Micah's Idol - in Classical Rabbinical Literature

In Classical Rabbinical Literature

Micah is variously identified in Classical Rabbinical Literature; some Rabbis consider him to be identical with Sheba, son of Bichri, and other with Nebat, the father of Jeroboam. The Rabbinical sources thus regard Micah as an appellation, and give it an etymology (not supported by modern linguists) where it means the crushed one, in reference to a haggadah narrative concerning the Biblical story of bricks without straw in the Moses cycle. In the haggadah narrative, the Israelites where so desperate to complete the task of making bricks, and simultaneously unable to do so, that they felt compelled to put their children in the brickwork where the bricks were lacking; Moses rescued one child, namely Micah, already crushed by the bricks above him, and restored him to life and health.

Classical Rabbinical sources all report that Micah was among The Exodus, but some Rabbinical sources state that it was believed that Micah took the idol with him from Egypt, while others argue that he only took the silver from which the idol was made. There is also a tradition that it was Micah who caused the golden calf to be made; in this tradition, Moses retrieved Joseph's coffin from the Nile by throwing a splinter with the words come up ox (comparing Joseph to an ox) into the river in the wilderness, and Micah retrieved the splinter after this, and threw it into the fire which Aaron had cast the gold into, causing a golden calf to come out.

Despite his clear idolatry, Micah was not treated as a completely negative figure, and was highly praised for his hospitality; in one rabbinical narrative, God prevents angels from casting down Micah's idol simply because of Micah's kindness.

Louis Ginzberg's classic The Legends of the Jews further mentions that Micah's mother was none other than Delilah, and that the Philistines bribed her with the 1,100 shekels for Samson's secret.