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Texts -- Judges 18:6-31 (NET)

Context
18:6 The priest said to them, “Go with confidence . The Lord will be with you on your mission.” 18:7 So the five men journeyed on and arrived in Laish . They noticed that the people there were living securely , like the Sidonians do, undisturbed and unsuspecting . No conqueror was troubling them in any way. They lived far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone . 18:8 When the Danites returned to their tribe in Zorah and Eshtaol , their kinsmen asked them, “How did it go?” 18:9 They said , “Come on , let’s attack them, for we saw their land and it is very good . You seem lethargic , but don’t hesitate to invade and conquer the land . 18:10 When you invade , you will encounter unsuspecting people . The land is wide ! God is handing it over to you– a place that lacks nothing on earth !” 18:11 So six hundred Danites , fully armed , set out from Zorah and Eshtaol . 18:12 They went up and camped in Kiriath Jearim in Judah . (To this day that place is called Camp of Dan . It is west of Kiriath Jearim .) 18:13 From there they traveled through the Ephraimite hill country and arrived at Micah’s house . 18:14 The five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish said to their kinsmen , “Do you realize that inside these houses are an ephod , some personal idols , a carved image , and a metal image ? Decide now what you want to do .” 18:15 They stopped there , went inside the young Levite’s house (which belonged to Micah ), and asked him how he was doing. 18:16 Meanwhile the six hundred Danites , fully armed , stood at the entrance to the gate . 18:17 The five men who had gone to spy out the land broke in and stole the carved image , the ephod , the personal idols , and the metal image , while the priest was standing at the entrance to the gate with the six hundred fully armed men . 18:18 When these men broke into Micah’s house and stole the carved image , the ephod , the personal idols , and the metal image , the priest said to them, “What are you doing ?” 18:19 They said to him, “Shut up ! Put your hand over your mouth and come with us! You can be our adviser and priest . Wouldn’t it be better to be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for just one man’s family ?” 18:20 The priest was happy . He took the ephod , the personal idols , and the carved image and joined the group . 18:21 They turned and went on their way, but they walked behind the children , the cattle , and their possessions . 18:22 After they had gone a good distance from Micah’s house , Micah’s neighbors gathered together and caught up with the Danites . 18:23 When they called out to the Danites , the Danites turned around and said to Micah , “Why have you gathered together ?” 18:24 He said , “You stole my gods that I made , as well as this priest , and then went away . What do I have left ? How can you have the audacity to say to me, ‘What do you want?’” 18:25 The Danites said to him, “Don’t say another word to us, or some very angry men will attack you, and you and your family will die .” 18:26 The Danites went on their way ; when Micah realized they were too strong to resist, he turned around and went home . 18:27 Now the Danites took what Micah had made , as well as his priest , and came to Laish , where the people were undisturbed and unsuspecting . They struck them down with the sword and burned the city . 18:28 No one came to the rescue because the city was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with anyone . The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob . The Danites rebuilt the city and occupied it. 18:29 They named it Dan after their ancestor , who was one of Israel’s sons . But the city’s name used to be Laish . 18:30 The Danites worshiped the carved image . Jonathan , descendant of Gershom , son of Moses , and his descendants served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the exile . 18:31 They worshiped Micah’s carved image the whole time God’s authorized shrine was in Shiloh .

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

  • Zorah

    [isbe] ZORAH - zo'-ra (tsor`ah; Saraa): A city on the border of Dan, between Eshtaol and Ir-shemesh (Josh 19:41); the birthplace of Samson (Jdg 13:2,25); near here too he was buried (Jdg 16:31); from here some Danites went to spy o...
    [nave] ZORAH, called also Zareah and Zoreah. A city of Dan or Judah, Josh. 15:33; 19:41. The city of Samson, Judg. 13:2, 24, 25; 16:31. Representatives of the tribe of Dan sent from, to spy out the land with a view to its conquest...

  • Thummim

    [ebd] perfection (LXX., "truth;" Vulg., "veritas"), Ex. 28:30; Deut. 33:8; Judg. 1:1; 20:18; 1 Sam. 14:3,18; 23:9; 2 Sam. 21:1. What the "Urim and Thummim" were cannot be determined with any certainty. All we certainly know is tha...

  • Solomon

    [ebd] peaceful, (Heb. Shelomoh), David's second son by Bathsheba, i.e., the first after their legal marriage (2 Sam. 12). He was probably born about B.C. 1035 (1 Chr. 22:5; 29:1). He succeeded his father on the throne in early man...

