Judges 18:24
in Judges 18He replied, “You took the gods I had made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he said, ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and are gone away, and what have I more? and how then say ye unto me, What aileth thee?
KJV
And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away: and what have I more? and what is this that ye say unto me, What aileth thee?
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This verse in Judges 18
Commentary
7 notes on this verseYe have taken away my gods - As Micah was a worshipper of the true God, as we have seen, he cannot mean any kind of idols by the word אלהי elohai here used. He undoubtedly means those representations of Divine things, and symbols of the Divine presence such as the teraphim, ephod, etc.; for they are all evidently included under the word elohai, which we translate my gods.
This site's exposition
they turned and departed
on Judges 18:21-24
The small children, the livestock and the possessions go in front, which Barnes reads as an order of march against the pursuit they expected. Micah's neighbours are called out of the houses near his, so the shrine had a settlement around it. His cry states the difficulty in his own words, “You took the gods I had made”, and Isaiah 44:14-17 and 46:1-2 later argue from that order.
This site's exposition
You took the gods I had made
Adam Clarke holds that Micah worshipped Israel's God and meant by his gods the symbols of that presence, the ephod and the household idols. John Wesley reads the same words as lesser gods, mediators through which Micah sent his worship upward. Both readings leave him with nothing.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
I made - So far was he besotted with superstition and idolatry, that he esteemed those gods, which were man's work. But he could not be so stupid, as to think these were indeed the great Jehovah that made heaven and earth; but only a lower sort of gods, by whom, as mediators, he offered up his worship to the true God, as divers of the Heathen did.
And he said, ye have taken away my gods that I made,....
What a folly was it for him to call those his gods which he had made, when he only that made us is to be worshipped by us as a God! Folly indeed to set his heart upon such silly idle things, and to look upon himself as undone when he had lost them!
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the men that were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together--The robbers of the chapel being soon detected, a hot pursuit was forthwith commenced by Micah, at the head of a considerable body of followers.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֡אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֱלֹהַי֩ | ʾelohai | gods my | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עָשִׂ֨יתִי | ʾasiti | I made | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לְקַחְתֶּ֧ם | lekachtem | you have taken | H3947 → | 966 times |
| וְֽאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַכֹּהֵ֛ן | hakohen | the priest | H3548 → | 750 times |
| וַתֵּלְכ֖וּ | vatelekhu | and you have gone | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וּמַה־ | umah- | and what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| לִּ֣י | li | [belongs] to <the> me | ||
| ע֑וֹד | od | still | H5750 → | 490 times |
| וּמַה־ | umah- | and why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| זֶּ֛ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| תֹּאמְר֥וּ | tomeru | are you saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵלַ֖י | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| לָּֽךְ׃ | lakh | [is] to <the> you |
וַיֹּ֡אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אֱלֹהַי֩gods my
ʾelohaiH430 →2601 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
עָשִׂ֨יתִיI made
ʾasitiH6213 →2628 times
לְקַחְתֶּ֧םyou have taken
lekachtemH3947 →966 times
וְֽאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הַכֹּהֵ֛ןthe priest
hakohenH3548 →750 times
וַתֵּלְכ֖וּand you have gone
vatelekhuH1980 →1546 times
וּמַה־and what?
umah-H4100 →752 times
לִּ֣י[belongs] to <the> me
li
ע֑וֹדstill
odH5750 →490 times
וּמַה־and why?
umah-H4100 →752 times
זֶּ֛הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
תֹּאמְר֥וּare you saying
tomeruH559 →5305 times
אֵלַ֖יto me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
לָּֽךְ׃[is] 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
Psalms 115:8Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.
it leads to
- Habakkuk 2:18–19
What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it—or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 135:18
Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.
- Jeremiah 10:8
But they are altogether senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!
- Habakkuk 2:18–19
Through
Revelation 17:2The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and those who dwell on the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.”
it leads to
- Revelation 14:8
Then a second angel followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”
- Jeremiah 51:7
Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the LORD, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.
- Revelation 18:3
All the nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her immorality. The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy from the extravagance…
- Revelation 18:9
Then the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her will weep and wail at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her.
- Revelation 14:8
Through
Jeremiah 51:17Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 10:14
Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.
- Jeremiah 10:14
About Judges
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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.