The levites name is never mentioned because he represented all levites. While the judges made their circuits, most people lived by their own rules. Levites were called to serve in the towns of the tribes, with no land of their own except for farms outside town. Not once in the main narrative of the book of judges are priests appealed to. Judges 18 commentary, one of over 110 bible commentaries freely available, this commentary, filling six volumes, provides an exhaustive look at every verse in the bible. The main difference between them is that lots daughters were surrounded by righteous men who protected them and valued their worth. The tribe of dan inspired by the book of judges a pray. Despite a few bad apple levites, most took their responsibilities seriously. The book of judges prepares the reader for the coming of david, gods king. The warriors eventually reached laish, which they put to the sword and burnt to the ground. Here are seven important bible verses from the book of first kings. The first conclusion chapters 1718 had to do with jonathan, the levite who sold out and became a personal priest for hire to micah, and then to the tribe of dan.
At bethel he created an order of nonlevite priests. The downward, cyclical nature of israels apostasy becomes more evident with the failure of the levites to act as priesty guardians. Levites had a home for themselves serving god and the people of god, but this man wanted to forge his own way and do what was right in his own eyes. The temple was built on the threshing floor that belonged to. Introduction deuteronomys twotiered justice system. The tribe of dan then rebuilt the town, named it dan, installed the idols, and made jonathan the son of gershom, and his descendants, the priest. On the other hand, if, as we believe, samuel authored the book of judges at a time in samuels life when the kingship of saul appeared to be a great success, that would have been the time when these chapters were needed, and it is the conclusion of this writer that it was precisely in those days that samuel wrote these chapters, and that they. The levites were themselves offered as a waveoffering on behalf of the children of israel num. What can we learn from the account of micah and the idol. May 24, 2016 here are seven important bible verses from the book of first kings. Despite their appearance at the end of the book, certain characters like jonathan, the grandson of moses and. Social order and unity are disintegrating the story of the levites concubine makes this patently obvious. Levites were overseers in building and the repairs of the temple. The circumstances of lots daughters and the story of the concubine in judges 19 are pretty much the same, yet the outcome is completely different.
I noticed that after the israelites entered canaan, at times levites not from aarons offspring claimed the title of priest, i. Judges existed right through the old testament period. History out of sequence judges 17 october 7 bible commentary. The levite s name is never mentioned because he represented all levites. What can we learn from the account of micah and the idol in judges. Read judges 18 commentary using matthew henry commentary on the whole bible complete. Considering what we know of ironage society, these probably convened in the available public spaces, which, at least in the case of fortified cities, meant the gates and. Judges 18 commentary matthew henrys complete commentary on. Christians often assume that judging ceased at the end of the book of judges, but that is not true. The torah relates that the dedication of the levites is carried out as commanded. This book of judges keeps repeating that israel had no king. Then the lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders.
Judges 17 commentary micah hires a levite to be his priest. Much of what follows is a summary of the more detailed discussion i offer in my forthcoming book, the levites and the boundaries of israelite identity. But the learned bishop patrick takes this to be an idle conceit of the rabbin, and supposes this jonathan to be of some other family of the levites. The judge in the book of judges that was least decisive was. According to the opening words of parashat shoftim, the lower tier consisted of local judges. The danites set up micahs idols and hired the levite, jonathan, the son of gershom, the som of moses to be their priest all the time when the house of god was located in shilog v. Faith, failure and a phenomenal god book of judges. Judges 1921 can still be considered one of the more richly drawn characters in the book of judges and perhaps in the hebrew bible as a whole. What did the levite do after his concubine became unfaithful to him and returned to her parents home. Jonathan lipnickjonathan lipnick believes that a truly comprehensive understanding of scripture must be capable of penetrating beneath the printed words to reveal the authentic world of the bible. Aug 21, 2007 judges 17 and 18 tell of an idol set up in the territory of dan by a man named micah, and the levite who served as its priest, named by judges 18. Judges 1718 judges 17 follows on the heels of the tragic story of samson, the failed judge. Jonathan is a figure appearing in the account of micahs idol in the book of judges, in which he is appointed as the priest of a shrine.
The tribes are fragmenting, and traditional law is being ignored this is the theme of the book of judges, in which the story of the levites concubine appears. The woman, who is from bethlehem but lives with a levite in the hill country of ephraim, north of jerusalem, is referred to in hebrew as the pilegesh of the levite. This earlier date allows for a three hundred year period of the judges. The grandson of moses the story of the first apostasy bible. If this speech is blasphemous, do you take him, and lead him to your synagogue, and judge him according. Micah thought it was a sign of gods favour to him and his images, that a levite should come to his door. In judg 1921, a levites concubine is raped and murdered in the territory of benjamin. An unexpected judahite delivers the israelites from their. The levite dismembers the concubines corpse and sends her twelve pieces throughout the land of israel. And if a man purchase of the levites, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, shall go out in the year of jubile. Sep 14, 2010 the circumstances of lots daughters and the story of the concubine in judges 19 are pretty much the same, yet the outcome is completely different. The bible identified jonathan as the son of gershom who was the son of moses judges 18. Judges overview ellicotts commentary for english readers. A young levite, from bethlehem in judah, who lived near micah some.
As i read judges, i am convinced that the same kinds of evil which plagued the israelites and all the rest of mankind in the period of the judges exist today. After phinehas, they did not furnish one national hero from their ranks. Thus those who please themselves with their own delusions, if providence unexpectedly bring any thing to their hands that further them in their evil way, are apt from thence to think that god is. From this verse, we cannot logically deduce that this jonathan is the same as the levite the danites had taken away from micah. Jonathan and his sons were the priests for the danites. History out of sequence judges 17 october 7 the last five chapters of judges are interesting as a group for, in addition to making no mention of particular judges, they appear to be incidental notices of israelite history that do not follow the general theme or time line of the rest of the book of judges. Thus those who please themselves with their own delusions, if providence unexpectedly bring any thing to their hands that further them in their evil way, are apt from thence to think that god is pleased with them.
