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Judges 17:5

in Judges 17

Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And the man Micah had a house of gods, and he made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.

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.

This verse in Judges 17

Commentary

3 notes on this verse
And the man Micah had an house of gods,.... Having two images in it, besides teraphim, which were a sort of idols; and the Targum is, an house of images, or idols; though it may be rendered "an house of God"; a temple, a place for religious worship: and made an ephod; a priestly garment, a linen one very probably, not so rich an one with a breastplate to it as the high priest had, which was very costly.

This site's exposition

And the man Micah had

House of gods occurs once in the whole Bible and this verse is it. The ephod repeats Gideon at 8:27, where the ephod became a snare unto Gideon and to his house, and teraphim enters the English Bible here, with five of its six occurrences falling in this chapter and the next. He then consecrates one of his sons, which Numbers 3:10 and 18:7 both shut against any man outside Aaron's line in the same six words, the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

The man Micah had a house of gods - בית אלהים 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.

The words behind it

16 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְהָאִ֣ישׁand the man

    vehaishH3761663 times

  • מִיכָ֔הMicah

    mikhahH431833 times

  • ל֖וֹ[belonged] to <the> him

    lo

  • בֵּ֣יתa house of

    beitH10042046 times

  • אֱלֹהִ֑יםGod

    ʾelohimH4302601 times

  • וַיַּ֤עַשׂand he made

    vaiyaasH62132628 times

  • אֵפוֹד֙an ephod

    ʾefodH64649 times

  • וּתְרָפִ֔יםand teraphim

    uterafimH865515 times

  • וַיְמַלֵּ֗אand he filled

    vaymale'H4390249 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • יַ֤ד[the] hand of

    yadH30271618 times

  • אַחַד֙one

    ʾachadH259971 times

  • מִבָּנָ֔יוfrom sons his

    mibanavH11214930 times

  • וַיְהִי־and he became

    vayhi-H19613559 times

  • ל֖וֹof him

    lo

  • לְכֹהֵֽן׃<into> a priest

    lekhohenH3548750 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Genesis 31:30

    Now you have gone off because you long for your father’s house. But why have you stolen my gods?”

    it leads to

    • Genesis 31:19

      Now while Laban was out shearing his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household idols.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Genesis 31:19

    Now while Laban was out shearing his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household idols.

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 19:13

      Then Michal took a household idol and laid it in the bed, placed some goat hair on its head, and covered it with a garment.

    • Hosea 3:4

      For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or idol.

    • Genesis 31:30

      Now you have gone off because you long for your father’s house. But why have you stolen my gods?”

    • Genesis 35:2

      So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your garments.

    • Ezekiel 21:21

      For the king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He shakes the arrows, he consults the idols, he examines the…

  • Through

    Judges 8:27

    From all this Gideon made an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 106:39

      They defiled themselves by their actions and prostituted themselves by their deeds.

    • Deuteronomy 7:16

      You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

About Judges

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth.