Micah's Idol and the Danites

Micah of the hill country of Ephraim returned eleven hundred silver pieces to his mother, which he had previously taken. His mother dedicated the silver to the Lord to make a carved image and a metal image. Micah then established a shrine, made an ephod and household gods, and installed one of his sons as a priest (Judges 17:1-5). Later, a young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah arrived at Micah’s house while traveling. Micah hired the Levite to be a father and a priest to him for ten silver pieces a year, a suit of clothes, and food (Judges 17:10). Micah stated that the Lord would prosper him because he had a Levite as his priest (Judges 17:13).

During this period, the tribe of Dan sought an inheritance for themselves because they had not yet received an allotment among the tribes of Israel. They sent five men to scout the land, and these men stayed at the house of Micah, where they recognized the voice of the young Levite. The scouts asked him what he was doing there, and the text does not say his specific internal motivation beyond Micah's hiring of him (Judges 18:2-4). The scouts continued to Laish, a city where the people lived in security, isolated from others. The scouts returned to their tribe and reported that the land was very good and lacked nothing (Judges 18:7-10).

Six hundred armed men from the tribe of Dan set out and stopped at Micah’s house. They took the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image. When the Levite questioned them, they told him to be silent and come with them to be a priest to a tribe and a clan in Israel rather than to one man's house. The priest was glad and went with them (Judges 18:18-20). Micah and his neighbors pursued the Danites, but when the Danites warned Micah that he was outnumbered, he turned back. The Danites then attacked Laish, burned the city, and rebuilt it, renaming it Dan (Judges 18:26-29).