Teks -- Judges 18:1-31 (NET)

The Tribe of Dan Finds an Inheritance

18:1 In those days Israel had no king. And in those days the Danite tribe was looking for a place to settle, because at that time they did not yet have a place to call their own among the tribes of Israel. 18:2 The Danites sent out from their whole tribe five representatives, capable men from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. They said to them, “Go, explore the land.” They came to the Ephraimite hill country and spent the night at Micah’s house. 18:3 As they approached Micah’s house, they recognized the accent of the young Levite. So they stopped there and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?” 18:4 He told them what Micah had done for him, saying, “He hired me and I became his priest.” 18:5 They said to him, “Seek a divine oracle for us, so we can know if we will be successful on our mission.” 18:6 The priest said to them, “Go with confidence. The Lord will be with you on your mission.” 18:7 So the five men journeyed on and arrived in Laish. They noticed that the people there were living securely, like the Sidonians do, undisturbed and unsuspecting. No conqueror was troubling them in any way. They lived far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. 18:8 When the Danites returned to their tribe in Zorah and Eshtaol, their kinsmen asked them, “How did it go?” 18:9 They said, “Come on, let’s attack them, for we saw their land and it is very good. You seem lethargic, but don’t hesitate to invade and conquer the land. 18:10 When you invade, you will encounter unsuspecting people. The land is wide! God is handing it over to you– a place that lacks nothing on earth!” 18:11 So six hundred Danites, fully armed, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. 18:12 They went up and camped in Kiriath Jearim in Judah. (To this day that place is called Camp of Dan. It is west 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 said to their kinsmen, “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 there, went inside the young Levite’s house (which belonged to Micah), and asked him how he was doing. 18:16 Meanwhile the six hundred Danites, fully armed, stood at the entrance to the gate. 18:17 The five men who had gone to spy out the land broke in and stole 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. 18:18 When these men broke into Micah’s house and stole 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 and priest. Wouldn’t it be better to be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for just one man’s family?” 18:20 The priest was happy. He took the ephod, the personal idols, and the carved image and joined the group. 18:21 They turned and went on their way, but they walked behind the children, the cattle, and their possessions. 18:22 After they had gone a good distance from Micah’s house, Micah’s neighbors gathered together and caught up with the Danites. 18:23 When they called out to the Danites, the Danites 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?’” 18:25 The Danites said to him, “Don’t say another word to us, or some very angry men will attack you, and you and your family will die.” 18:26 The Danites went on their way; when Micah realized they were too strong to resist, he turned around and went home. 18:27 Now the Danites 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. 18:28 No one came to the rescue because the city was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with anyone. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites rebuilt the city and occupied it. 18:29 They named it Dan after their ancestor, who was one of Israel’s sons. But the city’s name used to be Laish. 18:30 The Danites worshiped the carved image. Jonathan, descendant of Gershom, son of Moses, and his descendants served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the exile. 18:31 They worshiped Micah’s carved image the whole time God’s authorized shrine was in Shiloh.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

Wesley: Jdg 18:1 - Those days

Not long after Joshua's death.

Wesley: Jdg 18:1 - The tribe

A part of that tribe, consisting only of six hundred men of war, with their families, Jdg 18:16, Jdg 18:21.

Wesley: Jdg 18:1 - Inheritance

The lot had fallen to them before this time, but not the actual possession, because the Philistines and Amorites opposed them.

Wesley: Jdg 18:2 - There

Not in the same house, but near it.

Wesley: Jdg 18:3 - Knew

By the acquaintance which some of them formerly had with him.

Wesley: Jdg 18:5 - Ask

By thine Ephod, and Teraphim, or images, which they knew he had, Jdg 18:14.

Wesley: Jdg 18:6 - Before the Lord

That is, your design is under the eye of God; that is, under his care, protection and direction. This answer he either feigns to gratify their humour; or, did indeed receive from the devil, who transformed himself into an angel of light, and in God's name gave him answers, and those not sometimes very true, which God suffered for the trial of his people. But it is observable, his answer was, as the devil's oracles usually were, ambiguous, and such as might have been interpreted either way.

Wesley: Jdg 18:7 - Manner of the Zidonians

Who living in a very strong place, and abounding in wealth, and perceiving that the Israelites never attempted anything against them, were grown secure and careless.

Wesley: Jdg 18:7 - Put to shame

Or, that might rebuke or punish any thing, that is, any crime. Putting to shame seems to be used for inflicting civil punishment, because shame is generally the effect of it.

Wesley: Jdg 18:7 - Zidonians

Who otherwise could have succoured them, and would have been ready to do it.

Wesley: Jdg 18:7 - No business

No league or confederacy, nor much converse with other cities, it being in a pleasant and plentiful soil, between the two rivulets of Jor and Dan, not needing supplies from others, and therefore minding only their own ease and pleasure.

Wesley: Jdg 18:10 - Given

This they gather partly from God's promise which they supposed they had from the Levite's mouth; and partly from his providence, which had so disposed them, that they would be an easy prey.

Wesley: Jdg 18:12 - Mahaneh

dan - That is, the camp of Dan.

Wesley: Jdg 18:13 - To the house

That is, to the town in which his house was, for they were not yet entered into it.

Wesley: Jdg 18:14 - Answered

That is, spake, the word answering being often used in scripture of the first speaker.

Wesley: Jdg 18:14 - These houses

That is, in one of these houses.

Wesley: Jdg 18:14 - What to do

Whether it be not expedient to take them for your farther use.

Wesley: Jdg 18:17 - Thither

Into the house, and that part of it, where those things were.

Wesley: Jdg 18:17 - The gate

Whither they had drawn him forth, that they might without noise or hindrance take them away.

Wesley: Jdg 18:18 - These

The five men.

Wesley: Jdg 18:19 - Lay thy hand

That is, be silent.

Wesley: Jdg 18:19 - A family

Namely, a tribe, that is, a family.

Wesley: Jdg 18:20 - Was glad

Being wholly governed by his own interest.

Wesley: Jdg 18:20 - The midst

Both for the greater security of such precious things, and that Micah might not be able to come at him, to injure or upbraid him; and, it may be, because that was the place where the ark used to be carried.

Wesley: Jdg 18:21 - Before them

For their greater security, if Micah should pursue them.

Wesley: Jdg 18:24 - I made

So far was he besotted with superstition and idolatry, that he esteemed those gods, which were man's work. But he could not be so stupid, as to think these were indeed the great Jehovah that made heaven and earth; but only a lower sort of gods, by whom, as mediators, he offered up his worship to the true God, as divers of the Heathen did.

Wesley: Jdg 18:24 - What have I

I value nothing I have in comparison of what you have taken away. Which zeal for idolatrous trash may shame multitudes that call themselves Christians, and yet value their worldly conveniences more than all the concerns of their own salvation. Is Micah thus fond of his false gods? And how ought we to be affected toward the true God? Let us reckon our communion with God our greatest gain; and the loss of God the sorest loss. Wo unto us, if He depart! For what have we more.

