18:27 Now the Danites 1 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. 2 18:28 No one came to the rescue because the city 3 was far from Sidon 4 and they had no dealings with anyone. 5 The city 6 was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites 7 rebuilt the city and occupied it. 18:29 They named it Dan after their ancestor, who was one of Israel’s sons. 8 But the city’s name used to be Laish. 18:30 The Danites worshiped 9 the carved image. Jonathan, descendant 10 of Gershom, son of Moses, 11 and his descendants 12 served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the exile. 18:31 They worshiped 13 Micah’s carved image 14 the whole time God’s authorized shrine 15 was in Shiloh.
1 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn The Hebrew adds “with fire.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.
3 tn Heb “it.” The Hebrew pronoun is feminine singular here, referring to the “city” (a grammatically feminine singular noun) mentioned in v. 27.
4 map For location see Map1-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.
5 tn Heb “and a thing there was not to them with men.”
6 tn Heb “it.” The Hebrew pronoun is feminine singular here, referring to the “city” (a grammatically feminine singular noun) mentioned in v. 27.
7 tn Heb “They”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who had been born to Israel.”
9 tn Heb “erected for themselves.”
10 tn Heb “son.”
11 tc Several ancient textual witnesses, including some LXX
12 tn Heb “sons.”
13 tn Heb “they set up for themselves.”
14 tn Heb “the carved image that Micah had made.”
15 tn Heb “the house of God.”