Judges 18:14-26
Summary for Judg 18:14-26: 18:14-26 a The perfidy and insincerity of this exchange expose the ignoble values of all concerned. 18:14 b sacred ephod ... household idols ... carved image ... cast idol: See study notes on 8:27 and 17:5.18:15 c Bypassing the host, the five unscrupulous scouts went straight to their target, the naive and unprincipled young Levite.
18:16 d The 600 armed warriors were prepared to attack the single Levite. In contrast to Gideon’s army of 300 arrayed against the Midianite hordes (7:2-11 e), the Danites were merely armed bullies.
18:18 f The priest’s rhetorical question was less an attempt to stop the theft than an expression of concern about his own future (cp. 18:20 g).
18:19 h Using Micah’s language (be a father and priest, 17:10 i), but without its generosity, the Danites’ question was moot in light of the 600 men standing at the door.
18:20 j The young priest was receptive to the offer; ignoring his generous benefactor, he joined in absconding with Micah’s prized objects. The blessing of Micah’s mother (17:3 k) was becoming ever more tarnished.
18:22 l Some of Micah’s neighbors had apparently become converts to the cult of his shrine.
18:23 m The question was only intended to cow Micah into abandoning the fight.
18:24 n Micah’s last speech is pathetic and pitiful. He began by stealing from his own mother and ended by losing it all to worse thieves than himself. The narrative drips with irony, including Micah’s loss of the gods I have made. His fate was that of all who forsake the Lord’s covenant: I have nothing left!
18:25 o short-tempered (literally bitter of soul; “in deep anguish,” 1 Sam 1:10 p; “discontented,” 1 Sam 22:2 q; “enraged,” 2 Sam 17:8 r): This term describes those whose bitter disappointment with life has made their actions unpredictable.
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