Wesley: Jdg 18:25 - Thy voice

Thy complaints and reproaches.

Wesley: Jdg 18:25 - Angry fellows

The soldiers, who are in themselves sharp and fierce, and will soon be enflamed by thy provoking words.

Wesley: Jdg 18:25 - Thy Life

Which, not withstanding all thy pretences, thou dost value more than thy images.

Wesley: Jdg 18:27 - Burnt

Not wholly, but in great measure, to make their conquest more easy.

Wesley: Jdg 18:28 - And they built a city

That is, rebuilt it.

Wesley: Jdg 18:29 - Of Dan

That it might be manifest, that they belonged to the tribe of Dan, though they were seated at a great distance from them, in the most northerly part of the land; whereas the lot of their tribe was in the southern part of Canaan.

Wesley: Jdg 18:30 - Image

Having succeeded in their expedition according to the prediction which, as they supposed, they had from this image, they had a great veneration for it.

Wesley: Jdg 18:30 - The captivity

When the whole land of the ten tribes, whereof Dan was one, was conquered, and the people carried captive by the Assyrian, 2Ki 17:6, 2Ki 17:23, which is called by way of eminency, the captivity. It is not said, that the graven image was there so long, for that is restrained to a shorter date, even to the continuance of the ark in Shiloh, Jdg 18:31, which was removed thence, 1Sa 4:3-5. But only that Jonathan's posterity, (so his name is at last mentioned) were priests to this tribe or family of Dan, which they might be under all the changes, even 'till the Assyrian captivity, sometimes more openly, sometimes more secretly, sometimes in one way of idolatry, and sometimes in another.

JFB: Jdg 18:1-6 - In those days . . . the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in

The Danites had a territory assigned them as well as the other tribes. But either through indolence, or a lack of energy, they did not acquire the full possession of their allotment, but suffered a considerable portion of it to be wrested out of their hands by the encroachments of their powerful neighbors, the Philistines. In consequence, being straitened for room, a considerable number resolved on trying to effect a new and additional settlement in a remote part of the land. A small deputation, being despatched to reconnoitre the country, arrived on their progress northward at the residence of Micah. Recognizing his priest as one of their former acquaintances, or perhaps by his provincial dialect, they eagerly enlisted his services in ascertaining the result of their present expedition. His answer, though apparently promising, was delusive, and really as ambiguous as those of the heathen oracles. This application brings out still more clearly and fully than the schism of Micah the woeful degeneracy of the times. The Danites expressed no emotions either of surprise or of indignation at a Levite daring to assume the priestly functions, and at the existence of a rival establishment to that of Shiloh. They were ready to seek, through means of the teraphim, the information that could only be lawfully applied for through the high priest's Urim. Being thus equally erroneous in their views and habits as Micah, they show the low state of religion, and how much superstition prevailed in all parts of the land.

JFB: Jdg 18:7-10 - the five men departed, and came to Laish

Or, "Leshem" (Jos 19:47), supposed to have been peopled by a colony of Zidonians. The place was very secluded--the soil rich in the abundance and variety of its produce, and the inhabitants, following the peaceful pursuits of agriculture, lived in their fertile and sequestered valley, according to the Zidonian style of ease and security, happy among themselves, and maintaining little or no communication with the rest of the world. The discovery of this northern paradise seemed, to the delight of the Danite spies, an accomplishment of the priest's prediction. They hastened back to inform their brethren in the south both of the value of their prize, and how easily it could be made their prey.|| 07005||1||11||0||@there went from thence of the family of the Danites . . . six hundred men==--This was the collective number of the men who were equipped with arms to carry out this expeditionary enterprise, without including the families and furniture of the emigrants (Jdg 18:21). Their journey led them through the territory of Judah, and their first halting place was "behind," that is, on the west of Kirjath-jearim, on a spot called afterwards "the camp of Dan." Prosecuting the northern route, they skirted the base of the Ephraimite hills. On approaching the neighborhood of Micah's residence, the spies having given information that a private sanctuary was kept there, the priest of which had rendered them important service when on their exploring expedition, it was unanimously agreed that both he and the furniture of the establishment would be a valuable acquisition to their proposed settlement. A plan of spoliation was immediately formed. While the armed men stood sentinels at the gates, the five spies broke into the chapel, pillaged the images and vestments, and succeeded in bribing the priest also by a tempting offer to transfer his services to their new colony. Taking charge of the ephod, the teraphim, and the graven image, he "went in the midst of the people"--a central position assigned him in the march, perhaps for his personal security; but more probably in imitation of the place appointed for the priests and the ark, in the middle of the congregated tribes, on the marches through the wilderness. This theft presents a curious medley of low morality and strong religious feeling. The Danites exemplified a deep-seated principle of our nature--that men have religious affections, which must have an object on which these may be exercised, while they are often not very discriminating in the choice of the objects. In proportion to the slender influence religion wields over the heart, the greater is the importance attached to external rites; and in the exact observance of these, the conscience is fully satisfied, and seldom or never molested by reflections on the breach of minor morals.

JFB: Jdg 18:22-26 - the men that were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together

The robbers of the chapel being soon detected, a hot pursuit was forthwith commenced by Micah, at the head of a considerable body of followers. The readiness with which they joined in the attempt to recover the stolen articles affords a presumption that the advantages of the chapel had been open to all in the neighborhood; and the importance which Micah, like Laban, attached to his teraphim, is seen by the urgency with which he pursued the thieves, and the risk of his life in attempting to procure their restoration. Finding his party, however, not a match for the Danites, he thought it prudent to desist, well knowing the rule which was then prevalent in the land, that

"They should take who had the power,

And they should keep who could."

JFB: Jdg 18:27 - they . . . came unto Laish . . . smote them

The inhabitants.

JFB: Jdg 18:27 - and burnt the city

"We are revolted by this inroad and massacre of a quiet and secure people. Nevertheless, if the original grant of Canaan to the Israelites gave them the warrant of a divine commission and command for this enterprise, that sanctifies all and legalizes all" [CHALMERS]. This place seems to have been a dependency of Zidon, the distance of which, however, rendered it impossible to obtain aid thence in the sudden emergency.

JFB: Jdg 18:28-29 - they built a city, and . . . call the name of that city Dan

It was in the northern extremity of the land, and hence the origin of the phrase, "from Dan to Beer-sheba."

JFB: Jdg 18:30-31 - the children of Dan set up the graven image

Their distance secluded them from the rest of the Israelites, and doubtless this, which was their apology for not going to Shiloh, was the cause of perpetuating idolatry among them for many generations.

Clarke: Jdg 18:1 - There was no king in Israel

There was no king in Israel - See Jdg 17:6 (note). The circumstances related here show that this must have happened about the time of the preceding transactions

Clarke: Jdg 18:1 - The tribe of the Danites

The tribe of the Danites - That is, a part of this tribe; some families of it

Clarke: Jdg 18:1 - All their inheritance

All their inheritance - That is, they had not got an extent of country sufficient for them. Some families were still unprovided for, or had not sufficient territory; for we find from Jos 19:40, etc., that, although the tribe of Dan did receive their inheritance with the rest of the tribes of Israel, yet their coasts went out too little for them, and they went and fought against Leshem, (called here Laish), and took it, etc. This circumstance is marked here more particularly than in the book of Joshua. See on Jos 19:47 (note).

