Micah is delighted to hear the Levite’s response. He offers his home and a handsome salary to the Levite for his services as a priest. In some cultures this offer may be considered a positive act, but for the Israelites it went against God’s Law. God’s people were not supposed to set up their own places of worship.
And Micah said to him: This clause introduces Micah’s response to the Levite. In this context the Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And may be translated “Then” (New Revised Standard Version, New International Version) or “So.” Many versions omit it (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version).
Stay with me: The Hebrew verb rendered Stay (yashab) is not the same one translated “sojourned” in verse 17.7. This verb means “live” or “stay” in a place. With me suggests that Micah is asking the Levite to stay in his home. In biblical times and in many places in the world today, people live in big complexes with many family members. There are often multiple houses connected to the main one for guests and extended family. New International Version renders this clause as “Live with me,” and Contemporary English Version says “Why don’t you stay here with me?” which is a natural way of expressing this invitation in English.
And be to me a father and a priest: The verbal phrase be to me means “become for me.” We may say “you can act as my….” By asking the Levite to become a father for him, Micah is taking him as his spiritual leader and guide (compare Gen 45.8). Good News Translation says “adviser,” and Contemporary English Version is more explicit: “You can be my priest and tell me what God wants me to do.” However, it seems better to keep the word father if at all possible. There is certainly some irony here. verse 17.7 underlines the fact that this Levite is “a young man,” so in a certain sense this is reversing cultural norms of that era. Such a relationship, with the younger leading the elder, would be considered inappropriate and even ridiculous. More likely than not, the storyteller is trying to point out how foolish Micah was. Pushing even further, the narrator may be making a very subtle comparison between the courageous Deborah, a “mother” in Israel (verse 5.7), and this young man, who was anything but a heroic father figure. As the story unfolds, this person will show very little loyalty to Micah.
And I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, and a suit of apparel, and your living: Micah’s style of speech here shows exaggerated politeness. The Hebrew pronoun for I is emphatic, so we can begin this clause with “And I, I will give you…” or “As for me, I promise to give you….”
Micah promises ten pieces of silver a year to the Levite as a salary. Ten pieces of silver (literally “ten silver”) was about 110 grams (4 ounces) of silver (see verse 9.4). A year is literally “for the days,” which is an idiomatic expression meaning “each year.” It may be rendered “per year” ( NET Bible) or “Every year” (Contemporary English Version). The mention of silver brings to mind the episode between Micah and his mother, but also Delilah and the Philistines who offer her silver to betray Samson. Indeed, the next words referring to “a set of clothes” also seem to be a link to the Samson story.
A suit of apparel refers to “a set of clothes” (New Revised Standard Version; compare verse 14.12). In many cultures around the world, it is customary to give one set of new clothes every year to family members. In this case it is possible that Micah is giving priestly vestments, which would be quite expensive.
Your living is literally “that which will keep you alive,” which refers to food. Good News Translation and many other versions say “your food.” Revised English Bible condenses this phrase and the previous one, saying “food and clothes.”
The Hebrew text of this verse concludes with a clause that most commentators think should not be there. The clause is literally “And the Levite went/walked.” Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and Revised English Bible put this clause in a footnote, while New International Version and New American Bible omit it, with no footnote. However, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh keeps it by saying “The Levite went,” and so does Contemporary English Version with “The young man went for a walk.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project gives a {B} rating to this clause. Though it is possible the Hebrew verb here means the Levite agreed to the conditions offered by Micah, translators should probably omit this clause, including it, or not, in a footnote.
Translation models for this verse are:
• “Stay here with me,” Micah said. “Be my father and my priest. If you do, every year I will pay you ten silver coins, and give you your food and a set of clothes.”
• So Micah invited the Levite to stay with him to be his father and his priest. He promised to pay him ten pieces of silver per year, as well as to provide him with his food and a set of clothes.
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 .