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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Judges, Chapter XVII].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J U D G E S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XVII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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All agree that what is related in this and the rest of the chapters to
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the end of this book was not done, as the narrative occurs, after
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Samson, but long before, even soon after the death of Joshua, in the
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days of Phinehas the son of Eleazar,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+20:28"><I>ch.</I> xx. 28</A>.
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But it is cast here into the latter part of the book that it might not
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interrupt the history of the Judges. That it might appear how happy the
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nation was in the judges it is here shown how unhappy they were when
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there was none.
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I. Then idolatry began in the family of Micah,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+17:1-13"><I>ch.</I> xvii</A>.
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II. Then it spread itself into the tribe of Dan,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:1-31"><I>ch.</I> xviii</A>.
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III. Then villany was committed in Gibeah of Benjamin,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:1-30"><I>ch.</I> xix</A>.
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IV. Then that whole tribe was destroyed for countenancing it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+20:1-48"><I>ch.</I> xx</A>.
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V. Then strange expedients were adopted to keep up that tribe,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+21:1-25"><I>ch.</I> xxi</A>.
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Therefore blessed be God for the government we are under! In this
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chapter we are told how Micah an Ephraimite furnished himself,
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1. With an image for his god,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+17:1-6">ver. 1-6</A>.
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2. With a Levite, such a one as he was, for his priest,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+17:7-13">ver. 7-13</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Jud17_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud17_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud17_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud17_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud17_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud17_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Micah and His Gods.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1406.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name <I>was</I> Micah.
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2 And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred <I>shekels</I> of
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silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and
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spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver <I>is</I> with me; I
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took it. And his mother said, Blessed <I>be thou</I> of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, my
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son.
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3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred <I>shekels</I> of
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silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the
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silver unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> from my hand for my son, to make a graven
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image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto
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thee.
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4 Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother
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took two hundred <I>shekels</I> of silver, and gave them to the
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founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and
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they were in the house of Micah.
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5 And the man Micah had a house of gods, and made an ephod,
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and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his
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priest.
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6 In those days <I>there was</I> no king in Israel, <I>but</I> every man
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did <I>that which was</I> right in his own eyes.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here we have,
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I. Micah and his mother quarrelling.
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1. The son robs the mother. The old woman had hoarded, with long
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scraping and saving, a great sum of money, 1100 pieces of silver. It is
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likely she intended, when she died, to leave it to her son: in the mean
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time it did her good to look upon it, and to count it over. The young
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man had a family of children grown up, for he had one of age to be a
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priest,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+17:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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He knows where to find his mother's cash, thinks he has more need of it
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than she has, cannot stay till she dies, and so takes it away privately
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for his own use. Though it is a fault in parents to withhold from their
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children that which is meet, and lead them into temptation to wish them
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in their graves, yet even this will by no means excuse the wickedness
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of those children that steal from their parents, and think all their
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own that they can get from them, though by the most indirect methods.
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2. The mother curses the son, or whoever had taken her money. It should
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seem she suspected her son; for, when she cursed, she spoke in his cars
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so loud, and with so much passion and vehemence, as made both his ears
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to tingle. See what mischief the love of money makes, how it destroys
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the duty and comfort of every relation. It was the love of money that
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made Micah so undutiful to his mother as to rob her, and made her so
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unkind and void of natural affection to her son as to curse him if he
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had it and concealed it. Outward losses drive good people to their
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prayers, but bad people to their curses. This woman's silver was her
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god before it was made thither into a graven or a molten image, else
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the loss of it would not have put her into such a passion as caused her
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quite to forget and break through all the laws of decency and piety. It
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is a very foolish thing for those that are provoked to throw their
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curses about <I>as a madman that casteth fire-brands, arrows, and
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death,</I> since they know not but they may light upon those that are
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most dear to them.</P>
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<P>
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II. Micah and his mother reconciled.
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1. The son was so terrified with his mother's curses that he restored
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the money. Though he had so little grace as to take it, he had so much
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left as not to dare to keep it when his mother had sent a curse after
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it. He cannot believe his mother's money will do him any good without
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his mother's blessing, nor dares he deny the theft when he is charged
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with it, nor retain the money when it is demanded by the right owner.
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It is best not to do evil, but it is next best, when it is done, to
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undo it again by repentance, confession, and restitution. Let children
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be afraid of having the prayers of their parents against them; for,
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though the curse causeless shall not come, yet that which is justly
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deserved may be justly feared, even though it was passionately and
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indecently uttered.
