Judges 18:7-10

18:7 So the five men journeyed on ¹  and arrived in Laish. They noticed that the people there ²  were living securely, like the Sidonians do, ³  undisturbed and unsuspecting. No conqueror was troubling them in any way. ⁴  They lived far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. ⁵  18:8 When the Danites returned to their tribe ⁶  in Zorah and Eshtaol, their kinsmen ⁷  asked them, “How did it go?” ⁸  18:9 They said, “Come on, let’s attack them, ⁹  for ¹⁰  we saw their land and it is very good. You seem lethargic, ¹¹  but don’t hesitate ¹²  to invade and conquer ¹³  the land. 18:10 When you invade, ¹⁴  you will encounter ¹⁵  unsuspecting people. The land is wide! ¹⁶  God is handing it over to you – a place that lacks nothing on earth!” ¹⁷ 

Judges 18:27

18:27 Now the Danites ¹⁸  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. ¹⁹ 

[18:7]  ¹ tn Or “went.”

[18:7]  ² tn Heb “who were in its midst.”

[18:7]  ³ tn Heb “according to the custom of the Sidonians.”

[18:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “and there was no one humiliating anything in the land, one taking possession [by] force.”

[18:7]  ⁵ 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.

[18:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “They came to their brothers.”

[18:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “brothers.”

[18:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “What you?”

[18:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “Arise, and let us go up against them.”

[18:9]  ¹⁰ tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX adds “we entered and walked around in the land as far as Laish and.”

[18:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “But you are inactive.”

[18:9]  ¹² tn Or “be lazy.”

[18:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “to go”; “to enter”; “to possess.”

[18:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “When you enter.”

[18:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you will come to.”

[18:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “broad of hands,” an idiom meaning “wide on both sides.”

[18:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.”

[18:27]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:27]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew adds “with fire.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.