Judges 17:3
in Judges 17And when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I wholly dedicate the silver to the LORD for my son’s benefit, to make a graven image and a molten idol. Therefore I will now return it to you.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, I verily dedicate the silver unto Jehovah from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee.
KJV
And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee.
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This verse in Judges 17
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Such a superstitious and unlawful mode of worshipping Yahweh is quite of a piece with Jdg 8:27; Jdg 11:31; 1Ki 12:28, etc. It argues but slight acquaintance with the Ten Commandments, which, from the ignorance of reading and writing, were probably not familiar to the Israelites in those unsettled times. The mother intimates that the consecration of the silver was for the benefit of her son and his house, not for her own selfish advantage: and that she adheres to her original design of consecrating this silver for her son’s benefit.
This site's exposition
I wholly dedicate the silver to the LORD
on Judges 17:3-4
She dedicates the silver “to the LORD for my son’s benefit” and names in the same breath what it is for, “a graven image and a molten idol”. Deuteronomy 27:15 lays a curse on the man who makes that pair, and a curse set this story going at verse 2. Two hundred of the eleven hundred shekels reach the silversmith, and the text never says where the rest went.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
The Lord - In the Hebrew it is, Jehovah, the incommunicable name of God. Whereby it is apparent, that neither she, nor her son, intended to forsake the true God; as appears from his rejoicing when he had got a priest of the Lord's appointment, but only to worship God by an image; which also both the Israelites, Exod. xxxii, 1, &c. and Jeroboam afterwards, designed to do.
And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother,....
Here is no mention of any altar, sacrifice, or incense, in honour of these silver gods, but, having a priest, it is probable he had all these, unless we suppose that, at first, his gods were intended only to be advised with, not to be adored, like Laban's teraphim; but the beginning of idolatry, as of other sins, is like the letting forth of water: break the dam, and you bring a deluge.
"Come," said she to her son, "the money is mine, but thou hast a mind to it; let it be neither mine nor thine, but let us both agree to make it into an image for a religious use." Had she put it to a use that was indeed for the service and honour of God, this would have been a good way of accommodating the matter between them; but, as it was, the project was wicked.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
a graven image and a molten image--The one carved from a block of wood or stone, to be plated over with silver; the other, a figure formed of the solid metal cast into a mould. It is observable, however, that only two hundred shekels were given to the founder.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
I had wholly dedicated - From this it appears that Micah’s mother, though she made a superstitious use of the money, had no idolatrous design, for she expressly says she had dedicated it ליהוה layhovah, to Jehovah; and this appears to have been the reason why she poured imprecations on him who had taken it.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
He returned the eleven hundred silver pieces to his mother. He verbalized his intent to return it to her, hence, wherever it was, it reverted to her possession.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Stolen from you [lit. "to you"]. Stolen from you. 7 לך, lit. “to you”, may also be interpreted as “from you”. Similarly, 8 Shmuel,:6 "For women were withheld 'to' us,"—'from' us.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
21 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּ֛שֶׁב | vaiyashev | and he brought back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֶֽלֶף־ | ʾelef- | [the] one thousand | H505 → | 505 times |
| וּמֵאָ֥ה | umeah | and one hundred | H3967 → | 581 times |
| הַכֶּ֖סֶף | hakesef | the silver | H3701 → | 403 times |
| לְאִמּ֑וֹ | leimo | to mother his | H517 → | 220 times |
| וַתֹּ֣אמֶר | vatomer | and she said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אִמּ֡וֹ | ʾimo | mother his | H517 → | 220 times |
| הַקְדֵּ֣שׁ | hakdesh | certainly <to consecrate> | H6942 → | |
| הִקְדַּ֣שְׁתִּי | hikdashti | I consecrate | H6942 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַכֶּסֶף֩ | hakesef | the silver | H3701 → | 403 times |
| לַיהוָ֨ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מִיָּדִ֜י | miyadi | from hand my | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| לִבְנִ֗י | livni | for son my | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| לַֽעֲשׂוֹת֙ | laasot | to make | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| פֶּ֣סֶל | pesel | a carved image | H6459 → | 31 times |
| וּמַסֵּכָ֔ה | umasekhah | and a molten image | H4541 → | 28 times |
| וְעַתָּ֖ה | veatah | and therefore | H6258 → | 433 times |
| אֲשִׁיבֶ֥נּוּ | ʾashivenu | I will return it | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| לָֽךְ׃ | lakh | to <the> you |
וַיָּ֛שֶׁבand he brought back
vaiyashevH7725 →1056 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אֶֽלֶף־[the] one thousand
ʾelef-H505 →505 times
וּמֵאָ֥הand one hundred
umeahH3967 →581 times
הַכֶּ֖סֶףthe silver
hakesefH3701 →403 times
לְאִמּ֑וֹto mother his
leimoH517 →220 times
וַתֹּ֣אמֶרand she said
vatomerH559 →5305 times
אִמּ֡וֹmother his
ʾimoH517 →220 times
הַקְדֵּ֣שׁcertainly <to consecrate>
hakdeshH6942 →
הִקְדַּ֣שְׁתִּיI consecrate
hikdashtiH6942 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַכֶּסֶף֩the silver
hakesefH3701 →403 times
לַיהוָ֨הto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
מִיָּדִ֜יfrom hand my
miyadiH3027 →1618 times
לִבְנִ֗יfor son my
livniH1121 →4930 times
לַֽעֲשׂוֹת֙to make
laasotH6213 →2628 times
פֶּ֣סֶלa carved image
peselH6459 →31 times
וּמַסֵּכָ֔הand a molten image
umasekhahH4541 →28 times
וְעַתָּ֖הand therefore
veatahH6258 →433 times
אֲשִׁיבֶ֥נּוּI will return it
ʾashivenuH7725 →1056 times
לָֽךְ׃to <the> you
lakh
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 20:4You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
it leads to
- Leviticus 26:1
“You must not make idols for yourselves or set up a carved image or sacred pillar; you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down to it. For I am…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 5:8
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
- Deuteronomy 4:15–19
So since you saw no form of any kind on the day the LORD spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb, be careful
- Psalms 97:7
All worshipers of images are put to shame— those who boast in idols. Worship Him, all you gods!
- Leviticus 19:4
Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the LORD your God.
- Leviticus 26:1
Through
Isaiah 66:3Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who slays a man; whoever sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever presents a grain offering is like one who offers pig’s…
it leads to
- Proverbs 15:8
The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.
- Amos 5:21–22
“I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies.
- Proverbs 15:8
Through
Leviticus 19:4Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the LORD your God.
it leads to
- Psalms 115:4–7
Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
- Psalms 115:4–7
About Judges
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.