Judges 17:4
2 said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have the silver here with me; I took it.” Then his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD!”
3 And when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I wholly dedicate the silver to the LORD for my son’s benefit, to make a graven image and a molten idol. Therefore I will now return it to you.”
So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into a graven image and a molten idol. And they were placed in the house of Micah.
5 Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.
6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into a graven image and a molten idol. And they were placed in the house of Micah.
- KJV
- 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.
- WEB
- When he restored the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to a silversmith, who made a carved image and a molten image out of it. It was in the house of Micah.
- ASV
- 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.
- DARBY
- Now he restored the silver to his mother; and his mother took two hundred silver-pieces and gave them to the founder, and he made of them a graven image and a molten image; and they were in the house of Micah.
- BLB
- And he returned the silver to his mother, and his mother took two hundred [shekels] of silver and gave them to the silversmith, and he made it into a carved image and a molten image, and they were in the house of Micah.
- ÅB
- Han gav da pengene tilbake til sin mor; og hans mor tok to hundre sekel sølv og gav det til en gullsmed, og for disse penger gjorde han et utskåret bilde med et støpt fotstykke; det var siden i Mikas hus.
- OTB
- Etter at han ga sølvet tilbake til sin mor, tok hun to hundre sølvstykker og ga dem til en sølvsmed, som laget dem til et utskåret bilde og et metallbilde, som ble plassert i Mikas hus.
- B1930
- Han gav da pengene tilbake til sin mor; og hans mor tok to hundre sekel sølv og gav det til en gullsmed, og for disse penger gjorde han et utskåret billede med et støpt fotstykke; det var siden i Mikas hus.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Isaiah 46:6–7
They pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales; they hire a goldsmith to fashion it into a god, so they can bow down and worship.
Read in contextJeremiah 10:9–10
Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz— the work of a craftsman from the hands of a goldsmith. Their clothes are blue and purple, all fashioned by skilled workers.
Read in context