Clarke: Jdg 18:2 - Five men - men of valor

Five men - men of valor - The Hebrew word חיל chayil has been applied to personal prowess, to mental energy, and to earthly possessions. They sent those in whose courage, judgment, and prudence, they could safely confide.

Clarke: Jdg 18:3 - They knew the voice of the young man

They knew the voice of the young man - They knew, by his dialect or mode of pronunciation, that he was not an Ephraimite. We have already seen (Jdg 12:6 (note)) that the Ephraimites could not pronounce certain letters.

Clarke: Jdg 18:5 - Ask counsel - of God

Ask counsel - of God - As the Danites use the word אלהים Elohim here for God, we are necessarily led to believe that they meant the true God; especially as the Levite answers, Jdg 18:6, Before the Lord ( יהוה Yehovah ) is your way. Though the former word may be sometimes applied to idols, whom their votaries clothed with the attributes of God; yet the latter is never applied but to the true God alone. As the Danites succeeded according to the oracle delivered by the Levite, it is a strong presumption that the worship established by Micah was not of an idolatrous kind. It is really begging the question to assert, as many commentators have done, that the answer was either a trick of the Levite, or suggested by the devil; and that the success of the Danites was merely accidental. This is taking the thing by the worst handle, to support an hypothesis, and to serve a system. See the end of the preceding chapter, Jdg 17:13 (note).

Clarke: Jdg 18:7 - After the manner of the Zidonians

After the manner of the Zidonians - Probably the people of Laish or Leshem were originally a colony of the Sidonians, who, it appears, were an opulent people; and, being in possession of a strong city, lived in a state of security, not being afraid of their neighbors. In this the Leshemites imitated them, though the sequel proves they had not the same reason for their confidence

Clarke: Jdg 18:7 - They were far from the Zidonians

They were far from the Zidonians - Being, as above supposed, a Sidonian colony, they might naturally expect help from their countrymen; but, as they dwelt a considerable distance from Sidon, the Danites saw that they could strike the blow before the news of invasion could reach Sidon; and, consequently, before the people of Laish could receive any succours from that city

Clarke: Jdg 18:7 - And had no business with any man

And had no business with any man - In the most correct copies of the Septuagint, this clause is thus translated: Και λογος ουκ ην αυτοις μετα Συριας ; and they had no transactions with Syria. Now it is most evident that, instead of אדם adam , Man, they read ארם aram , Syria; words which are so nearly similar that the difference which exists is only between the ר resh and ד daleth , and this, both in MSS. and printed books, is often indiscernible. This reading is found in the Codex Alexandrinus, in the Complutensian Polyglot, in the Spanish Polyglot, and in the edition of the Septuagint published by Aldus. It may be proper to observe, that Laish was on the frontiers of Syria; but as they had no intercourse with the Syrians, from whom they might have received the promptest assistance, this was an additional reason why the Danites might expect success.

Clarke: Jdg 18:9 - Arise, etc.

Arise, etc. - This is a very plain and nervous address; full of good sense, and well adapted to the purpose. It seems to have produced an instantaneous effect.

Clarke: Jdg 18:11 - Six hundred men

Six hundred men - These were not the whole, for we find they had children, etc., Jdg 18:21; but these appear to have been six hundred armed men.

Clarke: Jdg 18:12 - Mahaneh-dan

Mahaneh-dan - "The camp of Dan;"so called from the circumstance of this armament encamping there. See Jdg 13:25 (note), which affords some proof that this transaction was previous to the days of Samson.

Clarke: Jdg 18:14 - Consider what ye have to do

Consider what ye have to do - They probably had formed the design to carry off the priest and his sacred utensils.

Clarke: Jdg 18:18 - These went unto Micah’ s house

These went unto Micah’ s house - The five men went in, while the six hundred armed men stood at the gate.

Clarke: Jdg 18:19 - Lay thine hand upon thy mouth

Lay thine hand upon thy mouth - This was the token of silence. The god of silence, Harpocrates, is represented on ancient statues with his finger pressed on his lips.

Clarke: Jdg 18:20 - Went to the midst of the people

Went to the midst of the people - He was glad to be employed by the Danites; and went into the crowd, that he might not be discovered by Micah or his family.

Clarke: Jdg 18:21 - The little ones and the cattle, etc.

The little ones and the cattle, etc. - These men were so confident of success that they removed their whole families, household goods, cattle, and all

Clarke: Jdg 18:21 - And the carriage

And the carriage - כבודה kebudah , their substance, precious things, or valuables; omne quod erat pretiosum , Vulgate: or rather the luggage or baggage; what Caesar calls in his commentaries impedimenta; and what the Septuagint here translate βαρος, weight or baggage. We are not to suppose that any wheel carriage is meant.

Clarke: Jdg 18:24 - Ye have taken away my gods

Ye have taken away my gods - As Micah was a worshipper of the true God, as we have seen, he cannot mean any kind of idols by the word אלהי elohai here used. He undoubtedly means those representations of Divine things, and symbols of the Divine presence such as the teraphim, ephod, etc.; for they are all evidently included under the word elohai , which we translate my gods.

Clarke: Jdg 18:25 - And thou lose thy life

And thou lose thy life - This was argumentum ad hominem ; he must put up with the loss of his substance, or else lose his life! It was the mere language of a modern highwayman: Your life or your money.

Clarke: Jdg 18:27 - Unto a people - at quiet and secure

Unto a people - at quiet and secure - They found the report given by the spies to be correct. The people were apprehensive of no danger, and were unprepared for resistance; hence they were all put to the sword, and their city burnt up.

Clarke: Jdg 18:28 - There was no deliverer

There was no deliverer - They had no succor, because the Sidonians, from whom they might have expected it, were at too great a distance.

Clarke: Jdg 18:29 - Called the name of the city Dan

Called the name of the city Dan - This city was afterwards very remarkable as one of the extremities of the promised land. The extent of the Jewish territories was generally expressed by the phrase, From Dan to Beer-Sheba; that is, From the most northern to the southern extremity.

