Judges 18:12-31

18:12 They went up and camped in Kiriath Jearim in Judah. (To this day that place is called Camp of Dan.¹ It is west² 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 Laish³ said to their kinsmen,⁴ “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 stopped⁵ there, went inside the young Levite’s house (which belonged to Micah),⁶ and asked him how he was doing.⁷ 18:16 Meanwhile the six hundred Danites, fully armed, stood at the entrance to the gate.⁸ 18:17 The five men who had gone to spy out the land broke in and stole⁹ 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.¹⁰ 18:18 When these men broke into Micah’s house and stole¹¹ 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 adviser¹² and priest. Wouldn’t it be better to be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for just one man’s family?”¹³ 18:20 The priest was happy. He took the ephod, the personal idols, and the carved image and joined the group.¹⁴

18:21 They turned and went on their way, but they walked behind the children, the cattle, and their possessions.¹⁵ 18:22 After they had gone a good distance from Micah’s house, Micah’s neighbors¹⁶ gathered together and caught up with the Danites. 18:23 When they called out to the Danites, the Danites¹⁷ 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 18:25 The Danites said to him, “Don’t say another word to us, or some very angry men¹⁹ will attack you, and you and your family will die.”²⁰ 18:26 The Danites went on their way; when Micah realized²¹ they were too strong to resist,²² he turned around and went home.

18:27 Now the Danites²³ 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.²⁴ 18:28 No one came to the rescue because the city²⁵ was far from Sidon²⁶ and they had no dealings with anyone.²⁷ The city²⁸ was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites²⁹ rebuilt the city and occupied it. 18:29 They named it Dan after their ancestor, who was one of Israel’s sons.³⁰ But the city’s name used to be Laish. 18:30 The Danites worshiped³¹ the carved image. Jonathan, descendant³² of Gershom, son of Moses,³³ and his descendants³⁴ served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the exile. 18:31 They worshiped³⁵ Micah’s carved image³⁶ the whole time God’s authorized shrine³⁷ was in Shiloh.

¹tn Or “Mahaneh Dan”; the Hebrew term “Mahaneh” means “camp [of].” Many English versions retain the transliterated Hebrew expression, but cf. CEV “Dan’s Camp.”

²tn Heb “behind.”

³tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX lacks the phrase “of Laish.”

⁴tn Heb “brothers.”

⁵tn Heb “turned aside.”

⁶tn Heb “Micah’s house.”

⁷tn Heb “they asked him concerning peace.”

⁸tn Heb “And the six hundred men, equipped with the weapons of war…from the sons of Dan.”

⁹tn Heb “went up, went in there, took.”

¹⁰tn Heb “six hundred men, equipped with the weapons of war.”

¹¹tn Heb “These went into Micah’s house and took.”

¹²tn See the note on the word “adviser” in 17:10.

¹³tn Heb “Is it better for you to be priest for the house of one man or for you to be priest for a tribe, for a clan in Israel?”

¹⁴tn Heb “and went into the midst of the people.”

¹⁵tn Heb “They turned and went and put the children, the cattle, and the possessions in front of them.”

¹⁶tn Heb “the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house.”

¹⁷tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁸tn Heb “What is this you say to me, ‘What to you?’”

¹⁹tn Heb “bitter in spirit.” This phrase is used in 2 Sam 17:8 of David and his warriors, who are compared to a bear robbed of her cubs.

²⁰tn Heb “and you will gather up your life and the life of your house.”

²¹tn Heb “saw.”

²²tn Heb “they were stronger than he.”

²³tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁴tn The Hebrew adds “with fire.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.

²⁵tn Heb “it.” The Hebrew pronoun is feminine singular here, referring to the “city” (a grammatically feminine singular noun) mentioned in v. 27.

²⁶map For location see Map1-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.

²⁷tn Heb “and a thing there was not to them with men.”

²⁸tn Heb “it.” The Hebrew pronoun is feminine singular here, referring to the “city” (a grammatically feminine singular noun) mentioned in v. 27.

²⁹tn Heb “They”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³⁰tn Heb “They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who had been born to Israel.”

³¹tn Heb “erected for themselves.”

³²tn Heb “son.”

³³tc Several ancient textual witnesses, including some LXX mss and the Vulgate, support the reading “Moses” (מֹשֶׁה, mosheh) here. Many Hebrew mss have a nun (נ) suspended above the name between the first two letters (מנשׁה), suggesting the name Manasseh (מְנַשֶּׁה, mÿnasheh). This is probably a scribal attempt to protect Moses’ reputation. For discussion, see G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 401-2.

³⁴tn Heb “sons.”

³⁵tn Heb “they set up for themselves.”

³⁶tn Heb “the carved image that Micah had made.”

³⁷tn Heb “the house of God.”