| 5. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the narrative connector vehaish {וְהָאִ֣ישׁ | wə-hā-ʼîš} ‘and the man’, introducing mikha {מִיכָה | mî-ḵā} as the subject. The construct phrase lo beit elohim {לוֹ בֵּ֣ית אֱלֹהִים | lō bêyt ʼĕ-lō-hîm} ‘for him a house of gods’ indicates his possession of a private shrine for deities. The vav-consecutive verb vayaas {וַיַּעַשׂ | way-ya-ʿăṣ} ‘and he made’ governs a coordinated direct object composed of two cultic items: ephod {אֵפוֹד | ʾê-p̄ōḏ} ‘ephod’ and terap̄im {וּתְרָפִים | wə-tə-rā-p̄îm} ‘household idols’. Then vayemalle et-yad achad min-banav {וַיְמַלֵּא אֶת־יַד אַחַד מִבָּנָיו | way-ya-mallēʾ ʼet-yaḏ ʼaḥaḏ min-bā-nāw} ‘and he filled the hand of one from his sons’ expresses a Piel idiom for designating an office. The final clause vayehi-lo le-kohen {וַיְהִי־ל֖וֹ לְכֹהֵֽן | way-yehî-lō lə-kō-hên} ‘and he became for him as priest’ completes the portrayal of transferring cultic authority. |