Clarke: Jdg 18:30 - The children of Dan set up the graven image

The children of Dan set up the graven image - They erected a chapel, or temple, among themselves, as Micah had done before; having the same implements and the same priest

Clarke: Jdg 18:30 - And Jonathan the son of Gershom

And Jonathan the son of Gershom - Either this was the name of the young Levite; or they had turned him off, and got this Jonathan in his place

Clarke: Jdg 18:30 - The son Manasseh

The son Manasseh - Who this Manasseh was, none can tell; nor does the reading appear to be genuine. He could not be Manasseh the son of Joseph, for he had no son called Gershom nor could it be Manasseh king of Israel, for he lived eight hundred years afterwards. Instead of מנשה Manasseh , the word should be read משה Mosheh , Moses, as it is found in some MSS., in the Vulgate, and in the concessions of the most intelligent Jews. The Jews, as R. D. Kimchi acknowledges, have suspended the letter: נ nun , over the word משה, thus

נ

משה

which, by the addition of the points, they have changed into Manasseh, because they think it would be a great reproach to their legislator to have had a grandson who was an idolater. That Gershom the son of Moses is here intended, is very probable. See the arguments urged by Dr. Kennicott, Dissertation I., p. 55, etc.; and see the Var. Lect. of De Rossi on this place

Clarke: Jdg 18:30 - Until the day of the captivity of the land

Until the day of the captivity of the land - Calmet observes, "The posterity of this Jonathan executed the office of priest in the city of Dan, all the time that the idol of Micah (the teraphim, ephod, etc). was there. But this was only while the house of the Lord was at Shiloh; and, consequently, the sons of Jonathan were priests at Dan only till the time in which the ark was taken by the Philistines, which was the last year of Eli, the high priest; for after that the ark no more returned to Shiloh."This is evident; and on this very ground Houbigant contends that, instead of הארץ haarets , the Land, we should read הארן haaron , the Ark; for nothing is easier than the ו vau and final nun to be mistaken for the ץ final tsade , which is the only difference between the captivity of the Land and the captivity of the Ark. And this conjecture is the more likely, because the next verse tells us that Micah’ s graven image, etc., continued at Dan all the time that the house of God was at Shiloh; which was, till the ark was taken by the Philistines. Those who wish to see more on this subject may consult Calmet, and the writers in Pool’ s Synopsis. This chapter is an important supplement to the conclusion of the 19th chapter of Joshua, on which it casts considerable light

The Danites were properly the first dissenters from the public established worship of the Jews; but they seem to have departed as little as possible from the Jewish forms, their worship being conducted in the same way, but not in the same place. Surely it was better to have had this, allowing it to be unconstitutional worship, than to have been wholly destitute of the ordinances of God. I think we have not sufficient ground from the text to call these persons idolaters; I believe they worshipped the true God according to their light and circumstances, from a conviction that they could not prosper without his approbation, and that they could not expect that approbation if they did not offer to him a religious worship. They endeavored to please him, though the means they adopted were not the most proper.

Defender: Jdg 18:1 - tribe of the Danites

The tribe of Dan had been unable to conquer the territory assigned to them (Jdg 1:34). Consequently, they sent a delegation northward to find a suitable location, eventually settling on a northern coastal city which they conquered and renamed Dan, (Jdg 18:27-29). This was Israel's northernmost city. Beersheba, in Judah, was the southernmost city, giving rise to the proverbial expression, "from Dan to Beersheba" (Jdg 20:1). The fact that this city of Dan is mentioned in Jdg 5:17 is one indication that the events of Judges 17-21 occurred very early in the period of the judges."

Defender: Jdg 18:30 - Gershom, the son of Manasseh

This story involves Micah of the tribe of Ephraim, a young Levite living with the tribe of Judah and the northern settlers from the tribe of Dan. It does not follow the story of Samson chronologically, but took place much earlier (apparently during or soon after Joshua's conquest). In this passage the Danites had not yet completely occupied their promised territory. Some ancient authorities note that "Gershom the son of Moses" was the original reading of this phrase, modified by later printings on the Hebrew letters to read "Gershom the son of Manasseh." Scribes might find it scandalous to associate the grandson of Moses (Jonathan, the Levite who had first built his image for Micah in Ephraim) with the establishment of a semi-idolatrous worship centered in North Dan."

Defender: Jdg 18:31 - in Shiloh

This long-functioning pseudo-worship at Dan may be, as some think, one of the reasons why Dan is omitted from the list of the twelve tribes in Rev 7:4-8."

TSK: Jdg 18:1 - no king // the tribe // for unto

no king : The word mailech , which generally means a king, is sometimes taken for a supreme ruler, governor, or judge (see note on Gen 36:31, and see note on Deu 33:5); and it is probable it should be so understood here, and in the parallel passages. Jdg 17:6, Jdg 19:1, Jdg 21:25

the tribe : Jos 19:40-48

for unto : Jdg 1:34

TSK: Jdg 18:2 - men // Zorah // to spy // mount

men : Heb. sons

Zorah : Jdg 18:8, Jdg 18:11, Jdg 13:2, Jdg 13:25, Jdg 16:31; Gen 42:9; Jos 19:41

to spy : Num 13:17; Jos 2:1; Pro 20:18; Luk 14:31

mount : Jdg 17:1, Jdg 19:1, Jdg 19:18; Jos 17:15-18

TSK: Jdg 18:3 - they knew // and what hast

they knew : They knew by his dialect or mode of pronunciation, that he was not an Ephraimite (see the parallel texts). Jdg 12:6; Gen 27:22; Mat 26:73

and what hast : Isa 22:16

TSK: Jdg 18:4 - hired me

hired me : Jdg 17:10; Pro 28:21; Isa 56:11; Eze 13:19; Hos 4:8, Hos 4:9; Mal 1:10; Joh 10:12, Joh 10:13; Act 8:18-21, Act 20:33; 1Ti 3:3; Tit 1:11; 2Pe 2:3, 2Pe 2:14, 2Pe 2:15

TSK: Jdg 18:5 - Ask counsel // of God

Ask counsel : 1Ki 22:5; 2Ki 16:15; Isa 30:1; Eze 21:21; Hos 4:12; Act 8:10

of God : Jdg 18:14, Jdg 17:5, Jdg 17:13

TSK: Jdg 18:6 - Go in peace // before // the Lord

Go in peace : 1Ki 22:6, 1Ki 22:12, 1Ki 22:15; Jer 23:21, Jer 23:22, Jer 23:32

before : Deu 11:12; Psa 33:18; 1Th 3:11

the Lord : As the Levite uses the word Jehovah, and as the Danites succeeded according to the oracle delivered by him, some learned men are of opinion, that the worship established by Micah was not of an idolatrous kind.

TSK: Jdg 18:7 - Laish // how they // magistrate // and had no

Laish : Jos 19:47, called Leshem

how they : Jdg 18:27, Jdg 18:28; Rev 18:7

magistrate : Heb. possessor, or, heir of restraint, 1Sa 3:13; 1Ki 1:6; Rom 13:3; 1Pe 2:14

and had no : In the most correct copies of the LXX this clause stands thus; και λογος ουκ ην αυτοις μετα Συριας ; ""and they had no transactions with Syria;""evidently reading instead of אדם [Strong’ s H120], adam , man, ארם [Strong’ s H758], aram , Syria; words so nearly similar that the only difference between them is in the ר , raish , and ד , daleth , which in both manuscripts and printed books is sometimes indiscernible. Laish was situated on the frontiers of Syria.

