Passage

Judges 17

Book: Judges · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. And there was a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2. And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou didst utter a curse, and didst also speak it in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be my son of Jehovah. 3. 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. 4. And when he restored the money unto his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and it was in the house of Micah. 5. 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. 6. In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. 7. And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he sojourned there. 8. And the man departed out of the city, out of Beth-lehem-judah, to sojourn where he could find a place, and he came to the hill-country of Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. 9. And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a Levite of Beth-lehem-judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place. 10. And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten pieces of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in. 11. And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons. 12. And Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13. Then said Micah, Now know I that Jehovah will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest." (Judges 17:1-13, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2. He said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me. I took it.” His mother said, “May Yahweh bless my son!” 3. He restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, then his mother said, “I most certainly dedicate the silver to Yahweh from my hand for my son, to make an engraved image and a molten image. Now therefore I will restore it to you.” 4. When he restored the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to a silversmith, who made an engraved image and a molten image out of it. It was in the house of Micah. 5. 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. 6. In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did that which was right in his own eyes. 7. There was a young man out of Bethlehem Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he lived there. 8. The man departed out of the city, out of Bethlehem Judah, to live where he could find a place, and he came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, as he traveled. 9. Micah said to him, “Where did you come from?” He said to him, “I am a Levite of Bethlehem Judah, and I am looking for a place to live.” 10. Micah said to him, “Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, a suit of clothing, and your food.” So the Levite went in. 11. The Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was to him as one of his sons. 12. Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13. Then Micah said, “Now know I that Yahweh will do good to me, since I have a Levite as my priest.”" (Judges 17:1-13, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2. And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son. 3. 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. 4. Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah. 5. 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. ^{consecrated: Heb. filled the hand} 6. In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. 7. And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. 8. And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehemjudah to sojourn where he could find a place: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. ^{as he: Heb. in making his way} 9. And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a Levite of Bethlehemjudah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place. 10. And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in. ^{a suit: or, a double suit, etc: Heb. an order of garments} 11. And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons. 12. And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13. Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest." (Judges 17:1-13, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. And there is a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, and his name [is] Micah, 2. and he saith to his mother, 'The eleven hundred silverlings which have been taken of thine, and [of which] thou hast sworn, and also spoken in mine ears; lo, the silver [is] with me, I have taken it;' and his mother saith, 'Blessed [is] my son of Jehovah.' 3. And he giveth back the eleven hundred silverlings to his mother, and his mother saith, 'I had certainly sanctified the silver to Jehovah, from my hand, for my son, to make a graven image, and a molten image; and now, I give it back to thee.' 4. And he giveth back the money to his mother, and his mother taketh two hundred silverlings, and giveth them to a refiner, and he maketh them a graven image, and a molten image, and it is in the house of Micah. 5. As to the man Micah, he hath a house of gods, and he maketh an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrateth the hand of one of his sons, and he is to him for a priest; 6. in those days there is no king in Israel, each that which is right in his own eyes doth. 7. And there is a young man of Beth-Lehem-Judah, of the family of Judah, and he [is] a Levite, and he [is] a sojourner there. 8. And the man goeth out of the city, out of Beth-Lehem-Judah, to sojourn where he doth find, and cometh to the hill-country of Ephraim, unto the house of Micah, to work his way. 9. And Micah saith to him, 'Whence comest thou?' and he saith unto him, 'A Levite [am] I, of Beth-Lehem-Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I do find.' 10. And Micah saith to him, 'Dwell with me, and be to me for a father and for a priest, and I give to thee ten silverlings for the days, and a suit of garments, and thy sustenance;' and the Levite goeth [in]. 11. And the Levite is willing to dwell with the man, and the young man is to him as one of his sons. 12. And Micah consecrateth the hand of the Levite, and the young man is to him for a priest, and he is in the house of Micah, 13. and Micah saith, 'Now I have known that Jehovah doth good to me, for the Levite hath been to me for a priest.'" (Judges 17:1-13, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Negative-Example Narratives in Judges

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.