aware of the laws against idols and their worship.

*Micah put the idol in his house. He also had other idols, a shrine and an ephod. Plus, he made his son a priest. A priest's duties were basically servicing the gods. They would perform ceremonial sacrifices, feed and wash and dress the idols, and other ritual acts of worship for the gods. We are told Micah did this because there was no king, and everyone did as he saw fit. The writers obviously believed in the power of government to control the standards of religious activity.

*A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, left home looking for a place to stay. We are not told why.  That does not stop my study bible from speculating that the Levites probably lacked support from the other Israelites because the law of Moses was not being followed. Poor babies, they had to go out and earn a living just like everyone else. This Levite wandered on to Micah's property and Micah offered him the job of priest at ten shekels a year, plus room and board. What did his son/priest do then? He had to put up wth the Levite becoming just like another son in his father's eyes, and he didn't have a cushy job any more. However, Micah himself was thrilled. A Levite was his personal priest, which he thought meant that Yahweh would be extra good to him.

*This is the first we have heard about Levites in the book of judges.