Judges 17:6

_IN THOSE DAYS THERE WAS NO KING IN ISRAEL, BUT EVERY MAN DID THAT WHICH WAS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES._ Every man did that which was right in his own eyes. From the lack of a settled government, there was no one to call him to account. No punishment followed any crime. But in this case of Micah, there was no rejection of Yahweh as his God (Judges 17:3); the images were designed to aid their worship, and the priest, the ephod, and the teraphim indicated a wish on his part to assimilate his remote sanctuary to that of the tabernacle at Shiloh, as far as his views would admit. But the teraphim were idolatrous (cf. Hosea 3:4; Zechariah 10:2 with...

1-6 What is related in this, and the rest of the chapters to the end of this book, was done soon after the death of Joshua: see chap. Judges 20:28. That it might appear how happy the nation was under the Judges, here is showed how unhappy they were when there was no Judge. The love of money made Micah so undutiful to his mother as to rob her, and made her so unkind to her son, as to curse him. Outward losses drive good people to their prayers, but bad people to their curses. This woman's silver was her god, before it was made into a graven or a molten image. Micah and his mother agreed to turn their money into a god, and set up idol worship in their family. See the cause of this corruption. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes, and then they soon did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord....

Verse Judges 17:6. THERE WAS _NO KING IN ISRAEL_] The word מלך _melech_, which generally means _king_, is sometimes taken for a supreme _governor, judge, magistrate_, or _ruler_ of any kind; (see Genesis 36:31, and Deuteronomy 33:5); and it is likely it should be so understood here. _EVERY MAN DID_ THAT WHICH WAS _RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES._] He was his own governor, and what he did he said was right; and, by his cunning and strength, defended his conduct. When a man's own will, passions, and caprice, are to be made the rule of law, society is in a most perilous and ruinous state. Civil government is of God; and without it the earth must soon b

IN THOSE DAYS ... - This phrase, indicating distinctly that the writer lived after the establishment of the kingly government in Israel, is unique to the author of these last five chapters....

EXPOSITION JUDGES 17:1 We here light upon quite a different kind of history from that which has preceded. We no longer have to do with judges and their mighty deeds in delivering Israel from his oppressors, but with two detached histories, which fill up the rest of the book, relating to the internal affairs of Israel. There is no note of time, except that they happened before the time of Saul the king (Judges 17:6; Judges 18:1), and. that Phinehas the son of Eleazar was alive at the time of the occurrence of the second (Judges 20:28). Both, no doubt, are long prior to Samson. The only apparent connection of the h

IN THOSE DAYS THERE WAS NO KING IN ISRAEL,.... That is, no supreme magistrate, judge, or ruler, Joshua being dead and Caleb also, and the elders contemporary with them; for what the Samaritan Chronicle says l is without foundation, that Joshua a little before his death cast a lot in the presence of the congregation, to know who should govern after him, and the lot came to one Abel, of the tribe of Judah: [BUT] EVERY MAN DID THAT WHICH WAS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES; which accounts for the idolatry of Micah, there being no supreme magistrate to take cognizance of his sin, and restrain him from it, or punish him for it according to the law of God. l Apud Hottinger. Smegma Orient. p. 522....

III. THE APPENDIX: ISRAEL'S INTERNAL CORRUPTION 1. Micah's and Dan's Idolatry and Its Punishment CHAPTER 17 The Images Made and the Hired Priest _ 1. The stolen money restored and the images (Judges 17:1)_ 2. The Levite hired for a priest (Judges 17:7) The last five Chapter s of the book form an appendix. The events given did not occur after Samson's death, but they happened many years before. These Chapter s are not in chronological order but arranged in this way to teach the root of the evil and its results. This answers much, if not all, of the objections of the critics. These Chapter s reveal the internal corruption which existed in Israel during the different declensions. Idolatry and lawlessness are the two characteristic features. True worship and dependence on God is

MICAH'S GRAVEN IMAGE. The dread of a curse, uttered by an indignant mother against the unknown thief of her money, made the culprit, her own son, confess his guilt. At a certain stage of religious development, blessings and curses are supposed to have supernatural potency (p. 143). In this instance the mother made her curse still more effective by devoting the lost money to Yahweh. Judges 17:2 f. Change the order: I took it; now therefore I restore it to thee. And his mother said, etc. Judges 17:4. Comparing a graven image and a molten image with it was in the house and the graven image in Judges 18:30 f., we conclude that a molten image is throughout a later addition....

NO KING. First occurrence of four, See Judges 18:1; Judges 19:1; Judges 21:25. Two conform to the structure here; and two in chs. Judges 19:1, and Judges 21:25....

IN THOSE DAYS THERE WAS NO KING IN ISRAEL— That is to say, no supreme governor; and, consequently, a total anarchy prevailed, (see 2 Chronicles 15:3.) which words are inserted, not only as a reason why Micah set up this sanctuary at home, being afraid, through the deficiency of government, and the danger of the times, to go up to Shiloh; but also as a reason why he did it with impunity. _Note;_ (1.) Corruptions in the church arise from small beginnings; to avoid idolatry, we must keep from superstition. (2.) It matters little whether the idol be set up in the heart or the house; whatever alienates the affections from God leads us into idolatry. (3.) The reason is given why this conduct of Micah met with no reproof; there was no judge in Israel; and they must be bad days indeed when no magistrates restrain sin, and ministers are negligent to reprove it....