There was a young man out of Bethlehem Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he sojourned there.
This young Levite decided to move elsewhere and during his travels met Micah who, desiring to "upgrade" his priesthood, invited him to live with him and become a priest to his family. Micah had been content to have his son function as his family priest, but a genuine Levite would be even better, Micah thought. Family priests had passed out of existence in Israel since God had set the tribe of Levi aside for priestly service (Exodus 32:28-29; cf. Numbers 3:12-13). Since Micah promised to support him financially, the Levite agreed to the arrangement that Micah proposed, which involved being a spiritual adviser to his patron. Micah proceeded to set the young man apart to his service (Judges 17:12) and superstitiously concluded that Yahweh would bless him since he had a Levite as his priest (Judges 17:13). He was wrong, as the following chapter shows.