Was Micah a high priest?

Question

In Judges 17:5 (NASB)

And the man Micah had a shrine and he made an ephod and household idols, and consecrated one of his sons, so that he might become his priest.

Was Micah a high priest?

Answer 1

Exodus 28:3 Tell all the skilled workers to whom I have given wisdom in such matters that they are to make garments for Aaron, for his consecration, so he may serve me as priest. 4These are the garments they are to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban and a sash. They are to make these sacred garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so they may serve me as priests.

Originally, the ephod was designed for the high priests only.

I don't think Micah was a high priest, even though he might think he was:

Judges 17:1 Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim ...

5Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest. 6In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Micah did what was right in his own eyes. I don't even think that Micah was a Levite. By chance, a real Levite did come by his way.

9“Where are you from?” Micah asked him.

“I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” he replied, “and I am on my way to settle wherever I can find a place.”

10“Stay with me,” Micah said to him, “and be my father and priest, and I will give you ten shekels of silverd per year, a suit of clothes, and your provisions.”

So the Levite went in 11and agreed to stay with him, and the young man became like a son to Micah.

12Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house. 13Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest.”

Now this real Levite replaced his son as a priest. Micah might see himself as some sort of high priest. By hiring a Levite, Micah puffed himself up as a false high priest in false religious worship of idols.

Answer 2

The short answer is "NO", for the following reasons:

1. There is nothing in the story of Micah to connect him to the legitimate priesthood.
2. The tenor of the whole story is about making an imitation ephod to legitimize the counterfeit priesthood.
3. The actual high priesthood was of the family of Eli, at the time.
4. The actual high priest was connected with the tabernacle at Shiloh with which this story has no connection.
5. The names associated with this story are somewhat derogatory as noted by Ellicott in his comments on Josh 17:2 -

A man of mount Ephraim.—The hill-district of Ephraim, as in Judges 2:9. The Talmud (Sanhedr. 103, b) says that he lived at Garab, not far from Shiloh, but the name (“a blotch”) is probably a term of scorn (Deuteronomy 28:27). Similarly, we find in Perachim, 117, a, that he lived at Bochi. (See Judges 2:1-5.)

Thus, not only do I see no connection with the legitimate high priesthood, but quite the opposite - Micah was a counterfeit priest.