There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim: Translators should find an appropriate opening for this new episode. Revised English Bible begins with “Once there was a man…,” which is a good model to follow. Good News Translation is similar with “There was once a man….” A man of the hill country of Ephraim indicates that this man came from the mountainous region of Ephraim, which was in the north central part of Canaan. For the hill country of Ephraim, see verse 2.9.

Whose name was Micah renders an independent clause in Hebrew, literally “and his name [was] Micah.” Translators may use idiomatic expressions to present this main character. There are two Hebrew forms of the name Micah used in this story: a short form Mikah (as in verse 17.5) and a longer one Mikayehu used here, meaning “Who is like Yahweh?” which makes the point that no one is like Yahweh. The meaning of the name can be included in a footnote, though it is not sure what the link is between this name and the events in this story.

A translation model for this verse is:

• Once there was a man called Micah living in the hill country of Ephraim.

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .