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The narrative ofMicah's Idol, recounted inJudges (chapters 17 and18) concerns theTribe of Dan, their conquest ofLaish, and the sanctuary that was subsequently created there.[1] Micah made ateraphim and other objects of piety, which were later installed at the founding of Dan city.
The narrative, as it stands in Judges 17, states that a man named Micah, who lived in the region of theTribe of Ephraim, possibly atBethel,[2] had stolen 1100 silvershekels from his mother, but when his mother cursed about it he returned them. The mother then consecrated the money toYahweh for the purpose of creating a carved image and silver idol, and she gave 200 shekels to a silversmith who made them into a carved image and an idol. These were placed in a shrine in Micah's house, and he made anephod andteraphim, and installed one of his sons as a priest. A young Levite, from Bethlehem in Judah, who lived near Micah (some translations render the underlying Hebrew term assojourning, though it literally meansresident alien) and was wandering the land, passed Micah's house, and so Micah asked him to be his priest, in return for 10 silver shekels a year, clothes, and food, to which the Levite agreed.
The Tribe of Dan, who at this time were without territory, sent five warriors fromZorah andEshtaol, representative of their clans, to scout out the land. In the text, when the scouts chanced upon Micah's house, they spent the night; when they chanced upon Micah's house, they recognised the Levite's voice (Biblical scholars believe this refers to recognition of his dialect or to priestlyintonation[3][page needed]), and asked him what he was doing there, so he explained. Upon return to the rest of the tribe of Dan, the scouts told them about Laish, an unmilitarised town in fertile land that was similar to theSidonians', but was unallied as Sidon was far away. The Tribe of Dan consequently sent 600 warriors to attack Laish, and during their journey passed Micah's house, which the five scouts then told them about.
The five scouts then went into Micah's house, and stole the idol, ephod, teraphim, and carved image, and took them out of the house, while the 600 warriors were standing at the gate. The priest asked them what they were doing, but was persuaded to go with them as then he could be the priest of a whole tribe rather than just a house. When Micah discovered what had happened, he gathered his neighbours together and set off in pursuit of the warriors. When he reached them he was threatened with violence, so, realising he was outnumbered, gave up the pursuit and returned home empty-handed.
The warriors eventually reached Laish, which they put to the sword and burnt to the ground. The Tribe of Dan then rebuilt the town, named it Dan, installed the idols, and madeJonathan the son ofGershom, and his descendants, the priest. This is presumably the Levite who has featured in the story, but his name had been withheld.[4] Gershom and his sons were priests untilthe captivity of the land and the idols remained in use as long asthe house of God was atShiloh. Scholars think thatthe captivity of the land refers to the Assyrian conquest of theKingdom of Israel byTiglath-pileser III in 733/732 BCE, and thatthe house of God was at Shiloh refers to the time ofHezekiah's religious reform;[4] an alternative possibility, however, supported by a minority of scholars, is thattime of captivity of the land is atypographic error and should readtime of captivity of the ark, referring to the battle ofEben-Ezer, and thePhilistine capture of the Ark, and that the ceasing of thehouse of God being in Shiloh refers to this also.[5]
The text has many doublets;[3][page needed] Laish is described as peaceful, unmilitarised, and impractically allied to just the Sidonians in both and 18:7 and 18:27–28; it is stated that Israel had no king in both 17:6 and 18:1; the Levite begins to live with Micah in 17:11 and in 17:12. The text seemingly has contradictions.[3][page needed] In 17:7 the Levite is a young man who lived in the neighborhood of Micah, while in the following verse he is a wandering Levite; in 18:19 the priest voluntarily goes with them, in 18:27 he is taken; in 18:30 the idols are used until thecaptivity of the land but in 18:31 it is until thehouse of God ceased to be in Shiloh.[6] Critical scholars thus believe that the text probably was formed from two earlier spliced together narratives; the majority view being that the one of these spliced together narratives was Judges 17:1, 17:5, 17:8–11a, 17:12a, 17:13, 18:1, parts of 18:2, 18:3b, 18:4b–6, 18:8–10, parts of 18:11, 18:12, parts of 18:13, 18:14, 18:16, 18:18a, 18:19–29, and 18:31, and that the remaining verses are the other narrative.[6]
