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 

[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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Arise, and let us go up against them.”

[18:9]  ¹² tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX adds “we entered and walked around in the land as far as Laish and.”

[18:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “But you are inactive.”

[18:9]  ¹⁴ tn Or “be lazy.”

[18:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to go”; “to enter”; “to possess.”

[18:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “When you enter.”

[18:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “you will come to.”

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

[18:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.”