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2. The mother was so pleased with her son's repentance that she
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recalled her curses, and turned them into prayers for her son's
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welfare: <I>Blessed be thou of the Lord, my son.</I> When those that
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have been guilty of a fault appear to be free and ingenuous in owning
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it they ought to be commended for their repentance, rather than still
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be condemned and upbraided for their fault.</P>
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<P>
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III. Micah and his mother agreeing to turn their money into a god, and
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set up idolatry in their family; and this seems to have been the first
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instance of the revolt of any Israelite from God and his instituted
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worship after the death of Joshua and the elders that out-lived him,
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and is therefore thus particularly related. And though this was only
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the worship of the true God by an image, against the <I>second</I>
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commandment, yet this opened the door to the worship of other gods,
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Baalim and the groves, against the <I>first and great</I> commandment.
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Observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. The mother's contrivance of this matter. When the silver was
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restored she pretended she had <I>dedicated it to the Lord</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+17:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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either before it was stolen, and then she would have this thought to be
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the reason why she was so much grieved at the loss of it and imprecated
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evil on him that had taken it, because it was a dedicated and therefore
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an accursed thing, or after it was stolen she had made a vow that, if
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she could retrieve it, she would dedicate it to God, and then she would
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have the providence that had so far favoured her as to bring it back to
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her hands to be an owning of her vow. "Come," said she to her son, "the
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money is mine, but thou hast a mind to it; let it be neither mine nor
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thine, but let us both agree to make it into an image for a religious
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use." Had she put it to a use that was indeed for the service and
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honour of God, this would have been a good way of accommodating the
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matter between them; but, as it was, the project was wicked. Probably
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this old woman was one of those that came out of Egypt, and would have
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such images made as she had seen there; now that she began to dote she
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called to remembrance the follies of her youth, and perhaps told her
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son that this way of worshipping God by images was, to her knowledge,
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the old religion.</P>
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<P>
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2. The son's compliance with her. It should seem, when she first
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proposed the thing he stumbled at it, knowing what the second
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commandment was; for, when she said
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+17:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>)
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she designed it for her son to make an image of, yet he restored it to
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his mother (being loth to have a hand in making the image), and she
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gave it to the founder and had the thing done, blaming him perhaps for
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scrupling at it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+17:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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But, when the images were made, Micah, by his mother's persuasion, was
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not only well reconciled to them, but greatly pleased and in love with
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them; so strangely bewitching was idolatry, and so much supported by
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<I>traditions received from their parents,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+1:18,Jer+44:17">1 Pet. i. 18; Jer. xliv. 17</A>.
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But observe how the old woman's covetousness prevailed, in part, above
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her superstition. She had wholly dedicated the silver to make the
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graven and molten images
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+17:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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all the 1100 pieces; but, when it came to be done, she made less than a
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fifth part serve, even 200 <I>shekels,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+17:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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She thought that enough, and indeed it was too much to give for an
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image that is a teacher of lies. Had it been devoted truly to the
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honour of God, he would not thus have been put off with part of the
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price, but would have signified his resentment of the affront, as he
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did in the case of Ananias and Sapphira. Now observe,</P>
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<P>
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(1.) What was the corruption here introduced,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+17:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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The man Micah had <I>a house of gods, a house of God,</I> so the LXX.,
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for so he thought it, as good as that at Shiloh, and better, because
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his own, of his own inventing and at his own disposal; for people love
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to have their religion under their girdle, to manage it as they please.
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<I>A house of error,</I> so the Chaldee, for really it was so, a
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deviation from the way of truth and an inlet to all deceit. Idolatry is
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a great cheat, and one of the worst of errors. That which he aimed at
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in the progress of his idolatry, whether he designed it at first or no,
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was to mimic and rival both God's oracles and his ordinances.
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[1.] His oracles; for he made <I>teraphim,</I> little images which he
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might advise with as there was occasion, and receive informations,
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directions, and predictions from. What the <I>urim</I> and
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<I>thummim</I> were to the prince and people these <I>teraphim</I>
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should be to his family; yet he could not think that the true God would
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own them, or give answers by them, and therefore depended upon such
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demons as the heathen worshipped to inspire them and make them
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serviceable to him. Thus, while the honour of Jehovah was pretended
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+17:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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yet, his institution being relinquished, these Israelites unavoidably
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lapsed into downright idolatry and demon-worship.
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[2.] His ordinances. Some room or apartment in the house of Micah was
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appointed for the temple or house of God; an ephod, or holy garment,
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was provided for his priest to officiate in, in imitation of those used
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at the tabernacle of God, and one of his sons he consecrated, probably
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the eldest, to be his priest. And, when he had set up a graven or
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molten image to represent the object of his worship, no marvel if a
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priest of his own getting and his own making served to be the manager
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of it. Here is no mention of any altar, sacrifice, or incense, in
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honour of these silver gods, but, having a priest, it is probable he
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had all these, unless we suppose that, at first, his gods were intended
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only to be advised with, not to be adored, like Laban's teraphim; but
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the beginning of idolatry, as of other sins, is <I>like the letting
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forth of water:</I> break the dam, and you bring a deluge. Here
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idolatry began, and it spread like a fretting leprosy. Dr. Lightfoot
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would have us observe that as 1100 pieces of silver were here devoted
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to the making of an idol, which ruined religion, especially in the
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tribe of Dan (as we shall presently find), which was Samson's tribe, so
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1100 pieces of silver were given by each Philistine lord for the ruin
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of Samson.</P>
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<P>
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(2.) What was the cause of this corruption
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+17:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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<I>There was no king in Israel,</I> no judge or sovereign prince to
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take cognizance of the setting up of these images (which, doubtless,
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the country about soon resorted to), and to give orders for the
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destroying of them, none to convince Micah of his error and to restrain
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and punish him, to take this disease in time, by which the spreading of
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the infection might have been happily prevented. Every man did that
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which was <I>right in his own eyes,</I> and then they soon did that
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which was <I>evil in the sight of the Lord.</I> When they were without
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a king to keep good order among them, God's house was forsaken, his
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priests were neglected, and all went to ruin among them. See what a
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mercy government is, and what reason there is that not only <I>prayers
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and intercessions, but giving of thanks,</I> should <I>be made for
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kings and all in authority,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+2:1,2">1 Tim. ii. 1, 2</A>.
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Nothing contributes more, under God, to the support of religion in the
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world, than the due administration of those two great ordinances,
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magistracy and ministry.</P>
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<A NAME="Jud17_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud17_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud17_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud17_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud17_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud17_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jud17_13"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>7 And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah of the family
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of Judah, who <I>was</I> a Levite, and he sojourned there.
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8 And the man departed out of the city from Beth-lehem-judah to
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sojourn where he could find <I>a place:</I> and he came to mount
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Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.
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9 And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto
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him, I <I>am</I> a Levite of Beth-lehem-judah, and I go to sojourn where
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I may find <I>a place.</I>
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10 And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a
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father and a priest, and I will give thee ten <I>shekels</I> of silver
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by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the
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Levite went in.
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11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the
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young man was unto him as one of his sons.
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12 And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became
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his priest, and was in the house of Micah.
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13 Then said Micah, Now know I that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> will do me good,
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seeing I have a Levite to <I>my</I> priest.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here an account of Micah's furnishing himself with a Levite for
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his chaplain, either thinking his son, because the heir of his estate,
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too good to officiate, or rather, because not of God's tribe, not good
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enough. Observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. What brought this Levite to Micah. By his mother's side he was of
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the family of Judah, and lived at Bethlehem among his mother's
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relations (for that was not a Levites' city), or, upon some other
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account, as a stranger or inmate, sojourned there,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+17:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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Thence he went to <I>sojourn where he could find a place,</I> and in
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his travels came to the house of Micah in Mount Ephraim,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+17:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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Now,
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1. Some think it was his unhappiness that he was under a necessity of
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removing, either because he was persecuted and abused, or rather
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neglected and starved, at Bethlehem. God had made plentiful provision
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for the Levites, but the people withheld their dues, and did not help
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them into the possession of the cities assigned to them; so that they
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were reduced to straits, and no care was taken for their relief.
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Israel's forsaking God began with forsaking the Levites, which
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therefore they are warned against,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+12:19">Deut. xii. 19</A>.
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It is a sign religion is going to decay when good ministers are
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neglected and at a loss for a livelihood. But,
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2. It seems rather to have been his fault and folly, that he loved to
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wander, threw himself out where he was, and forfeited the respect of
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his friends, and, having a roving head, would go to seek his fortune,
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as we say. We cannot conceive that things had yet come to such a pass
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among them that a Levite should be poor, unless it was his own fault.
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As those are fit to be pitied that would fix but may not, so those are
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fit to be punished that might fix but will not. Unsettledness being,
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one would think, a constant uneasiness, it is strange that any
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Israelite, especially any Levite, should affect it.</P>
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<P>
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II. What bargain Micah made with him. Had he not been well enough
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content with his son for his priest, he would have gone or sent abroad
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to enquire out a Levite, but now he only takes hold of one that drops
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into his hands, which showed that he had no great zeal in the matter.
