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Judges 18

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The Danites Seek New Territory 1–6

1
In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel. ​
2
And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their whole number, men of valor, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land. And they came to the hill-country of Ephraim, unto the house of Micah, and lodged there. ​
3
When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite; and they turned aside thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what doest thou in this place? and what hast thou here? ​
4
And he said unto them, Thus and thus hath Micah dealt with me, and he hath hired me, and I am become his priest.
5
And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous. ​
6
And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before Jehovah is your way wherein ye go. ​

The Spies Discover Vulnerable Laish 7–10

7
Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was none in the land, possessing authority, that might put them to shame in anything, and they were far from the Sidonians, and had no dealings with any man. ​
8
And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them, What say ye?
9
And they said, Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go and to enter in to possess the land.
10
When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and the land is large; for God hath given it into your hand, a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth. ​

Six Hundred Danites Set Out 11–13

11
And there set forth from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men girt with weapons of war.
12
And they went up, and encamped in Kiriath-jearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan, unto this day; behold, it is behind Kiriath-jearim. ​
13
And they passed thence unto the hill-country of Ephraim, and came unto the house of Micah.

The Danites Steal Micah's Idols and Priest 14–26

14
Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do. ​
15
And they turned aside thither, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and asked him of his welfare.
16
And the six hundred men girt with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate.
17
And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men girt with weapons of war.
18
And when these went into Micah’s house, and fetched the graven image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image, the priest said unto them, What do ye?
19
And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thy hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be priest unto the house of one man, or to be priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel? ​
20
And the priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people. ​
21
So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the goods before them.
22
When they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses near to Micah’s house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan.
23
And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company?
24
And he said, ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and are gone away, and what have I more? and how then say ye unto me, What aileth thee? ​
25
And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household.
26
And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his house.

Conquest of Laish and Establishment of Dan 27–31

27
And they took that which Micah had made, and the priest whom he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people quiet and secure, and smote them with the edge of the sword; and they burnt the city with fire.
28
And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by Beth-rehob. And they built the city, and dwelt therein. ​
29
And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first. ​
30
And the children of Dan set up for themselves the graven image; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land. ​
31
So they set them up Micah’s graven image which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Judges 18

Verse 1

sought them an inheritance — Dan had an allotted portion, but 'the coast of the children of Dan went out too little for them' (Josh 19:47), and the Amorites 'forced the children of Dan into the mountain' (1:34). The tribe still lacks a settled place 'unto that day'. The refrain of 17:6 opens the account of how the tribe found one.

Verse 2

five men from their coasts, men of valour — They come from Zorah and Eshtaol, the towns between which Samson lay buried (16:31). Their errand follows the pattern of Moses' order, 'Send thou men, that they may search the land' (Num 13:2). They lodge at the house of Micah on the way.

Verse 3

they knew the voice of the young man the Levite — The text gives only that they knew his voice, not how. Their three questions, 'Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here?', draw out the shrine and the priesthood of 17:5–13, which the Danites will later take.

Verse 5

Ask counsel… of God — Shaal, to inquire. In 20:18 Israel 'asked counsel of God' at the house of God, and the reply begins 'the LORD said'. Here the question goes to the priest of Micah's ephod (17:5), and the Danites ask whether their way 'shall be prosperous' (tsalach, to succeed).

Verse 6

Go in peace: before the LORD is your way — 'Go in peace' is a blessing (cf. 1 Sam 1:17), and 'before' is nokach, in front of: the road lies in the LORD's sight. The priest uses the LORD's name, but the reply carries no 'the LORD said', as the answers of 20:18, 23 and 28 do.

Verse 7

Laish — The city that Josh 19:47 calls Leshem. The people 'dwelt careless', 'quiet and secure'. 'Quiet' is shaqat, the word for the rest of the land after a deliverer (3:11; 5:31), and here it describes a people the Danites are about to attack. Their safety lay in being 'far from the Zidonians'.

Verse 10

God hath given it into your hands — The wording is that of conquest: 'the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the land' (Josh 2:24). The spies speak of 'God' (elohim), not the LORD, and report a 'large land' with no 'want of any thing'. The assurance follows the priest's reply (v.6).

Verse 12

Mahanehdan — The name is the Hebrew for 'camp of Dan', the words of 13:25, where the Spirit of the LORD 'began to move him' between Zorah and Eshtaol. Here it names the place 'behind Kirjathjearim', the town where the ark of the LORD later stayed twenty years (1 Sam 7:1–2).

Verse 14

an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image — The spies list the objects of Micah's shrine, the ephod and teraphim of 17:5 and the two images paid for in 17:3–4. 'In these houses' refers to the cluster of homes 'near to Micah's house' (v.22). 'Consider what ye have to do' leaves the decision to the tribe.

Verse 19

lay thine hand upon thy mouth — A gesture of silence, as in Job 40:4 and Prov 30:32. The Danites repeat Micah's own terms, 'be to us a father and a priest' (17:10), and add a comparison of 'one man' with 'a tribe and a family in Israel'. The priest is offered a larger house than Micah's.

Verse 20

the priest's heart was glad — Literally his heart 'was good', using yatab, the verb of Micah's 'the LORD will do me good' (17:13). He takes 'the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image' himself and goes 'in the midst of the people'. The objects of his service are carried away with him.

Verse 24

my gods which I made — Micah's own words state what the shrine was: gods 'which I made'. Scripture's answer is 'Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?' (Jer 16:20), 'the work of men's hands' (Ps 115:4). He counts 'the priest' with them and asks, 'what have I more?'

Verse 28

no deliverer — The word is natsal, to rescue. The city's safety had been its distance: 'far from Zidon' and 'no business with any man', as in v.7. It lay 'in the valley that lieth by Bethrehob'. The Danites 'built a city, and dwelt therein' where they had 'burnt the city with fire' (v.27).

Verse 29

Dan — The city takes the name of Dan 'their father, who was born unto Israel', whose name came from Rachel's words, 'God hath judged me' (Gen 30:6). Its older name, Laish, is also given as Leshem in Josh 19:47. 'From Dan even to Beersheba' (20:1) later marks the northern end of the land.

Verse 30

Jonathan — The priest is named at last, and 'he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land'. The tribe 'set up the graven image' for its own worship. Dan is later one of the two places where Jeroboam set up a calf (1 Kgs 12:29).

Verse 31

all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh — The tabernacle was set up at Shiloh by 'the whole congregation' (Josh 18:1), and Elkanah went up there 'yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts' (1 Sam 1:3). Micah's image stood in Dan for the whole period.