Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 18:24
And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away: and what have I more? and what [is] this [that] ye say unto me, What aileth thee?
24. my gods which I made ] Cf. Gen 31:30 ff. E, a passage which shews several points of resemblance to the present. For my gods, Vulgate deos meos, we might render my God, offensive though the idea is to us; Micah was a worshipper of Jehovah, see on Jdg 17:5. The LXX paraphrases ‘my graven image.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 24. Ye have taken away my gods] As Micah was a worshipper of the true God, as we have seen, he cannot mean any kind of idols by the word elohai here used. He undoubtedly means those representations of Divine things, and symbols of the Divine presence such as the teraphim, ephod, c. for they are all evidently included under the word elohai, which we translate my gods.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
So far was he besotted with superstition and idolatry, that he esteemed those gods which were mans work. But he could not be so stupid as to think these were indeed the great Jehovah that made heaven and earth; but only a lower sort of gods, by whom, as mediators, he offered up his worship unto the true God, as it is manifest divers of the heathens did.
What have I more? I value nothing I have in comparison of what you have taken away. Which zeal for idolatrous trash may shame multitudes that call themselves Christians, and yet apparently value their worldly conveniences more than all the concerns even of the true religion, and of their own salvation.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And he said, ye have taken away my gods that I made,…. Meaning his graven and molten images, which he had made, or caused to be made, out of the silver his mother gave him, or however had paid for the making of; and though this might be an argument proving his right unto them, it was a very poor one in favour of their deity; and it is astonishing he should call them gods he knew the making of, and who could not save themselves from being stolen and carried off:
and the priest and ye are gone away; they had not only took away his gods, but the priest that sacrificed for him unto them, and assisted him in acts of devotion to them, or to God by them, and were gone off with both:
and what have I more? signifying, that all he had in the world, wife, children, and substance, were all nothing in comparison of these; there was nothing he so much valued as he did these, nor could he take any pleasure or comfort in anything, being deprived of them, so much was his heart set on them:
and what is this that ye say unto me, what aileth thee? what a question is this you ask, as if the injury done me was none at all, and that I had no reason to complain; that it was a trifling insignificant thing, worthy of no regard, when it was a matter of the greater moment and importance to him in life.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And when he replied, “ Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and have departed; what is there still to me (what have I left)? and how can ye say to me, What is to thee? ” they ordered him to be silent, lest he should forfeit his life: “ Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest men of savage disposition ( as in 2Sa 17:8) should fall upon thee (vid., Jdg 15:12; Jdg 8:21, etc.), and thou shouldst not save thy life and that of thy household, ” i.e., shouldst bring death upon thyself and thy family. is also dependent upon .
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(24) My gods which I made.He does not scruple to call the pesel and teraphim gods (his Elohim), any more than the idolater Laban had done (Gen. 30:31). The expression seems to be intended to show scorn for Micah; and perhaps it is from missing this element that the LXX. soften it down into my graven image, and the Chaldee to my fear. My gods which I made would be a very ordinary expression for the Greeks, who called a sculptor a god-maker (theopoios), but was startling on the lips of an Israelite. Micah pathetically asks What have I more? but we may well hope that his present loss was his ultimate gain, and that he found the true God in place of the lost gods which he had made.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
24. My gods This language of Micah shows that, however earnest and deep was his desire to serve and please Jehovah, his sanctuary and images had already carried him far towards idolatry.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And he said, “You have taken away my elohim that I made, and the priest, and you have gone away, and what have I more? And how then do you say to me, ‘What ails you?’ ” ’
Micah’s reply was bitter. He felt that he had lost everything. ‘Elohim’ probably means here ‘holy religious objects’. We remember how Laban called his teraphim ‘elohim’ (Gen 31:30), but it is doubtful if he saw them as strictly ‘gods’ in the strict sense. They were probably means of divination. We must also recognise that the writer disapproved of these religious objects of Micah’s, whatever they were, and would thus convey the idea of them in this way as false gods.
Micah also mentioned the priest. He felt as though he had lost a son. He probably did not know that the priest had betrayed him and left of his own accord. And he was annoyed at their provocative and nonchalant challenge.
It is clear that his house of God had been his whole life, even though he would shortly recognise that there was more to life than that. It is a warning that we should never let anything possess us but God Himself.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 18:24. Ye have taken away my gods, &c. The word rendered gods is elohim, which, as in other places, would be more properly rendered, my god; and must, undoubtedly, mean the symbol of the Divine presence; as we cannot conceive that Micah, who was a worshipper of Jehovah, could have been so absurd as to think that he could make his god.
REFLECTIONS.The priest, surprised to see the men return with his treasure, expostulates with them against the theft; but his complaints are easily silenced: no sooner do they propose to him to go along with them, and set in his view better wages and greater preferment, than he very readily consents to follow, and leave a private cure for a fee, little concerning himself about the charge, or the infamous means of his advancement. Note; (1.) When a priest’s heart is more anxious after his preferment, than concerned about the weight of his office, it is a sure sign that he serves an idol god. (2.) When a man chooses to minister for the salary, not the souls, he must scandalize his profession.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jdg 18:24 And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away: and what have I more? and what [is] this [that] ye say unto me, What aileth thee?
Ver. 24. My gods which I made. ] Goodly gods that were made by man, and could not save themselves from being stolen! See Isa 44:9 . So the breaden god among the Papists: together with their images, those carpenters’ chips, as Mrs. Cotismore called them. a
And what have I more?
a Act. and Mon., 763.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
what have: Jdg 17:13, Psa 115:8, Isa 44:18-20, Jer 50:38, Jer 51:17, Eze 23:5, Hab 2:18, Hab 2:19, Act 19:26, Rev 17:2
Reciprocal: Gen 31:30 – my gods Gen 40:7 – Wherefore Jdg 17:5 – an house of gods Isa 41:7 – goldsmith Isa 44:13 – that it may Isa 46:2 – but Eze 21:21 – images Dan 11:8 – their gods Hos 10:5 – for the people Mat 19:22 – he went Luk 18:23 – he was very sorrowful Rev 18:15 – shall
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jdg 18:24. My gods which I made Or, rather, my god, as the Hebrew word generally signifies, meaning the image, which he considered as a symbol of Gods presence with him; for he could not be so stupid as to think it to be the great Jehovah, who made heaven and earth, and whom he professed to worship, but merely as a medium through which he offered up his worship to him, as many of the heathen did. What have I more? I value nothing I have in comparison of what you have taken away. Which zeal for idolatrous trash may shame multitudes that call themselves Christians, and yet value their worldly conveniences more than all the concerns of their own salvation. Is Micah thus fond of his false gods? And how ought we to be affected toward the true God? Let us reckon our communion with God our greatest gain; and the loss of God the sorest loss. Wo unto us, if He depart. For what have we more?
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
18:24 And he said, Ye have taken away my {k} gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away: and what have I more? and what [is] this [that] ye say unto me, What aileth thee?
(k) This declares the opinion the idolaters have of their idols.