Micah (MY-kuh) was an Israelite householder who set up his own place of worship. He lived in the hills of Ephraim (EE-fray-im). His story is in Judges 17–18. He is a different person from the later prophet whose words appear in the book of Micah.
Birth year: Unknown.
Death year: Unknown.
Active during: The period before Israel had kings, as the narrative describes it. His lifetime cannot be assigned secure calendar years from this account.
Home: The hill country of Ephraim; exact site unknown.
Role: Owner of a household shrine, a place set aside for worship.
Main passages: Judges 17–18.
Family and relationships
The account names neither his mother nor the son he first appointed as his priest. His mother supplied silver for an idol after Micah returned money he had taken from her. He later hired a young religious worker from Bethlehem to serve his household (Judges 17:1–12).
The hired priest belonged to the tribe of Levi, whose members had religious duties. Judges 18:30 names him Jonathan and connects his family to Moses; a textual note records a different spelling in some manuscripts. The people who took Micah’s worship objects belonged to the tribe of Dan.
What happened
Micah made a private place of worship containing religious objects and installed his son as priest. When the young traveler arrived, Micah offered him food, clothing and an annual payment to serve as priest. Micah then said he expected the Lord to be good to him (Judges 17:5–13).
Scouts from Dan visited the household. Later, armed men from their tribe took the objects and offered the priest a larger role. He went with them. Micah and his neighbors pursued, but threats and the group’s greater strength forced him to turn back (Judges 18:1–26).
The group later attacked a northern city, renamed it Dan, and established worship using Micah’s image there. The narrative connects one household’s shrine with a wider history of worship and violence (Judges 18:27–31).
What we do not know
The account does not describe the rest of Micah’s life, his death, or the exact appearance of his home and worship objects. Its position near the end of Judges does not establish an exact date. The portrait is an imagined historical illustration.
Explore the hill country and the map’s limits.
Read further
Judges 17–18, NIV; BiblicalTraining: Micah, the man in Judges.