171 There was a man named Micah, who lived in the hill country of Ephraim. 2 One day he said to his mother, "I heard you place a curse on the person who stole 1,100 pieces of silver from you. Well, I have the money. I was the one who took it." "The Lord bless you for admitting it," his mother replied. 3 He returned the money to her, and she said, "I now dedicate these silver coins to the Lord . In honor of my son, I will have an image carved and an idol cast." 4 So when he returned the money to his mother, she took 200Â silver coins and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into an image and an idol. And these were placed in Micah's house.
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.