171 And there was a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2 And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred [pieces] of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou didst utter a curse, and didst also speak it in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be my son of Jehovah. 3 And he restored the eleven hundred [pieces] of silver to his mother; and his mother said, I verily dedicate the silver unto Jehovah from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee. 4 And when he restored the money unto his mother, his mother took two hundred [pieces] of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and it was in the house of Micah.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Judges 17:1-4
Commentary on Judges 17:1-6
(Read Judges 17:1-6)
What is related in this, and the rest of the chapters to the end of this book, was done soon after the death of Joshua: see Judges 20:28. That it might appear how happy the nation was under the Judges, here is showed how unhappy they were when there was no Judge. The love of money made Micah so undutiful to his mother as to rob her, and made her so unkind to her son, as to curse him. Outward losses drive good people to their prayers, but bad people to their curses. This woman's silver was her god, before it was made into a graven or a molten image. Micah and his mother agreed to turn their money into a god, and set up idol worship in their family. See the cause of this corruption. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes, and then they soon did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.