  • PHOENICIA; PHOENICIANS

    [isbe] PHOENICIA; PHOENICIANS - fe-nish'-i-a, fe-nish'-anz: 1. The Land 2. The Colonies 3. The People 4. Arts and Manufactures 5. Commerce and Trade 6. Language and Culture 7. Religion 8. History LITERATURE 1. The Land: The term "P...

  • PALESTINE, 2

    [isbe] PALESTINE, 2 - III. Palestine in the Historic Books of the Old Testament. 1. Book of Joshua: Joshua is the great geographical book of the Old Testament; and the large majority of the 600 names of places, rivers and mountains...

  • NAPHTALI

    [isbe] NAPHTALI - naf'-ta-li (naphtali; Nephthaleim): I. THE PATRIARCH 1. Name 2. Circumstances of His Birth 3. Historical and Traditional Details II. TRIBE OF NAPHTALI 1. Its Relative Position 2. Its Location in Palestine 3. Physi...

  • Minister

    [nave] MINISTER, a sacred teacher. Index of Sub-topics Miscellany of Minor Sub-topics; Call of; Character and Qualifications of; Charge Delivered to; Courage of; Duties of; Duties of the Church to; Emoluments of; Faithful, Instanc...

  • Micah

    [ebd] a shortened form of Micaiah, who is like Jehovah? (1.) A man of Mount Ephraim, whose history so far is introduced in Judg. 17, apparently for the purpose of leading to an account of the settlement of the tribe of Dan in Nort...

  • Manaen

    [ebd] consoler, a Christian teacher at Antioch. Nothing else is known of him beyond what is stated in Acts 13:1, where he is spoken of as having been brought up with (Gr. syntrophos; rendered in R.V. "foster brother" of) Herod, i....

  • Magic

    [ebd] The Jews seem early to have consulted the teraphim (q.v.) for oracular answers (Judg. 18:5, 6; Zech. 10:2). There is a remarkable illustration of this divining by teraphim in Ezek. 21:19-22. We read also of the divining cup ...

  • MICAH (1)

    [isbe] MICAH (1) - mi'-ka (mikhah, contracted from mikhayahu, "who is like Yah?"; Codex Vaticanus, Meichaias; Codex Alexandrinus, Micha; sometimes in the King James Version spelled Michah): (1) The chief character of an episode gi...

  • LISH

    [smith] (lion), the city which was taken by the Danites, and under its new name of Dan became famous as the northern limit of the nation. (Judges 18:7,14,27,29) [DAN] It was near the sources of the Jordan. In the Authorized Version L...

  • JEBUS; JEBUSI; JEBUSITE

    [isbe] JEBUS; JEBUSI; JEBUSITE - je'-bus, jeb'-u-si, jeb'-u-zit (yebhuc, ha-yebhuci): "Jebus" is an old name for Jerusalem (Jdg 19:10,11; 1 Ch 4:5 parallel 2 Sam 5:6-9, "the same is Jerus"; see preceding article). "Jebusi" (literal...

  • Idol

    [ebd] (1.) Heb. aven, "nothingness;" "vanity" (Isa. 66:3; 41:29; Deut. 32:21; 1 Kings 16:13; Ps. 31:6; Jer. 8:19, etc.). (2.) 'Elil, "a thing of naught" (Ps. 97:7; Isa. 19:3); a word of contempt, used of the gods of Noph (Ezek. 30...

  • INTERCESSION

    [isbe] INTERCESSION - in-ter-sesh'-un (pagha`, "to make intercession"; originally "to strike upon," or "against"; then in a good sense, "to assail anyone with petitions," "to urge," and when on behalf of another, "to intercede" (Ru...

  • Fire

    [ebd] (1.) For sacred purposes. The sacrifices were consumed by fire (Gen. 8:20). The ever-burning fire on the altar was first kindled from heaven (Lev. 6:9, 13; 9:24), and afterwards rekindled at the dedication of Solomon's templ...

  • Father

    [ebd] a name applied (1) to any ancestor (Deut. 1:11; 1 Kings 15:11; Matt. 3:9; 23:30, etc.); and (2) as a title of respect to a chief, ruler, or elder, etc. (Judg. 17:10; 18:19; 1 Sam. 10:12; 2 Kings 2:12; Matt. 23:9, etc.). (3) ...