TSK: Jdg 18:8 - Zorah and Eshtaol

Zorah and Eshtaol : Jdg 18:2, Jdg 18:11, Jdg 13:2, Jdg 16:31

TSK: Jdg 18:9 - Arise // are ye still // be not

Arise : Num 13:30, Num 14:7-9; Jos 2:23, Jos 2:24

are ye still : 1Ki 22:23

be not : Jos 18:3; 1Sa 4:9; 2Sa 10:12; Joh 6:27; Heb 6:11, Heb 6:12; 2Pe 1:10, 2Pe 1:11

TSK: Jdg 18:10 - secure // God hath // where there

secure : Jdg 18:7, Jdg 18:27

God hath : Deu 2:29, Deu 4:1; Jos 6:16

where there : Exo 3:8; Deu 8:7-9, Deu 11:11, Deu 11:12; Eze 20:6; 1Ti 6:17

TSK: Jdg 18:11 - appointed

appointed : Heb. girded, Jdg 18:11

TSK: Jdg 18:12 - Kirjathjearim // Mahanehdan

Kirjathjearim : A city of Judah, on the confines of Benjamin; distant nine miles from Alia or Jerusalem, in going towards Diospolis or Lydda, according to Eusebius. Jos 15:60; 1Sa 7:1; 1Ch 13:5, 1Ch 13:6; 2Ch 1:4

Mahanehdan : Jdg 13:25 *marg.

TSK: Jdg 18:13 - mount Ephraim

mount Ephraim : Jdg 18:2, Jdg 18:3, Jdg 17:1, Jdg 19:1; Jos 24:30, Jos 24:33

TSK: Jdg 18:14 - Then // in these // now therefore

Then : 1Sa 14:28

in these : Jdg 18:3, Jdg 18:4, Jdg 17:5

now therefore : Pro 19:27; Isa 8:19, Isa 8:20

TSK: Jdg 18:15 - saluted him

saluted him : Heb. asked him of peace, Gen 37:14, Gen 43:27; 1Sa 17:22 *marg. 2Ki 4:26; Mat 10:12, Mat 10:13; Luk 10:4-6; Joh 14:27

TSK: Jdg 18:16 - six hundred

six hundred : Jdg 18:11

TSK: Jdg 18:17 - five men // the graven

five men : Jdg 18:2, Jdg 18:14

the graven : Jdg 6:31, Jdg 17:4, Jdg 17:5; Exo 32:20; 1Sa 4:11, 1Sa 6:2-9; 2Ki 19:18, 2Ki 19:19; Isa 46:1, Isa 46:2, Isa 46:7

TSK: Jdg 18:19 - lay thine // a father

lay thine : This was the token of silence. These men were evidently very ignorant; and absurdly 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 end, would justify the means. But it was a base robbery of Micah, aggravated by the Levite’ s ingratitude, and their menaces. Job 21:5, Job 29:9, Job 40:4, Job 40:5; Pro 30:32; Mic 7:16

a father : Jdg 17:10; 2Ki 6:21, 2Ki 8:8, 2Ki 8:9, 2Ki 13:14; Mat 23:9

TSK: Jdg 18:20 - heart // went

heart : Jdg 17:10; Pro 30:15; Isa 56:11; Eze 13:19; Hos 4:3; Act 20:33; Phi 3:19; 2Pe 2:3, 2Pe 2:15, 2Pe 2:16

went : He was glad of his preferment among the Danites; and went into the crowd, that he might not be discovered by Micah or his family.

TSK: Jdg 18:21 - and put // the carriage

and put : These men were so confident of success, that they removed their whole families, household goods, cattle, and all.

the carriage : Kevoodah , from kavad , to be heavy, denotes the luggage or baggage. Jdg 18:21

TSK: Jdg 18:23 - What aileth // comest

What aileth : Gen 21:17; 1Sa 11:5; 2Sa 14:5; 2Ki 6:28; Psa 114:5; Isa 22:1

comest : Heb. art gathered together

TSK: Jdg 18:24 - what have

what have : Jdg 17:13; Psa 115:8; Isa 44:18-20; Jer 50:38, Jer 51:17; Eze 23:5; Hab 2:18, Hab 2:19; Act 19:26; Rev 17:2

TSK: Jdg 18:25 - angry

angry : Heb. bitter of soul, 1Sa 30:6; 2Sa 17:8; Job 3:5, Job 27:2 *marg.

TSK: Jdg 18:27 - Laish // they smote // burnt

Laish : Jdg 18:7, Jdg 18:10

they smote : Deu 33:22; Jos 19:47

burnt : Jos 11:11

TSK: Jdg 18:28 - And there // far from // Bethrehob

And there : 2Sa 14:6 *marg. Psa 7:2, Psa 50:22; Dan 3:15-17

far from : Probably the people of Laish were originally a colony of the Zidonians; who being an opulent people, and in possession of a strong city, lived in a state of security, not being afraid of their neighbours. In this the Leshemites imitated them, though they appear not to have had the same reason for their confidence; and though they might naturally expect help from their countrymen, yet as they lived at a considerable distance from Sidon, the Danites saw they could strike the blow before the news of the invasion could reach that city. Jdg 18:1, Jdg 18:7; Jos 11:8; Isa 23:4, Isa 23:12

Bethrehob : Num 13:21, Rehob, 2Sa 10:6

TSK: Jdg 18:29 - Dan // who was

Dan : Jdg 20:1; Gen 14:14; Jos 19:47; 2Sa 17:11; 1Ki 12:29, 1Ki 12:30, 1Ki 15:20

who was : Gen 30:6, Gen 32:28; Laish, or Dan, was situated at the northern extremity of the land of Canaan, in a beautiful and fertile plain, at the foot of mount Lebanon, on the springs of Jordan, and, according to Eusebius, four miles from Cesarea Philippi, or Paneas, now Banias (with which some have confounded it), towards Tyre. Burckhardt says, that the source of the river El Dhan, or Jordan, is at an hour’ s distance from Banias, which agrees with Eusebius.

TSK: Jdg 18:30 - set up // until // the land

set up : Exo 20:4; Lev 26:1; Deu 17:2-7, Deu 27:15, Deu 31:16, Deu 31:29; Jos 19:40-48; Psa 78:58-61; God had graciously performed his promise, in putting these Danites in possession of that which fell to their lot, obliging them thereby to be faithful to him who had been so to them; they inherited the labour of the people, that they might observe his statues. Psa 105:44, Psa 105:45. But the first thing they do after they are settled is to break his laws, by setting up the graven image, attributing their success to that idol, which, if God had not been infinitely patient, would have been their ruin. Thus a prosperous idolater goes on to offend, imputing this his power unto his God. Instead of Manasseh, some would read Moses; as it is found in some manuscripts, in the Vulgate and in the concessions of the most intelligent Jews. But Bp. Patrick takes this to be an idle conceit of the Rabbins, and supposes this Jonathan to be of some other family of the Levites. Yet Kimchi acknowledges, that the Jews, deeply concerned for the honour of their lawgiver, to whom they thought it would be a great dishonour to have a grandson who was an idolater, suspended the letter, נ , noon , over the word משׁ [Strong’ s H4872], [Strong’ s H4873], Moses, thus מנשׁה [Strong’ s H4519], as it is found in the Hebrew Bibles; which, by means of the points, they have changed into Manasseh.

until : Jdg 13:1; 1Sa 4:2, 1Sa 4:3, 1Sa 4:10, 1Sa 4:11; Psa 78:60-62

the land : Houbigant contends, that, instead of haaretz , ""the land,""we should read haaron , ""the ark;""for the ו , wav , and ן , noon final , might easily be mistaken for ץ , tzadday final ; which is the only difference between the two words. This conjecture is the more likely, as the next verse tells us, that Micah’ s graven image continued at Dan ""all the time that the house of God was at Shiloh;""which was till the ark was taken by the Philistines.

