Juges 17

¹ There was a man from the hill country of Ephraim named Micah.

² He said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver taken from you, and that I heard you place a curse on — here’s the silver. I took it.”
Then his mother said, “My son, may you be blessed by the Lord!”

³ He returned the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I personally consecrate the silver to the Lord for my son’s benefit to make a carved image and a silver idol. I will give it back to you.”

⁴ So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took five pounds of silver and gave it to a silversmith. He made it into a carved image and a silver idol, and it was in Micah’s house.

⁵ This man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household idols, and installed one of his sons to be his priest.

⁶ In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever seemed right to him.

Note · Juges 17.1–6

Restituer l’argent ne rend pas toute son utilisation fidèle

Le vol est avoué, la malédiction remplacée par une bénédiction et une image fabriquée. Le récit ne présente pas cette succession comme une restauration sans reste : l’éphod, les théraphim et la nomination du fils constituent un culte organisé à l’initiative de Mika. La phrase sur l’absence de roi situe cette entreprise dans le désordre que le livre interroge.

⁷ There was a young man, a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who was staying within the clan of Judah.

⁸ The man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah to stay wherever he could find a place. On his way he came to Micah’s home in the hill country of Ephraim.

⁹ “Where do you come from?” Micah asked him.
He answered him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I’m going to stay wherever I can find a place.”

¹⁰ Micah replied, “Stay with me and be my father and priest, and I will give you four ounces of silver a year, along with your clothing and provisions.” So the Levite went in

Note · Juges 17.7–10

La précarité du desservant rencontre l’intérêt du propriétaire

Le jeune Lévite cherche un lieu où vivre. Mika lui propose entretien, vêtements et salaire, en le nommant père et prêtre. Le besoin matériel n’est pas en lui-même condamné ; le problème se joue dans la relation à un culte privé dont le propriétaire attend une garantie pour sa propre maison.

¹¹ and agreed to stay with the man, and the young man became like one of his sons.

¹² Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in Micah’s house.

¹³ Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest.”

Note · Juges 17.11–13

Un statut religieux ne met pas Dieu à disposition

La présence du Lévite remplace celle du fils dans la fonction sacerdotale et donne à Mika une certitude de faveur. Cette certitude est sa propre conclusion, non une promesse divine transmise par le narrateur. Posséder un objet, rémunérer un ministre ou appartenir à une institution ne permet pas de traiter la bénédiction comme un résultat acquis.