Judges 18:24

He replied, “You took the gods I had made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Micah confronts the Danite raiders as they flee with his carved idols and appointed priest. He speaks in direct response to their earlier demand for an explanation of his outcry. The words — עָשִׂ֨יתִי ('a.Si.ti) translates literally as “I made,” and לְקַחְתֶּ֧ם (le.kach.Tem) means “you have taken,” highlighting the personal theft of his self-constructed worship. The thread — Isaiah 44:18 parallels this dynamic by describing how idolaters lack comprehension and have their eyes shut by God, underscoring the spiritual blindness that accompanies self-made devotion. Why it lands — The text asks readers to examine what they treat as essential security, revealing that reliance on human-crafted substitutes ultimately leaves one defenseless and blind to reality.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וַיֹּ֡אמֶרva/i.Yo.merand/ he said אֶת־'et-<obj.>אֱלֹהַי֩'e.lo.Ha/igods/ my אֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-which עָשִׂ֨יתִי'a.Si.tiI made לְקַחְתֶּ֧םle.kach.Temyou have taken וְֽאֶת־ve./'Etand/ <obj.>הַכֹּהֵ֛ןha./ko.Henthe/ priest וַתֵּלְכ֖וּva./te.le.Khuand/ you have gone וּמַה־u./mah-and/ what?לִּ֣יl/i[belongs] to <the>/ meע֑וֹדodstill וּמַה־u./mah-and/ why?זֶּ֛הzehthis תֹּאמְר֥וּto.me.Ruare you saying אֵלַ֖י'e.La/ito/ me מַה־mah-what?לָּֽךְ׃La/kh[is] to <the>/ you

King James Version

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?

Cross-references

Habakkuk 2:18 What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it—or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.
Psalms 115:8 Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.
Isaiah 44:18 They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand.
Judges 17:13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest.”
Jeremiah 50:38 A drought is upon her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is a land of graven images, and the people go mad over idols.
Jeremiah 51:17 Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.
Ezekiel 23:5 Oholah prostituted herself while she was still Mine. She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians—warriors
Acts 19:26 And you can see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in nearly the whole province of Asia, this Paul has persuaded a great number of people to turn away. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all.
Revelation 17:2 The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and those who dwell on the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.”