  • Dan

    [ebd] a judge. (1.) The fifth son of Jacob. His mother was Bilhah, Rachel's maid (Gen. 30:6, "God hath judged me", Heb. dananni). The blessing pronounced on him by his father was, "Dan shall judge his people" (49:16), probably in ...
    [smith] (a judge). The fifth son of Jacob, and the first of Bilhah, Rachel?s maid. (Genesis 30:6) (B.C. after 1753.) The origin of the name is given in the exclamation of Rachel. The records of Dan are unusually meagre. Only one son...
    [nave] DAN 1. Fifth son of Jacob and Bilhah, Gen. 30:6; 35:25. Descendants of, Gen. 46:23; Num. 26:42, 43. See: Tribe of, below. Blessed of Jacob, Gen. 49:16, 17. Tribe of Census of, Num. 1:39; 26:42, 43. Inheritance of, accor...

  • DAN (2)

    [isbe] DAN (2) - A city familiar as marking the northern limit of the land of Israel in the common phrase "from Dan even to Beer-sheba" (Jdg 20:1; 1 Sam 3:20, etc.). Its ancient name was Laish or Leshem (Jdg 18:7, etc.). It was pro...

  • DAN (1); DAN, TRIBE OF

    [isbe] DAN (1); DAN, TRIBE OF - (dan, "judge"; Dan). 1. Name: The fifth of Jacob's sons, the first borne to him by Bilhah, the maid of Rachel, to whom, as the child of her slave, he legally belonged. At his birth Rachel, whose barr...

Arts

Questions

  • It seems to me that the key to the answer to your question is to understand the unique role of the Book of Judges. The statement that is repeated in this book is, "there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in ...
  • These people were descendants of Sidoa, a son of Canaan, and were formerly a part of the Phoenician nation (Matt. 15:21,22; Mark 7:24,26). They dwelt on the sea-coast in the cities of Zidon and Zarephath (Josh. 11:8; I Kin. 1...

