Judges 18:1

The Tribe of Dan Finds an Inheritance

18:1 In those days Israel had no king. And in those days the Danite tribe was looking for a place to settle, because at that time they did not yet have a place to call their own among the tribes of Israel.

Judges 18:7

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.

Joshua 11:8

11:8 The Lord handed them over to Israel and they struck them down and chased them all the way to Greater Sidon, Misrephoth Maim, and the Mizpah Valley to the east. They struck them down until no survivors remained.

Isaiah 23:4

23:4 Be ashamed, O Sidon,

for the sea 10  says this, O fortress of the sea:

“I have not gone into labor

or given birth;

I have not raised young men

or brought up young women.” 11 

Isaiah 23:12

23:12 He said,

“You will no longer celebrate,

oppressed 12  virgin daughter Sidon!

Get up, travel to Cyprus,

but you will find no relief there.” 13 


tn Heb “an inheritance.”

tn Heb “because there had not fallen to them by that day in the midst of the tribes of Israel an inheritance.”

tn Or “went.”

tn Heb “who were in its midst.”

tn Heb “according to the custom of the Sidonians.”

tn Heb “and there was no one humiliating anything in the land, one taking possession [by] force.”

tc Heb “and a thing there was not to them with men.” Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX and Symmachus read “Syria” here rather than the MT’s “men.” This reading presupposes a Hebrew Vorlage אֲרָם (’aram, “Aram,” i.e., Arameans) rather than the MT reading אָדָם (’adam). This reading is possibly to be preferred over the MT.

map For location see Map1-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.

tn The meaning of the Hebrew name “Misrephoth Maim” is perhaps “lime-kilns by the water” (see HALOT 2:641).

tn J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:430-31) sees here a reference to Yam, the Canaanite god of the sea. He interprets the phrase מָעוֹז הַיָּם (maoz hayyam, “fortress of the sea”) as a title of Yam, translating “Mighty One of the Sea.” A more traditional view is that the phrase refers to Sidon.

tn Or “virgins” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB).

tn Or “violated, raped,” the point being that Daughter Sidon has lost her virginity in the most brutal manner possible.

10 tn Heb “[to the] Kittim, get up, cross over; even there there will be no rest for you.” On “Kittim” see the note on “Cyprus” at v. 1.