TSK: Jdg 18:31 - all the time

all the time : Jdg 19:18, Jdg 21:21; Jos 18:1; 1Sa 1:3, 1Sa 4:4; Jer 7:12

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: Jdg 18:1 - The tribe of the Danites

The tribe of the Danites a part or branch of that tribe, consisting only of six hundred men of war, Jud 18:16 , with their families, Jud 18:21 : or, a family of the Danites ; for the word schebet , which properly signifies a tribe , is sometimes taken for a family , as Jud 20:12 , as elsewhere family is put for a tribe , as Zec 12:13 . All their inheritance had not fallen unto them; the lot had fallen to them before this time, Jos 19:40 , &c., but not the actual possession of their lot, because therein the Philistines and Amorites opposed them, not without success. See Poole on "Jos 19:40" ; See Poole on "Jud 1:34" .

Poole: Jdg 18:2 - Of their family // They lodged there

Of their family which shows that it was but one, though a large family, which was engaged in this expedition. Eshtaol ; of which see Jos 19:41 Jud 13:2,25 .

They lodged there not in the same house, but near it, as appears from the next verse, in a neighbouring place.

Poole: Jdg 18:3 - They knew the voice of the young man // What makest thou in this place

They knew the voice of the young man either,

1. By his manner of pronunciation, which was differing and distinguishable in several tribes, as appears from Jud 12:6 Mar 14:70 . Or,

2. By the celebration of some part of his office, which they, then lodging in the neighbourhood, might be invited to. Or rather,

3. By some acquaintance which some of them formerly had with him which they might have upon many occasions.

What makest thou in this place this being not thy usual place, nor proper for thy employment?

Poole: Jdg 18:5 - Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God

Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God to wit, by thine ephod, or teraphim, or images, which they knew he had, Jud 18:14 .

Poole: Jdg 18:6 - Your way

Your way i.e. your journey or design, is under the eye of God, i.e. under his care, and protection, and direction, which the eye of God being upon a person commonly notes in Scripture, as Psa 32:8 34:15 . Compare Jer 39:12 40:4 . So the phrase is here taken in a restrained sense, which is elsewhere taken more largely, as Pro 5:21 . This answer he either feigns to gratify their humour, or did indeed receive from the devil, who transformed himself into an angel of light, and in God’ s name gave them answers, and those not seldom very true, which God suffered for the trial of his people. See Deu 13:1-3 . But it is observable, that his answer was, as the devil’ s oracles usually were, ambiguous, and such as might have been interpreted either way, as they had success or disappointment.

Poole: Jdg 18:7 - Laish // After the manner of the Zidonians // That might put them to shame in any thing // They were far from the Zidonians // Had no business with any man

Laish called also Leshem , Jos 19:47 .

After the manner of the Zidonians who living in a very strong place, and abounding in wealth, and understanding that they were not a part of that land which God gave to his people, and perceiving that the Israelites never attempted any thing against them, were grown secure and careless.

That might put them to shame in any thing or, that might rebuke or punish any thing , i.e. any crime; Heb. that might put any thing to shame , or, make any thing shameful. Putting to shame seems to be used metonymically for inflicting civil punishment, because shame is generally the adjunct or effect of it.

They were far from the Zidonians who otherwise could have succoured them, and would have been ready to do it.

Had no business with any man no league of confederacy, nor much converse with other cities, it being in a pleasant and plentiful soil, between the two rivulets of Jor and Dan, not needing supplies from others, and therefore minding only their own ease and pleasure.

Poole: Jdg 18:9 - Are ye still

Are ye still Heb. silent ? Silence is oft put for stillness or cessation from action or motion , as Exo 14:14 Isa 62:1 Lam 2:18 . For they do not accuse them for want of speaking, for that they did; but for want of doing, and putting their words and resolves into execution.

Poole: Jdg 18:10 - God hath given it into your hands

God hath given it into your hands: this they gather partly from God’ s word or promise, which they supposed they had from the Levite’ s mouth; and partly from his providence, which hath so disposed them, that they will be an easy prey to you.

Poole: Jdg 18:11 - Of the family

Of the family by which it again appears, that the tribe , Jud 18:1 , is put for family.

Poole: Jdg 18:12 - Kirjath-jearim // Behind Kirjath-jearim

Kirjath-jearim called Kirjath-baal , Jos 15:60 ; a city lying in the northern parts of Judah, in the road to Laish; yet not in the city, but in the fields belonging to it, as the following words evince.

Behind Kirjath-jearim i.e. westward from it, as the western sea is called the hindermost sea, Deu 11:24 ; and as, on the contrary, the east is called Keedem , which signifies the forepart.

Poole: Jdg 18:13

i.e. To the town in which his house was, for they were not yet entered into it.

Poole: Jdg 18:14 - Then answered // In those houses // Consider what ye have to do

Then answered i.e. spake, the word answering being oft used in Scripture of the first speaker, as 1Ki 1:28 13:6 Ezr 10:2 Isa 14:10 .

In those houses , i.e. in one of these houses, the plural number for the singular, as Jud 12:7 .

Consider what ye have to do i.e. whether it be not expedient, either,

1. To consult them again for your own satisfaction; or rather,

2. To take them away for your further use, as you shall have occasion; for their action is the best comment upon their words.

Poole: Jdg 18:15

Heb. asked him of peace i.e. if he were in peace, peace being commonly put for health and prosperity.

Poole: Jdg 18:17 - Come in thither // In the entering of the gate

Come in thither to wit, into the house, and that part of it where those things were.

In the entering of the gate whither they had drawn him forth that they might without noise or hinderance take them away.

Poole: Jdg 18:18 - These // What do ye?

These to wit, the five mentioned Jud 18:17 .

What do ye? what do you mean to do? I hope you will not do so impious and injurious an action.

Poole: Jdg 18:19 - Lay thy hand upon thy mouth // A father and a priest // A family in Israel

Lay thy hand upon thy mouth i.e. be silent, as this phrase is used, Job 21:5 29:9 40:4 Pro 30:32 . The same thing repeated in other words.

A father and a priest: See Poole on "Jud 17:10".