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Jacob blessed all 12 of his sons and foretold what would become of each of them and their descendants. He disqualified Reuben, Simeon, and Levi from leadership and gave that blessing to Judah. He granted the double portion to...
  • Having completed the major addresses to the Israelites recorded to this point in Deuteronomy, Moses needed only to make a few final arrangements before Israel was ready to enter the land. The record of these events concludes ...
  • After receiving the reminder of his death and as one of his final official acts as Israel's leader, Moses pronounced a prophetic blessing on the tribes of Israel (cf. Gen. 49)."In the ancient Near East, a dying father's final...
  • Dan received territory primarily in the Shephelah and Coastal Plain west of Benjamin that was between Judah and Ephraim. Its land was extremely fruitful."The Amorites, who settled portions of the Philistine plain (Judg. 1:34)...
  • Joshua reveals that victory, success, and progress result when God's people trust and obey Him consistently. Judges shows that defeat, failure, and retrogression follow when they fail to trust and obey consistently. In this r...
  • I. The reason for Israel's apostasy 1:1-3:6A. Hostilities between the Israelites and the Canaanites after Joshua's death 1:1-2:51. Initial successes and failures ch. 12. The announcement of God's discipline 2:1-5B. Israel's c...
  • The first major section in the book (1:1-3:6) explains very clearly why the period of the judges was a dark chapter in Israel's history. God revealed the reasons for Israel's apostasy and consequent national problems in terms...
  • 1:22-26 The writer described Ephraim and Manasseh together as "the house of Joseph"(vv. 22-29). First, he narrated Ephraim's activity (vv. 22-26). The Ephraimites' treatment of the man of Bethel who gave them information viol...
  • The first of six periods of oppression by Israel's enemies began while Othniel, Caleb's younger brother, was still alive and strong (cf. Josh. 15:17; Judg. 1:13). The writer identified each of these periods with the phrase "t...
  • The writer of Judges structured this book so the story of Gideon would be its focal center."Within the main body of the book, seven major narrative blocks can be noted. Moreover, there are certain parallel features between th...
  • The supernatural victory God had given His people elevated Gideon into national recognition. Some of the men of Israel invited Gideon to be their king and to begin a dynasty of rulers (v. 22). Perhaps they were from the north...
  • "From chapters 13 to 18, the author concentrates on the tribe of Dan, which had been one of the largest and most prominent tribes during the wilderness march (Num 2:25-31). In the period of the judges, however, Dan seemed hel...
  • The following two extended incidents (ch. 17-21) differ from the records of the judges just completed (chs. 3-16). They are not accounts of the activities of any of Israel's judges. They are the record of events that took pla...
  • God undoubtedly included the story of Micah and the Danites in the sacred record because it relates the establishment of image worship in Israel. This was a new and catastrophic departure from Yahweh for the Israelites. Image...
  • The story of Micah (ch. 17) introduces the account of the setting up of image worship in the North (ch. 18).
  • The writer told us nothing about Micah's background except that he originally lived in the Hill Country of Ephraim with or near his mother (vv. 1-2). Micah's name means "Who is like Yahweh."As is true of so many details in th...
  • This chapter begins with another reference to the fact that there was no king in Israel then (cf. 17:6). The writer reminded us again that the Israelites were living unrestrained lives. Abundant evidence of this follows in ch...
  • The five Danites continued northward about 100 miles and finally came upon an area they felt would be ideal for their needs. They discovered the isolated town of Laish (Leshem, Josh. 19:47) that they believed they could captu...
  • An army of 600 Danites proceeded from Zorah and Eshtaol eastward up the Kesalon Valley to Kiriath-jearim and then northward into the Hill Country of Ephraim. They stopped at Micah's house, noted his images and ephod, and pond...
  • Micah gathered some of his neighbors and pursued the Danites hoping to force them to return what they had taken from him. However the Danites proved stronger than he anticipated, and he had to withdraw without a fight (cf. Ge...
  • The Danites' defeat of the inhabitants of Laish appears cruel and unjustified (cf. 9:45-49). The town that seemed so desirable to the spies was really vulnerable and isolated. Its advantages proved to be weaknesses. Since God...
  • Chapter 19 records an event that provoked civil war in Israel. The account of that war follows in chapter 20. Then the consequences of the war unfold in chapter 21. This section of the book is the climactic and supreme demons...
  • "It is not only the action of the men of Gibeah which reveals the abysmally low moral standards of the age; the indifference of the Levite who prepared to depart in the morning without any apparent concern to ascertain the fa...
  • The 11 tribes wisely tried to settle this problem with the Benjamites peacefully (v. 12; cf. Josh. 22:13-20). Unfortunately the Benjamites decided to support the residents of Gibeah who were their kinsmen. They should have si...
  • The Book of Joshua recorded Israel's victory over her enemies through trust in and obedience to God. The Book of Judges shows the defeat of the nation by its enemies from without and within due to refusal to trust and obey Go...
  • Aharoni, Yohanan. Land of the Bible. Phildelphia: Westminster Press, 1962.Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1977.Albright, William Foxwell. The...
  • God had promised the Israelites that if they departed from Him He would discipline them by sending famine on the Promised Land (Deut. 28:17, 23, 38-40, 42).16The famine on Israel at this time indicates God's judgment for unfa...
  • The last major section of the Book of Samuel (2 Sam. 21-24) consists of six separate pericopes that together constitute a conclusion to the whole book (cf. Judg. 17-21). Each pericope emphasizes the theological message of the...
  • During its history the Northern Kingdom had three capitals: first Shechem (v. 25), then Tirzah (14:17; 15:33), and finally Samaria (16:23-24). Perhaps the king strengthened Penuel in west-central Gilead as a Transjordanian pr...
  • This message demonstrates a structure that is quite typical of many others in the Book of Jeremiah (cf. 11:1-17; 17:19-27; 34:8-22). First there is an explanation of Yahweh's will (word, law; vv. 1-7), then a description of I...
  • 3:4 The Lord explained that the Israelites would remain for a long time separated from their idolatrous practices. During this time they would not have a king or leader (i.e., national sovereignty), sacrifices or sacred pilla...
  • This is one of the sections of Mark's Gospel that has a chiastic structure (cf. 3:22-30; 6:14-29; 11:15-19).A The appeal of Jairus for his daughter 5:21-24B The healing of the woman with the hemorrhage 5:25-34A' The raising o...
  • This incident, appearing only in Luke's Gospel, illustrates the truth just expressed in verse 35. Here is a case in point of what Jesus had just described happening (v. 34). Jesus reached out to a sinner only to receive criti...
  • The scene continues to be on earth.7:1 The phrase "after this"(Gr. meta touto) indicates that what follows is a new vision (cf. 4:1). The general chronological progression of the visions suggests that the events John saw now ...
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