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It is probable that this rambling Levite had heard, in the country, of
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Micah's house of <I>gods, his graven and molten image,</I> which, if he
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had had any thing of the spirit of a Levite in him, would have brought
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him thither to reprove Micah for his idolatry, to tell how directly
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contrary it was to the law of God, and how it would bring the judgments
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of God upon him; but instead of this, like a base and degenerate branch
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of that sacred tribe, thither he goes to offer his service, with,
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<I>Have you any work for a Levite?</I> for I am out of business, and
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<I>go to sojourn where I may find a place;</I> all he aimed at was to
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get bread, not to do good,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+17:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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Micah courts him into his family
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+17:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
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and promises him,
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1. Good preferment: <I>Be unto me a father and a priest.</I> Though a
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young man, and taken up at the door, yet, if he take him for a priest,
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he will respect him as a father, so far is he from setting him among
|
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his servants. He asks not for his credentials, takes no time to enquire
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how he behaved in the place of his last settlement, considers not
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whether, though he was a Levite, yet he might not be of such a bad
|
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character as to be a plague and scandal to his family, but thinks,
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though he should be ever so great a rake, he might serve for a priest
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to a graven image, like Jeroboam's priest of the <I>lowest of the
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people,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+12:31">1 Kings xii. 31</A>.
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No marvel if those who can make any thing serve for a god can also make
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any thing serve for a priest.
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2. A tolerable maintenance. He will allow him <I>meat, and drink, and
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clothes,</I> a <I>double suit,</I> so the word is in the margin, a
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better and a worse, one for every day's wear and one for holy days, and
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ten shekels, about twenty-five shillings, a year for spending money--a
|
|
poor salary in comparison of what God provided for the Levites that
|
|
behaved well; but those that forsake God's service will never better
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|
themselves, nor find a better master. The ministry is the best calling
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but the worst trade in the world.</P>
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<P>
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III. The Levite's settlement with him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+17:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
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He was <I>content to dwell with the man;</I> though his work was
|
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superstitious and his wages were scandalous, he objected against
|
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neither, but thought himself happy that he had lighted on so good a
|
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house. Micah, thinking himself holier than any of his neighbours,
|
|
presumed to consecrate this Levite,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+17:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
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As if his building, furnishing, and endowing this chapel authorized
|
|
him, not only to appoint the person that should officiate there, but to
|
|
confer those orders upon him which he had no right to give nor the
|
|
other to receive. And now he shows him respect as a father and
|
|
tenderness as a son, and is willing thus to make up the deficiency of
|
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the coin he gave him.</P>
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<P>
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IV. Micah's satisfaction in this
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+17:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
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<I>Now know I that the Lord will do me good</I> (that is, he hoped that
|
|
his new establishment would gain reputation among his neighbours, which
|
|
would turn to his advantage, for he would share in the profit of his
|
|
altar; or, rather, he hoped that God would countenance and bless him in
|
|
all he put his hand unto) <I>because I have a Levite to be my
|
|
priest.</I>
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|
1. He thought it was a sign of God's favour to him and his images that
|
|
he had so opportunely sent a Levite to his door. Thus those who please
|
|
themselves with their own delusions, if Providence unexpectedly bring
|
|
any thing to their hands that furthers them in their evil way, are too
|
|
apt to infer thence that God is pleased with them.
|
|
|
|
2. He thought now that the error of his priesthood was amended all was
|
|
well, though he still retained his graven and molten image. Note, Many
|
|
deceive themselves into a good opinion of their state by a partial
|
|
reformation. They think they are as good as they should be, because,
|
|
in some one particular instance, they are not so bad as they have been,
|
|
as if the correcting of one fault would atone for their persisting in
|
|
all the rest.
|
|
|
|
3. He thought the making of a Levite into a priest was a very
|
|
meritorious act, which really was a presumptuous usurpation, and every
|
|
provoking to God. Men's pride, and ignorance, and self-flattery, will
|
|
undertake, not only to justify, but magnify and sanctify, the most
|
|
daring impieties and invasions upon the divine prerogatives. With much
|
|
reason might Micah have said, "Now may I fear that God will curse me,
|
|
because I have debauched one of his own tribe, and drawn him into the
|
|
worship of a graven image;" yet for this he hopes God will do him good.
|
|
|
|
4. He thought that having a Levite in the house with him would of
|
|
course entitle him to the divine favour. Carnal hearts are apt to build
|
|
too much upon their external privileges, and to conclude that God will
|
|
certainly do them good because they are born of godly parents, dwell in
|
|
praying families, are linked in society with those that are very good,
|
|
and sit under a lively ministry; whereas all this is but like having a
|
|
Levite to be their priest, which amounts to no security at all that God
|
|
will do them good, unless they be good themselves, and make a good use
|
|
of these advantages.</P>
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