The Book of Judges
Judges 18
Chapter XVIII · Vol. II, pp. 616–618
1 The Danites send five men to seek out for them an inheritance. 3 At the house of Micah they consult with the Levite, and are encouraged in their way. 7 They search Laish, and bring back news of good hope. 11 Six hundred men are sent to surprise it. 14 On the way they rob Micah of his priest and his consecrated things. 27 They win Laish, and call it Dan. 30 They set up idolatry, wherein Jonathan the Levite, and his sons, inherit the priesthood.
1 In thosea days there was no king in Israel:1 and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for untob that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel.2
A.M. 2579 B.C. 1425
a ch.17.6; 21.25; 19.1. Ps.12.4.
1 No supreme magistrate existed at the time, but the precise period is no farther to be ascertained than by reference to note on preceding chapter, ver. 6.—C.
b ch.1.34. Jos.19.47. They suffered the Canaanites to keep it from them.
2 'For there had fallen to it, until that day, among the tribes of Israel, an allotted portion.' The meaning of this statement is illustrated by the context. From ver. 2, 11 it is evident the Danites were settled on the mountain slopes west of Judah, so that they were not absolutely without inheritance. Their inheritance, however, was not enough for them. The Philistines were so powerful that they could not drive them from the plain; and they were therefore obliged to look elsewhere for a settlement.—P.
2 And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men3 of valour, cfrom Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who, when they came to dmount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there.
3 Heb. sons.
c ch.13.2,25; 16.31. Jos.19.41; 15.33. 2 Ch.11.10. ver.8,11.
3 When they were by the house of Micah, they eknew the voice of the young man the Levite:4 and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here?
e ch.12.6. Mat.26.73.
4 The tribe of Dan adjoined that of Judah, and they recognized what in modern phrase would be called the provincial dialect of the Levite who had been bred in Judah.—C.
4 And he said unto them, fThus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest.
5 And they said unto him, gAsk counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.
g Ho.4.12. Ac.8.10. 1 Ki.22.5,6. Eze.21.21.
7 Then the five men departed, and came to kLaish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate5 in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man.6
k Jos.19.47. ver.27,28. Re.18.7. Ps.12.4. Je.44.17.
5 Heb. possessor, or heir of restraint.
6 Many MSS. of the Septuagint read 'no intercourse with Syria,' which lay on the side opposite to Zidon. This view is supported by the great similarity in the Hebrew of the words Adam, man, and Aram, Syria; but the words in the text are quite intelligible, when taken to mean they had no trade, and minded nothing but idle pleasure, to which their soil and climate so largely contributed. See ver. 10.—Note, The blessings of God in a happy climate and fertile soil are, by the sinfulness of men, frequently converted into curses.—C.
8 And they came unto their brethren to Zorahl and Eshtaol; and their brethren said unto them, What say ye?
l ver.2; ch.13.2,25. Jos.19.41; 15.33. 2 Ch.11.10.
9 And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good; and are ye mstill? nbe not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land.
10 When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to a large land: for oGod hath given it into your hands;7 a place pwhere there is no want of any thing that is in the earth.
11 And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed8 with weapons of war.
A.M. 2579 B.C. 1425
8 Heb. girded.
12 And they went up, and pitched in qKirjath-jearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place rMahaneh-dan unto this day; behold, it is behind Kirjath-jearim.
q Jos.9.17; 15.60. 1 Sa.7.1,5.
r Or, camp of Dan, ch.13.25.
14 Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that tthere is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim,9 and a graven image, and a molten image?1 now therefore uconsider2 what ye have to do.
t ver.3,4; ch.17.4,5.
9 Of the form of the teraphim, generally said to signify images and idols, nothing precise is known. Cocceius thinks they were the cherubim. From comparing this verse with Ho. 3. 4, and considering the enumeration of things known, and seeing what is wanted to complete the externals of divine worship, we are inclined to think the word, being plural, includes altar, candlestick, censers, laver, &c. &c.—C.
1 Molten image, means evidently here and elsewhere, an image produced by pouring molten metal into a mould. By graven image, we cannot understand such a cast finished by the graver, but, more probably, figures or inscriptions on a flat surface accompanied with emblematical devices.—C.
2 'Consider whether it would not be advisable to carry these with us.' Having here, and through means of these, received an oracular response, they seem to recommend the carrying of them off, and the setting up of worship among themselves, as if thus to secure God's presence and favour.—I.
15 And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and xsaluted him.
16 And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate.
17 And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and ytook the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate, with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war.
18 And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye?
19 And they said unto him, Hold thy 3peace, zlay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us aa father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel?
3 This was the token of silence. These men were very ignorant, and concluded that they should, by taking Micah's gods, secure the presence and favour of the God of Israel in their expedition and settlement. They perhaps supposed the piety of their motives, and the goodness of their intentions, would justify the end. But it was a base robbery of Micah, aggravated by the Levite's ingratitude and their menaces.—I.
