Discovery BoxJudges 18:9-31
Context18:9 They said, “Come on, let’s attack them, 1 for 2 we saw their land and it is very good. You seem lethargic, 3 but don’t hesitate 4 to invade and conquer 5 the land. 18:10 When you invade, 6 you will encounter 7 unsuspecting people. The land is wide! 8 God is handing it over to you – a place that lacks nothing on earth!” 9
18:11 So six hundred Danites, fully armed, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. 10 18:12 They went up and camped in Kiriath Jearim in Judah. (To this day that place is called Camp of Dan. 11 It is west 12 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 Laish 13 said to their kinsmen, 14 “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 stopped 15 there, went inside the young Levite’s house (which belonged to Micah), 16 and asked him how he was doing. 17 18:16 Meanwhile the six hundred Danites, fully armed, stood at the entrance to the gate. 18 18:17 The five men who had gone to spy out the land broke in and stole 19 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. 20 18:18 When these men broke into Micah’s house and stole 21 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 adviser 22 and priest. Wouldn’t it be better to be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for just one man’s family?” 23 18:20 The priest was happy. He took the ephod, the personal idols, and the carved image and joined the group. 24
18:21 They turned and went on their way, but they walked behind the children, the cattle, and their possessions. 25 18:22 After they had gone a good distance from Micah’s house, Micah’s neighbors 26 gathered together and caught up with the Danites. 18:23 When they called out to the Danites, the Danites 27 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?’” 28 18:25 The Danites said to him, “Don’t say another word to us, or some very angry men 29 will attack you, and you and your family will die.” 30 18:26 The Danites went on their way; when Micah realized 31 they were too strong to resist, 32 he turned around and went home.
18:27 Now the Danites 33 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. 34 18:28 No one came to the rescue because the city 35 was far from Sidon 36 and they had no dealings with anyone. 37 The city 38 was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites 39 rebuilt the city and occupied it. 18:29 They named it Dan after their ancestor, who was one of Israel’s sons. 40 But the city’s name used to be Laish. 18:30 The Danites worshiped 41 the carved image. Jonathan, descendant 42 of Gershom, son of Moses, 43 and his descendants 44 served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the exile. 18:31 They worshiped 45 Micah’s carved image 46 the whole time God’s authorized shrine 47 was in Shiloh.
[18:9] 1 tn Heb “Arise, and let us go up against them.”
[18:9] 2 tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX adds “we entered and walked around in the land as far as Laish and.”
[18:9] 3 tn Heb “But you are inactive.”
[18:9] 5 tn Heb “to go”; “to enter”; “to possess.”
[18:10] 6 tn Heb “When you enter.”
[18:10] 7 tn Heb “you will come to.”
[18:10] 8 tn Heb “broad of hands,” an idiom meaning “wide on both sides.”
[18:10] 9 tn Heb “a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.”
[18:11] 10 tn Heb “They journeyed from there, from the tribe of the Danites, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, six hundred men, equipped with weapons of war.”
[18:12] 11 tn Or “Mahaneh Dan”; the Hebrew term “Mahaneh” means “camp [of].” Many English versions retain the transliterated Hebrew expression, but cf. CEV “Dan’s Camp.”
[18:14] 13 tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX lacks the phrase “of Laish.”
[18:15] 15 tn Heb “turned aside.”
[18:15] 16 tn Heb “Micah’s house.”
[18:15] 17 tn Heb “they asked him concerning peace.”
[18:16] 18 tn Heb “And the six hundred men, equipped with the weapons of war…from the sons of Dan.”
[18:17] 19 tn Heb “went up, went in there, took.”
[18:17] 20 tn Heb “six hundred men, equipped with the weapons of war.”
[18:18] 21 tn Heb “These went into Micah’s house and took.”
[18:19] 22 tn See the note on the word “adviser” in 17:10.
[18:19] 23 tn 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?”
[18:20] 24 tn Heb “and went into the midst of the people.”
[18:21] 25 tn Heb “They turned and went and put the children, the cattle, and the possessions in front of them.”
[18:22] 26 tn Heb “the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house.”
[18:23] 27 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:24] 28 tn Heb “What is this you say to me, ‘What to you?’”
[18:25] 29 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.
[18:25] 30 tn Heb “and you will gather up your life and the life of your house.”
[18:26] 32 tn Heb “they were stronger than he.”
[18:27] 33 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:27] 34 tn The Hebrew adds “with fire.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.
[18:28] 35 tn Heb “it.” The Hebrew pronoun is feminine singular here, referring to the “city” (a grammatically feminine singular noun) mentioned in v. 27.
[18:28] 36 map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.
[18:28] 37 tn Heb “and a thing there was not to them with men.”
[18:28] 38 tn Heb “it.” The Hebrew pronoun is feminine singular here, referring to the “city” (a grammatically feminine singular noun) mentioned in v. 27.
[18:28] 39 tn Heb “They”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:29] 40 tn Heb “They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who had been born to Israel.”
[18:30] 41 tn Heb “erected for themselves.”
[18:30] 43 tc Several ancient textual witnesses, including some LXX
[18:31] 45 tn Heb “they set up for themselves.”