Unsplicing these narratives, one finds that in the first narrative,
In the second narrative,
In addition, the first four verses (17:1–4) use a different form of the nameMicah than the remainder of the text. Scholars think these verses have been subject to scribal corruption and are misplaced from their original order. The original order is probably that the mother first consecrated the silver to Yahweh, and only then did the son own up to the theft—the consecration of the silver likely being a ploy by the mother to get the son to own up to the theft (particularly as she only puts a fraction to the purpose it was consecrated for).[3][page needed]
There is some debate between textual scholars as to the provenance of each narrative; among those who subscribe toHexateuch-like theories there is even uncertainty as to whether the first narrative should be consideredElohist (or Elohist-like) orJahwist (or Jahwist-like), and the origin of the second narrative is even more debated.[6] Some archaeologists have suggested that the story might preserve memories of the destruction of a stratum at the site dated toc. 1000 BCE.[7] Textual scholars believe that the whole narrative is ultimately designed as a slur on the sanctuary at Dan, which became a significant sanctuary in theKingdom of Israel, by a writer or writers who were opposed to the presence of idols there. It is notable that everyone except the people of Laish is portrayed negatively—Micah is a thief (at least in the second narrative), his mother consecrates 1100 shekels but only gives 200 of them for the purpose to which they were consecrated (again in the second narrative), the mother has molten and graven idols created (second narrative) - which violates theMitzvot against this,[3][page needed] the Tribe of Dan steal the idols, the Levite is disloyal (in the first narrative), and Dan brutally conquer and destroy the peaceful and unmilitarised city of Laish (in the first narrative).
Micah is variously identified inrabbinic literature; some Rabbis consider him to be identical withSheba son of Bichri and others withNebat, the father of Jeroboam.[8] The rabbinical sources thus regardMicah as an appellation, and give it an etymology (not supported by modern linguists) where it meansthe crushed one, in reference to a haggadah narrative concerning the Biblical story ofbricks without straw in theMoses cycle. In the haggadah narrative, the Israelites were so desperate to complete the task of making bricks, and simultaneously unable to do so, that they felt compelled to put their children in the brickwork where the bricks were lacking; Moses rescued one child, namely Micah, already crushed by the bricks above him, and restored him to life and health.[9]
Classical rabbinical sources all report that Micah was amongThe Exodus, but some rabbinical sources state that it was believed that Micah took the idol with him from Egypt,[10] while others argue that he only took the silver from which the idol was made.[11] There is also a tradition that it was Micah who caused thegolden calf to be made; in this tradition, Moses retrieved Joseph's coffin from theNile by throwing asplinter with the wordscome up ox (comparing Joseph to an ox) into the river in the wilderness, and Micah retrieved the splinter after this, and threw it into the fire which Aaron had cast the gold into, causing a golden calf to come out.[12]
Despite his clearidolatry, Micah was not treated as a completely negative figure, and was highly praised for his hospitality; in one rabbinical narrative, God preventsangels from casting down Micah's idol simply because of Micah's kindness.[13] Sanhedrin 101b identified Micah with two other men:
"A Tanna taught:Nebat, Micah, andSheba the son of Bichri are one and the same." The three interpreted signs and portents to mean that they would reign. "Three beheld but did not see."[14]
Louis Ginzberg's classicThe Legends of the Jews further mentions that Micah's mother was none other thanDelilah, and that the Philistines bribed her with the 1,100 shekels forSamson's secret.
Media related toMicah's Idol at Wikimedia Commons| Hebrew Bible battles |
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