Judges 18:23-31

18:23 When they called out to the Danites, the Danites ¹  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?’” ²  18:25 The Danites said to him, “Don’t say another word to us, or some very angry men ³  will attack you, and you and your family will die.” ⁴  18:26 The Danites went on their way; when Micah realized ⁵  they were too strong to resist, ⁶  he turned around and went home.

18:27 Now the Danites ⁷  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. ⁸  18:28 No one came to the rescue because the city ⁹  was far from Sidon ¹⁰  and they had no dealings with anyone. ¹¹  The city ¹²  was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites ¹³  rebuilt the city and occupied it. 18:29 They named it Dan after their ancestor, who was one of Israel’s sons. ¹⁴  But the city’s name used to be Laish. 18:30 The Danites worshiped ¹⁵  the carved image. Jonathan, descendant ¹⁶  of Gershom, son of Moses, ¹⁷  and his descendants ¹⁸  served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the exile. 18:31 They worshiped ¹⁹  Micah’s carved image ²⁰  the whole time God’s authorized shrine ²¹  was in Shiloh.

¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “What is this you say to me, ‘What to you?’”

³ tn 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.

⁴ tn Heb “and you will gather up your life and the life of your house.”

⁵ tn Heb “saw.”

⁶ tn Heb “they were stronger than he.”

⁷ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸ tn The Hebrew adds “with fire.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.

⁹ tn Heb “it.” The Hebrew pronoun is feminine singular here, referring to the “city” (a grammatically feminine singular noun) mentioned in v. 27.

¹⁰ map For location see Map1-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.

¹¹ tn Heb “and a thing there was not to them with men.”

¹² tn Heb “it.” The Hebrew pronoun is feminine singular here, referring to the “city” (a grammatically feminine singular noun) mentioned in v. 27.

¹³ tn Heb “They”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁴ tn Heb “They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who had been born to Israel.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “erected for themselves.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “son.”

¹⁷ tc 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.

¹⁸ tn Heb “sons.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “they set up for themselves.”

²⁰ tn Heb “the carved image that Micah had made.”

²¹ tn Heb “the house of God.”