A family in Israel to wit, a tribe that is (and being oft put for that is) a family. For it is certain this was not an expedition of the whole tribe, which numbered 64,000 men, Num 26:43 , but only of one family, which it seems were more vexed with the Philistines or Amorites, and therefore resolved to seek new habitations at a great distance from them. And after this time we find the body of the Danites in their old and proper portions in Samson’ s time, which, though placed before this, was long after it.

Poole: Jdg 18:20 - The priest’ s heart was glad // In the midst of the people

The priest’ s heart was glad being wholly governed by his own interest, and making all his obligations of justice and gratitude give place to it. But it is not strange, if he who was before perfidious to God, should prove so to men.

In the midst of the people i.e. among the people; or properly in the midst, both for the greater security of such precious things, and that Micah might not be able to come at him, either to injure or upbraid him; and it may be, because that was the place where the ark used to be carried.

Poole: Jdg 18:21

For their greater security, if Micah should pursue them.

Poole: Jdg 18:24 - What have I more

So far was he besotted with superstition and idolatry, that he esteemed those gods which were man’ s work. But he could not be so stupid as to think these were indeed the great Jehovah that made heaven and earth; but only a lower sort of gods, by whom, as mediators, he offered up his worship unto the true God, as it is manifest divers of the heathens did.

What have I more ? I value nothing I have in comparison of what you have taken away. Which zeal for idolatrous trash may shame multitudes that call themselves Christians, and yet apparently value their worldly conveniences more than all the concerns even of the true religion, and of their own salvation.

Poole: Jdg 18:25 - Thy voice // Angry fellows // And thou lose thy life

Thy voice thy complaints and reproaches.

Angry fellows the soldiers, who are in themselves sharp and fierce, and will soon be inflamed by thy provoking words.

And thou lose thy life which, notwithstanding all thy pretences, thou dost value more than thy images, as indeed appeared from his following practice.

Poole: Jdg 18:27

Not wholly, but in great measure, to strike the greater terror into the inhabitants, and to make their conquest of the place more easy.

Poole: Jdg 18:28 - Beth-rehob

Beth-rehob a place near Libanus and Hamath; of which see Num 13:21 Jos 19:28 21:31 Jud 1:31 .

Poole: Jdg 18:29 - After the name of Dan their father

After the name of Dan their father that it might be manifest that they belonged to the tribe of Dan, though they were seated at a great distance from them, even in the most northerly part of the land; whereas the lot of their tribe was in the southern part of Canaan.

Poole: Jdg 18:30 - Until the day of the captivity of the land // Answ

Having succeeded in their expedition according to the prediction which, as they supposed, they had from this image, they had a great veneration for it.

Until the day of the captivity of the land either,

1. When the ark and the Israelites were taken captives by the Philistines, 1Sa 4:10,11 ; though there is no mention of any who were then taken captives, or that the Philistines did pursue the victory, and conquer the land at that time, for their victory was quickly damped, and turned to mourning, 1Sa 5 . Or,

2. After that time, when the Philistines slew Saul and Jonathan, and discomfited the whole host of Israel, and made the rest of the people flee out of their cities, and took possession of their cities and land. Or,

3. When the whole land of the ten tribes, whereof Dan was one, was conquered, and the people carried captive by the Assyrian, 2Ki 17:6,23 . which is called by way of eminency the captivity , 1Ch 5:22 . But against this it is objected, that it is not probable that this idolatry should continue so long in such a public place and manner; or that David and Solomon would suffer it.

Answ It is not said that the graven image was there so long, for that is restrained to a shorter date, even to the continuance of the ark in Shiloh, Jud 18:31 , which was removed thence, 1Sa 4 ; but only that Jonathan’ s posterity were priests to this tribe or family of Dan, which they might be under all the changes, even till the Assyrian captivity, sometimes more openly and allowedly, sometimes more cunningly, sometimes more secretly, sometimes in one way of superstition or idolatry, and sometimes in another; and in and after Jeroboam’ s time, in the worship of the calves, for which service, though he did make priests of the meanest of the people, 1Ki 12:31 , yet that was not by choice, but out of necessity, because the priests and Levites generally forsook him, 2Ch 11:13,14 ; and therefore when he could engage any of the priests or Levites in that service, he was doubtless very glad of them to gain reputation to his impious and absurd device.

Haydock: Jdg 18:1 - Days // Received

Days, after the death of Josue and the ancients. Debbora speaks of the tribe of Dan, as addicted to navigation, chap. v. 17. (Calmet) ---

It had now conquered most of the enemies who had formerly forced some to seek fresh settlements, (Haydock) as it is hinted at, Josue xix. The particulars are here given in detail. (Calmet) ---

Received, &c. They had their portions assigned them, Josue xix. 40. But through their own sloth, possessed as yet but a small part of it. See Judges i. 34. (Challoner; Worthington) ---

Protestants supply, " all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel." (Haydock)

Haydock: Jdg 18:2 - Family

Family. Hebrew, "From their extremity." Which may denote such as came to hand, (Calmet) or princes, (De Dieu) or people of mean appearance, (Castalion) unless we explain it "from their coasts," with Montanus, Protestants, &c. (Haydock)

Haydock: Jdg 18:4 - Voice

Voice. His pronunciation was different from that of the Ephraimites, chap. xii. 6.

Haydock: Jdg 18:5 - Lord

Lord ( Elohim. ) A title sometimes given to false gods. The Levite answered in the name of Jehova; whence it is inferred that they all adored the true God, though their worship was not clear of superstition. (Calmet)

Haydock: Jdg 18:6 - Looketh

Looketh with approbation. (Haydock) ---

It is uncertain whether this prediction proceeded from God, from the devil, or from the crafty Levite, (Calmet) who might answer as he thought the messengers wished him to do. (Menochius) ---

Their undertaking proved successful. But the devil, who knew the valour of the Danites, and the security of the citizens of Lais, or even a man of moderate prudence and sagacity, might have told what would be the probable event of an attack in such circumstances. (Calmet) ---

Whether God approved or condemned the Levite's worship, he might speak by his mouth, as he did by that of Balaam. (Haydock) ---

But it is generally supposed that Jonathan was the organ of the devil, (Calmet) who answered with a degree of obscurity, as he was accustomed, (Worthington) that, in any case, his credit might subsist. (Haydock)

Haydock: Jdg 18:7 - Lais // Rich

Lais, four miles from Paneas, towards Tyre. It is called Lesem Dan; (Josue xix 47.) both the ancient and the new name being joined together. ---

Rich, Hebrew has almost as many different meanings as interpreters. De Dieu, "There was no one to put them to shame, no chief magistrate." (Calmet) ---

Protestants, "and there was no magistrate in the land that might put them to shame in any thing." (Haydock) ---

The citizens of Lais were perhaps a colony, and followed the manners and religion of Sidon, but were at a day's journey from their territory; (Josephus) so that the latter could not come to their assistance at a very short warning. The Danites were therefore encouraged to make the attack, (Calmet) particularly as this city was confident in its own strength and riches, and made no alliance with any other. (Haydock) ---

Septuagint (Alexandrian, &c.), read, Aram instead of Adam. "They had no commerce with Syria." But the Roman edition (Calmet) has, "they are far off from the Sidonians, and have no (word or) commerce with man." The edition of Grabe repeats a great part of this verse again; ver. 9, with an obelus.

