Judges 17:3-5

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Judges 17:3 tn Heb “dedicating, I dedicate.” In this case the emphatic infinitive absolute lends a mood of solemnity to the statement.
2. Judges 17:3 tn Heb “to the Lord from my hand for my son to make a carved image and cast metal image.” She cannot mean that she is now taking the money from her hand and giving it back to her son so he can make an image. Verses 4-6 indicate she took back the money and used a portion of it to hire a silversmith to make an idol for her son to use. The phrase “a carved image and cast metal image” is best taken as referring to two idols (see 18:17-18), even though the verb at the end of v. 4, וַיְהִי (vay^ehi, “and it was [in the house of Micah]”), is singular.
3. Judges 17:4 tn Heb “his mother.” The pronoun (“she”) has been substituted for the noun (“mother”) in the translation because of English style.
4. Judges 17:4 tn The Hebrew text has “and gave it.” The referent (the pieces of silver) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5. Judges 17:4 tn Heb “and it was in Micah’s house.”
6. Judges 17:5 tn Heb “house of God.”
7. Judges 17:5 sn Here an ephod probably refers to a priestly garment (cf. Exod 28:4-6).
8. Judges 17:5 tn Heb “and he filled the hand of one of his sons and he became his priest.”