Judges 17 and 18 record the story of a man named micah who built a shrine and worshiped humanmade idols. Berean study bible the danites set up idols for themselves, and jonathan son of gershom, the son of moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of dan until. The book of judges, sefer shoftim is the seventh book of the hebrew bible and. The book of judges depicts the life of israel in the promised land from the death of joshua to the rise of the monarchy.
Our portion begins with god instructing aaron, via moses, to kindle the menorah lamp in the tabernacle so that each light points towards the face of the menorah. Jun 02, 20 it is instructive to note that there exists a marked tension between traditions that represent prophets as yahwehs mediators and judges, such as those found in the books of samuel, and traditions that represent the priests, whether levites in general or solely aaronids, as yahwehs mediators and judges, such as we find in the deuteronomic. Judges 18 commentary matthew henrys complete commentary. Jonathan, the son of his old age, would be born sometime in the days of the judges. Childrens children are not always the crown of old men. This levite would replace his son as priest in his homemade tabernacle. The levite was jonathan the son of gershom and the grandson of moses 18. The story of micahs young priest is contiguous with the story of micah priest creating one story of a young levite searching and finding a job. Judges 17 commentary micah hires a levite to be his. The compiler would have had available earlier writings that he worked into his book, such as the song of deborah, the parable of jotham, and some of the utterances of samson.
Aug 01, 2017 i noticed that after the israelites entered canaan, at times levites not from aarons offspring claimed the title of priest, i. The bible does not say why he did not stay in one of the reserved levite cities in judahite territory, or why he abruptly left bethlehem and. But this episode already takes for granted that a levite is a cultic professional, and it says nothing about levites once having had land. By now in the book, we fully expect that this chapter will be introducing us to a new judge. Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. Judges 18 commentary matthew henry commentary on the. Levites were included in the exiles who returned to jerusalem during the restoration period. In all the book of judges, no mention is made of any of that tribe, but of the two levites here and in chapter 18. How many cities did the levites receive in joshua 21.
The book of judges, sefer shoftim is the seventh book of the hebrew bible and the christian old testament. He is the dean of the faculty of holy land studies at israel. Study the bible online using commentary on judges 18 and more. The story of the unnamed woman in judges 1920 is one of the most disturbing texts in the hebrew bible.
The book of ruth was originally a part of the book of judges, but in a. This is presumably the levite who has featured in the story, but his name had been withheld. Given his genealogy, jonathan would have been born not much later than than the death of joshua in about 50 bc. The menorah itself, we are reminded, is hammered from a single piece of gold. The episode in judges 17, in which a local chieftain employs a wandering levite as his personal sanctuary attendant, has been used to support this position. Events within the book of judges span the geographical breadth of the nation, happening in a variety of cities, towns, and battlefields. Book of judges overview insight for living ministries.
The levites, in turn, place their hands upon the bulls, which are then brought as a sin offering and elevation offering respectively. Judges 17 new revised standard version nrsv micah and the levite. In the narrative of the hebrew bible, it covers the time between the conquest described in the book of joshua and the establishment of a kingdom in the books of samuel, during which biblical judges served as temporary leaders. Judges 17 and 18 tell of an idol set up in the territory of dan by a man named micah, and the levite who served as its priest, named by judges 18. The details of this historys composition are still widely debated, but most scholars place its origins, or at least its final form, in the 6th century bce and the community of the babylonian exile. On the one hand, it is an account of frequent apostasy, provoking divine chastening. The grandson of moses the story of the first apostasy. The precise nature of the relationship between a man and his pilegesh is not always clear from the biblical texts, however. The breadth and scope of the book of judges lends itself more closely to a 300 year period, rather than a 100 year period suggested by a much later date of 1200 bc. The narrative of micahs idol, recounted in the book of judges, concerns the tribe of dan, their.
How long these corruptions continued we are told in the close. Patrick takes this to be an idle conceit of the rabbin, and supposes this jonathan to be of some other family of the levites. This would seem clearly to be a different gershom, but for a calligraphic oddity in the traditional text of the book of judges. Jan 10, 2014 jonathan and his sons were the priests for the danites. Thus those who please themselves with their own delusions, if providence unexpectedly bring any thing to their hands that further them in their evil way. Deuteronomy envisions the establishment of a twotiered justice system. And you shall come to the priests the levites, and to the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire. In davids time, six thousand levites were set aside to be officials and judges 1 chron 23. Mar 03, 2019 the downward, cyclical nature of israels apostasy becomes more evident with the failure of the levites to act as priesty guardians. What can we learn from the account of micah and the idol in. This is the final message in our series on the book of judges, and it is the second of two conclusions to the book of judges. But a time would come when he would travel to find a place of his. Judges 17 nrsv micah and the levite there was a man.
The book was compiled long after the events it records. And so it was that jonathan served among those in bethlehem. The role of the judge did not disappear when the kings became permanent military leaders. Young jonathan may have known, or heard, of the great general joshua. Judges forms part of deuteronomistic history, a theologicallyoriented history of israel from the entry into canaan to the destruction of the temple. The story was set down faithfully in the book of judges but in later manuscripts the transcribers, reluctant to perpetuate the association of their great lawgivers name with that of his apostate grandson, added the letter n to the name in judges 18. This man should not to be confused with the prophet micah. The book of judges acts as the sequel to the book of joshua, linked by comparable accounts of joshuas death joshua 24. Judges 18 commentary matthew henry commentary on the whole.
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