Micah's Idol

The narrative of Micah's Idol, recounted in the Book of Judges, concerns the Tribe of Dan, their conquest of Laish, and the sanctuary that was subsequently created there.

The narrative, as it stands in Judges 17, states that a man named Micah, who lived in the region of the Tribe of Ephraim, possibly at Bethel. He had stolen 1100 silver shekels from his mother, but when his mother cursed about it he returned them. The mother then consecrated the money to Yahweh 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 an ephod and teraphim, 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 as sojourning, though it literally means resident alien) and was wandering the land, passed Micah's house, and so Micah responded by asking 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 from Zorah and Eshtaol, representative of their clans, to scout out the land (mostBiblical scholars now believe that the Tribe of Dan originated as one of the Sea Peoples, hence remaining on their ships in the early Song of Deborah, and not having Israelite land to their name, though conservative scholars argue that the Tribe of Dan were migrating due to being forced out of their original lands by the Philistines). 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 priestly intonation), 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 allied with the Sidonians but was too remote for the Sidonians to be able to offer practical protection. 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.

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