And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest.
The verse records the Levite's explanation that Micah had hired him and made him his priest. The young Levite served as Micah's household priest in return for provisions, clothing, and an annual payment. The appointment was irregular, since Micah had no authority to consecrate him to priestly service. His service was as priest in the worship of Micah's idols.
The verse belongs to one of the book's two concluding accounts, the story of the building of the sanctuary at Dan. Chapters 17-21 record events from the early part of the history of the judges and are placed out of chronological order, with the continuous story of the book really ending with chapter 16. The closing chapters record Israel's backsliding, disgrace, and punishment, and chapter 18 is cited as evidence of the gross immorality prevailing when people did what seemed right in their own eyes. They describe deeply troubled conditions marked by unsatisfactory leadership and only partial deliverance.
Chapter 18 shows the tribe of Dan's first apostasy, which is suggested as a reason Dan was omitted from the tribes sealed in Revelation 7. The priest and the idols were later taken by the Danites to Laish, where they established idolatrous worship in the city they renamed Dan, and this existing practice made it easier for Jeroboam to set up a golden calf there. As part of Israel's backsliding, the passage gives no permission to do the same with impunity.
The verse records the Levite's explanation that Micah had hired him and made him his priest. The young Levite served as Micah's household priest in return for provisions, clothing, and an annual payment. The appointment was irregular, since Micah had no authority to consecrate him to priestly service. His service was as priest in the worship of Micah's idols.
The verse belongs to one of the book's two concluding accounts, the story of the building of the sanctuary at Dan. Chapters 17-21 record events from the early part of the history of the judges and are placed out of chronological order, with the continuous story of the book really ending with chapter 16. The closing chapters record Israel's backsliding, disgrace, and punishment, and chapter 18 is cited as evidence of the gross immorality prevailing when people did what seemed right in their own eyes. They describe deeply troubled conditions marked by unsatisfactory leadership and only partial deliverance.
Chapter 18 shows the tribe of Dan's first apostasy, which is suggested as a reason Dan was omitted from the tribes sealed in Revelation 7. The priest and the idols were later taken by the Danites to Laish, where they established idolatrous worship in the city they renamed Dan, and this existing practice made it easier for Jeroboam to set up a golden calf there. As part of Israel's backsliding, the passage gives no permission to do the same with impunity.