b (7.e.) Didt Curſe the Perfon who had taken them away, and thatin my hearing, as it follows« c The fear of thy Curſe makes me acknowledge mine Offence, and beg thy Pardon. & Þ willing. ly conſent" to, and beg from God the removal of the Curſe, and 2 Bleſſing inſtead of it. Be thou free from my Curſe, becauſe tho haſt ſo honeſtly reſtored it.
3 And when he had reſtored the eleven hundred ſnekels of ſilver to his mother, his mother ſaid, I had wholly + dedicated che filver into the LORD e, from + Bey; my hand, for my fon fto make a graven image, and /:# ju, a molten imageg : now therefore 1 will reſtore it un- co thee h.
e In the Hebrew itis, Jehovoh, the incommunicable Name of God, Whereby it is apparent, that neither ſhe, nor her Son, intended to forſake the true God or his worſhip ; as appears from his rejoycing when he had got a Prieſt of the Lords appointment, of the Tribes of Levi, Judg. 17. 13. but only to worſhip God by animzge; which alſo it is apparent, that both the 1/raelites Exod. 52: 1, & And 5e- r050am afterwards deſigned tv do» f Fither. Firſt, for the hon-vr and benefit of thy ſe]fand Family; that you need not be continua!. ly going to Shiloh to worſhip, butmay do it as well at home by theſe Images. Or, Secondly, that thou maiſt cauſe theſe things to be made ; to which end, ſhe reſtored all the Money to him, as i: here follows. g Many think this was bur one Image, partly gra- ven, and partly Molten. But it ſeems more probable, that they were two diſtin& Images, becauſe they are ſo plainly diſtinguiſhed, Judg. i8: 17, 18. where alſo ſome other words come between them. It 1s true, the graven image alone is mentioned, Judg 18: 20, JO, Jt. not excluſively to the other, as appears from what is ſaid ju$ 1 ©. fore ; but by a common Synecdoche, whereby one is put for all ; Ay. where that one is eſteemed the chief. þ To diſpoſe of, as I ſay.
' 4 Yet he reſtored the money unto his mother 5, and his mother took two hundred ſhcels of filver &, and gave them to the founder, who made,thereof / a graven 1mage, and a molten image, and they were in the houſe of Micah.
; Though his Mother allowed him to keep it, yet he perſiſted in his reſolution to reſtore it,that ſhe mighr diſpoſe of it as ſhe pleaſed ; and did aQtually reſtore it, as was ſaid before; and now confirms the former Reſtitution, and therefore is twice ſaid to reſtore it, k Re« ſerving goo Shekets, either for the Ephod and Teraphim, or for other things relating tothis Worſhip ; or for her own private uſe; being, it ſeems, cooled in her firſt Zea!, and willing to have as cheap a Re- Iigion as ſhe could, as alſo her Son Micah was, Judg. 17: 10. | Made them, either, Firſt, of that Mattcr : Or, Secondly, for that money. 5 Andthe man Micah had an houſe of gods »», and made an f ephod » and * teraphim o,- and + conſecra- * 6s. ted one of his ſons, who became his prieſt p. Boe? 2 ( 7.e.) An Houſe or Place conſecrated for the Service of God in - ek this manner. » An eminent part of the Prieſtly Garments, Exod. - , fi 28: 4: which, ſome think, is here put for all of theme o Some ſort *** 9% of Images ſo called, of which ſec Gen. 3 i: 19; Hſe 3: 4+ þ Becauſe the Zevzres in that corrupt Eſtate of the Church, negl-&ed the Exer- ciſe of their Office, and therefore were negle&ed by the pcople, and others put into their Employment. Bur his kind of Prieſthood was condemned, Namb. 16: 40: and 18: 2, 7. 6 * In thole days there was no. Ring 9 in Irael, and Chy, every man did that which was right in his own eyes x, 18: 1: q ( fee.) No Judge to Govern and Controul them. The word King Ge 21: 25; being here uſed largely for a Supreme Magiſtrate; as Ger. 36« 31s Deut 33« 5. God raiſed up Judges to Rule and Deliver the people, when he ſaw fit; and at other times for their Sins he ſuffered them to be without them, and ſuch a time this was; and therefcre they ran into that Idolarry, from which the /udges uſually kept them ; as appears by that ſolemn and oft-repeated Paſſage in this Book, thatafter the death of ſuch or ſuch a Judge the people forſook the Lord, and turned te Idols. r ( z. e, ) Not what pleaſed God, but what beſt ſuited their own Fancy er Lufts. 7 © And there. was a young man out of Bethlchem- Judah s, of the family of Judah 7, who was a Levite, and he 1{ojourned there . s Or. of Bethlehem-Judah; ſo called here, as Matth, 2« 1, 5. to difference it from Bethlehem in Zebulun, Joſh. 19. 15. There he was born and bred. # (ee. ) Of, or belonging to the Tribe of Judah; not by Birth, for he was a Levire; nor by his Mother, for though that might be true, the Mother-ſide is not regarded in Genezlogies; but by his Habitation and Miniſtration. For the Lovites, eſpecial- ly in times of Confuſion and Irreligion, were diſperſed among all the Tribes; and this Mans Lot fell into the Tribe of Judah : which ſeems to be here noted by way of refle&ion upon that Tribe, and as an evidence of the general DefeQion, rhat a Levite could not find entertainment 1n that great and famous Tribe, which God bad put ſo much Honour upon, Gen. 49. 8, 9, 10, 11. and therefore was forced to wander and ſeek for ſubſiſterce elſewhere. u So he ex- prefſeth it, becauſe this was not the proper, nor uſual Place of his abcde, this being no Levitical City. 8 And the man departed out of the city from Beth- lehem-Judah, to fojourn where he could find a place x,
and he came to mount Ephraim, to the houſe of Mi-
cah Þ as he journeyed. t m_ x For employment and a livelihood ; for the Tithes and Offer- bi wats
ings, which were their maintenance, not being brought in to the Houſe of God, the Levites and Prieſts muſt needs be reduced to great ſtraits.
9 And Micah ſaid unto him, Whence comeſt thou ? and he ſaid unto him, I am a Levite of Bechlehem-Ju- || Or, ® | dah, and I go to ſojourn where I may find a place. guible ſu
ro And Micah faid unto him, Dwell with me, and &*: Ss be unto me a father and a prieſt y, and I will give thee f = f
- oraer 0 ten ſhekels of filver by the year, and || + a ſuit of ap- garments
parel, and thy viqtuals, Se the Levite went in, y Fc c
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fH ſm,
13Ps I,
1: 25;
Jobs . makin WA}\
Or, « . wble juhs Heb. a0
der of rr ments
T Chap: XVII.
' Chaps
3 UV D