1. There was a man from the high country of Ephraim. This formula signals the beginning of a story that does not involve a judge. The two narratives that unfold respectively in chapters 17–18 and 19–21 constitute a kind of epilogue to the Book of Judges, illustrating the general condition of moral and political anarchy in the period before the monarchy.

Micayhu. Later in the story, the name appears without the theophoric ending as “Micah.”

2. the eleven hundred silver shekels. Rashi shrewdly observes that this is the precise amount that each of the Philistine overlords paid Delilah: “The episodes are linked through the evil silver equal in amount, and in both cases it is a kind of silver that leads to disaster.”

you yourself uttered a curse. She pronounced a curse on whoever stole the silver.

look, the silver is with me. He evidently is frightened by the curse and so is ready to admit he has “taken” (he avoids saying “stolen”) the silver and will now give it back.

Blessed are you. Ehrlich suggests that by these words she seeks to reverse the curse.

3. to make a statue and molten image. Amit argues that this is a hendiadys—a statue that is a molten image, though in 18:20 they are separated syntactically by ephod and teraphim. In any case, although the mother dedicates the silver to the LORD, this expression has a strong association with idolatry.

and now I give it back to you. If the received text is correct, the silver passes back and forth: he takes it from her, gives it back to her; she gives it to him; he gives it back to her. This rapid exchange may be intentional: it is “hot” treasure, first stolen by the son from his mother, then earmarked for a questionable end.

4. two hundred silver shekels. Either this is the payment for the silversmith’s work and the remaining nine hundred shekels are used to fashion the statue, or she has quietly pocketed nine hundred, despite her pious vow.

5. an ephod and teraphim. These are both divinatory devices, the latter term used elsewhere to designate household idols. Micah is clearly setting up shop in his little house of God, probably with the intention of exacting payment for rendering sundry cultic services.

6. every man did what was right in his eyes. The last phrase here is the same one used in 14:3 by Samson in relation to the Philistine woman he sees in Timnah, but there it is translated as “pleases me” because the character is referring to a woman he finds attractive.

7. Bethlehem in Judah. There was another Bethlehem (“house of bread”) in Zebulun.

from the clan of Judah. This looks like a contradiction because he is a Levite. It has been proposed that the story harks back to an early moment in Israelite history when the Levites’ tribal identity may not have crystallized and “Levite” might be the designation of a cultic officiant.

sojourned. This is a term of temporary residence, and as the story unfolds, it is evident that the Levite is an itinerant.

10. father and priest. “Father” here means someone in a position of authority. In fact, the Levite is a “lad,” a generation younger than Micah, as one may infer from verse 12. Micah had already installed one of his sons to act as priest, but he prefers to have the Levite because he is a cultic professional (whether hereditary or not is unclear).

ten silver shekels a year. If this is a reasonable annual income, the amount of eleven hundred shekels would have been enormous.

And the Levite went. This brief clause (two Hebrew words) seems extraneous, and some textual critics propose deleting it.

12. and he was in Micah’s house. The blandness of the verb “to be” here—not “he dwelled/stayed” or “he sojourned”—introduces a hint of ambiguity about his relation to Micah’s house. In the event, he will betray Micah and move on.