20 And the bpriest's heart was glad; and he took the ephod, and the teraphim,4 and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people.
b ch.17.10,11. Pr.30.15. Is.56.10. Je.3.6. Eze.13.19. Ac.20.33. 1 Ti.6.10. 2 Pe.2.3,15. Phi.3.19; 2.21.
4 The renewed enumeration of the materiel of Micah's idolatry, in which there is no mention of the altar, &c., which we know were portable, seems to favour, if not to confirm, the interpretation of teraphim suggested in the note on ver.14.—C.
21 So they turned and departed, and put the little ones, and the cattle, and the carriage, before them.
22 And when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan.
23 And they cried unto the children of Dan: and they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company?5
5 Heb. that thou art gathered together.
24 And he said, Ye have taken away cmy gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away; and what have I more? and what is this that ye say unto me, What aileth thee?
c Ps.115.7,8. Je.50.38; 51.17. Eze.23.5. Re.17.2. Hab.2.18,19. Is.44.9-20.
25 And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angryd fellows run upon thee, and thou elose thy life, with the lives of thy household.6
26 And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned, and went back unto his house.
27 And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and camef unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire.
28 And there was no deliverer, because it was far from gZidon,7 and they had no business with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by hBeth-rehob: and they built a city, and dwelt therein.
g Their protectors, Jos.11.8. Is.23.4,12.
7 The distance was not more than about 25 miles direct, but the nature of the intervening country may have greatly increased the difficulty of communication.—C.
h Nu.13.21. Jos.19.28,30; 21.31. 1 Ch.6.75.
29 And they called the name of the city Dan,i after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first.
30 And the children of Dan kset up the graven image: and Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh,8 he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the lcaptivity of the land.9
k Heb. set up before them, Ex.20.4. Le.26.1. De.xiii.; 17.2-7; 27.15; 31.16,29; 32.16,17,21.
8 Hebrew scholars are aware that the introduction of a single letter changes Moses into Manasseh, and it is generally considered that this was the original reading, and that for the credit of the family of Moses the letter was inserted, first above the word Moses, from which position it afterwards crept into the word. We can see no reason, however, for supposing, there might not be a Gershom and Manasseh in the tribe of Levi, as stated in the text.—C.
l 1 Sa.4.10. Ps.78.60,61. 2 Ki.15.29; 17.6,23.
9 Many eminent expositors, by a slight change on a Hebrew word, read 'captivity of the ark,' as related 1 Sa.4.5. But, without sufficient MS. authority, we judge it worse than unadvisable to suggest or sanction such changes.—C.
Notes
[Ver. 7. The earliest name of Laish was Leshem. It was situated in a rich valley between Hermon and Lebanon, at one of the great fountains of the Jordan. Its occupation by the Phœnician inhabitants of Sidon is easily accounted for. Sidon was a commercial city. Built on the coast, with only a narrow strip of plain beside it, and the rocky side of Lebanon over it, a supply of food had to be brought from a distance. The plain around Laish is one of the most fertile in Syria; the enterprising Phœnicians took possession of it, built a town, and placed in it a colony of labourers, expecting to draw from it an unfailing supply of grain and fruit. The old colonists lived quiet luxurious lives, revelling in the richness of the glorious plain, and far removed alike from the control and protection of their parent city Sidon. They thus became an easy prey to the warlike Danites. The country round it was described by the spies just as it would be described by any observant visitor at the present day. P.]
Ver. 29. [The city of Dan is mentioned in the narrative of Abraham's pursuit of the eastern kings who had plundered Sodom, Ge. 14. 14. If the name Dan was first given to the city in the time of the judges, how could it have been known to Moses, who had died at least fifty years previously! Some suppose that the name was inserted in the book of Genesis by a later writer. This is scarcely probable. It has been suggested that there was another place of the same name in that region; and in 2 Sa. 24. 6 mention is made of Dan-jaan. Another solution may be given. Like Hebron and Jerusalem this city may have had two ancient names, Laish and Dan. The former had come into general use at the time of the Danite conquest; but the latter was better known in the days of Abraham, and the Danites revived it in honour of their progenitor. P.]
Reflections.—Outward straits will push men to great diligence for obtaining the comforts of this life; and often they go far to seek that which, by attending to God's direction, they might have had near home. Very often such are permitted of God to fall into ruinous snares: and however earnestly they shun outward wants or hazards, they rush headlong into the most sinful temptations. When men are ignorant or negligent of consulting God and his word, they readily apply to the devil for direction and encouragement; and receive answers to their wish. But accomplices in wickedness ordinarily prove unfaithful to one another. And none is more apt to be treacherous than a clergyman who is ambitious of preferment, and chiefly concerned for his honour and his salary. Deplorable is the case of those who have gods which can be taken from them, and hearts which cannot part with them, though they be the means of their ruin. But hard is their state when men dare not complain of injustice or robbery without risking their life; and unhappy is the condition of those who are destitute of proper government, especially if they are also plunged into carelessness and carnal security; for prosperity in an evil way encourages men to persevere in it. And the most sinful customs, when once they are established, are the most permanent: it is far easier to keep them out than to root them out.