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.

Biblical narrative

The narrative, as it stands in Judges 17, states that a man named Micah, who lived in the region of the Tribe of Ephraim, stole 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.