Haydock: Jdg 18:9 - There will

There will, &c., is added to signify, that it will be necessary only to go to take possession. (Haydock)

Haydock: Jdg 18:10 - Secure

Secure. "No one is sooner overcome than the man who has no fear; and security is generally the forerunner of ruin." Velleius 2., initium est calamitatis securitas.

Haydock: Jdg 18:11 - War

War, besides their wives, &c., ver. 21.

Haydock: Jdg 18:12 - Behind

Behind, on the west. (Calmet)

Haydock: Jdg 18:14 - To do

To do. Whether we must take them by force or by craft. (Haydock) ---

It seems they had a premeditated design to seize them. (Calmet)

Haydock: Jdg 18:17 - They // Off

They. Hebrew and Septuagint, "and the five men that went to spy out the land." (Haydock) ---

Off. The Levite's attention was drawn off for a while by the 600 men, till the five, who had formerly become acquainted with him, had ransacked his little temple. (Calmet) ---

Perceiving them as they came out, he began to complain, but was soon persuaded to follow the Danites, and to abandon his former protector. So little dependence can be had on those who are faithless to their God! (Haydock)

Haydock: Jdg 18:19 - Mouth

Mouth; to signify that silence must be observed, Job xxix. 9., and Ecclesiasticus v. 12.[14?] Angerona, among the Romans, and Harpocrates, in Egypt, were represented in this posture; digitoque silentia suadet. (Ovid, Met. ix.)

Haydock: Jdg 18:22 - Houses

Houses. Hebrew, "near the house of Michas." The poor fellow called his neighbours, and pursued the Danites, (Haydock) despising as it were all his other effects, in comparison with his god. (Menochius)

Haydock: Jdg 18:25 - House

House. The violence and injustice of the Danites cannot be excused, particularly as they were stealing what they deemed sacred. (Calmet)

Haydock: Jdg 18:27 - And // Fire

And, &c. Hebrew, "and they took what Michas had made, and the priest,....and came." (Haydock) ---

Fire, as they could not make themselves masters of it otherwise. They were forced afterwards to rebuild it. Some Rabbins have supposed, that Sidon and its colonies were not given by God to Israel: but their proofs are unsatisfactory. Lais was inhabited by the Chanaanites; and though it was in the territory of Aser, as the people of Dan had made the conquest, they were suffered to keep quiet possession of it. See Josue xvii. 10.

Haydock: Jdg 18:28 - Rohob

Rohob, which stood at the foot of Libanus. The vale belonging to this city, extended for about twenty miles.

Haydock: Jdg 18:29 - Lais // Dan

Lais. Hebrew Ulam Layish, as the Septuagint express it. (Calmet) ---

But the former term is explained by the Alexandrian and other copies in the sense of the Vulgate, before. (Haydock) ---

Dan is often placed for the northern boundary of Palestine. (Calmet)

Haydock: Jdg 18:30 - Idol // Captivity

Idol. Hebrew pasel. (Worthington) ---

Grabe's Septuagint, "the graven thing of Michas, and Jonathan the son of Gersam, of the son of Manasses." The Roman copy omits "of Michas," but retains Manasses, as the present Hebrew reads, instead of Moses. (Haydock) ---

It is suspected that the Jews have inserted an n over the word Mose[Moses?], that it might not be known that a grandson of their lawgiver had been guilty of such impiety. They have not dared, however, to place the letter in the same rank as the others, but have suspended it, (Calmet) as if it were suspected, says Michaelis. Abendana relates, that by (or on) the authority of the ancients, this nun was added from the honour of Moses, lest his granson might appear to be the first little sacrificing priest of an idol. The Latin Vulgate reads the name of Moses; and I am convinced that Moses, and not Manasses, ought to be understood: for how could a Levite have Manasses for his ancestor? (Grotius, Comm. 1753.) The Jews pretend that this relationship to the idolatrous king of Juda was not real, but figurative, in as much as Jonathan acted like him. But thus the reproach would fall on Gersam, who is said to be the son of Manasses, while the idolatrous priest is only placed as the son of Gersam. It is surely very absurd to say that he was the son of Manasses, because Manasses acted like him 800 years afterwards; and Sol. Jarchi honestly confesses that, "for the honour of Moses nun was written, on purpose to change the name, and it was written suspended, to indicate that it was not Manasses, but Moses." See Talmud Bava. fol. 109. The letter has, however, sometimes been suspended half way, and sometimes uniformly inserted, so that it has at last supplanted the genuine word. Some copies of the Septuagint agree with the Vulgate. (Brug.) ---

Theodoret reads, "Jonathan, the son of Manasses, of the son ( Greek: uiou ) of Gersam, of the son of Moses," retaining both words, in order to be sure the right one, as the copies varied. (Kennicott, Dis. 2., see Deuteronomy xxvii. 4.) Here we have a plain proof of the liberties which the Jews have taken with their text. But the providence of God has left us means to detect their fraud, by the Vulgate, &c. In other difficulties of a like nature, the collation of ancient manuscripts and versions will generally remove the uncertainty, and we may pronounce that the word of God has not been adulterated, though perhaps no one copy may now represent it in all its genuine beauty and integrity. See Prœlog. in SS. Mariana, C. xxiii. T. iii.; Menochius, &c. Protestants here follow the corrupted Hebrew, "Manasseh." (Haydock) ---

Captivity, under the Philistines, when many of their brethren were taken prisoners, (Psalm lxxvii. 61.; Tirinus) and when Samuel obliged all Israel to renounce idolatry, 1 Kings vii. 4. (Estius) ---

Serarius, (q. 7.) or the sacred penman, speaks of a captivity, the particulars of which are not recorded. Salien understands it of the captivity of Nephthali, 35 years before the rest of the kingdom of Israel was destroyed: (4 Kings xv. 29.; Haydock) though Lyranus and Bonfrere explain it of the latter event, under Salmanaser, 4 Kings xvii. (Menochius) ---

We may allow that some interruptions took place under Samuel, David, &c. (Salien) ---

In effect, Jonathan and his posterity might serve the idol of Michas till it was destroyed, at the same time as the ark was removed from Silo; (ver. 31.) and afterwards they might relapse into their wonted impiety, and act in the character of priests to the golden calves of Jeroboam; who, no doubt, would prefer such of the tribe of Levi as would come over to him, (Ezechiel xliv. 10.) though he was generally forced to select his priests from the dregs of the people, 3 Kings xii. In this sense they might be priests in Dan, till Salmanaser led them captives. But substituting galoth or geloth, we might translate, "till the deliverance of the land," which was effected by Samuel; (Calmet) who not only repressed the Philistines, (1 Kings vii. 13.) but also persuaded all Israel to renounce the service of idols, 1 Kings vii. 4. (Haydock)

Haydock: Jdg 18:31 - In Silo // In those

In Silo. The ark was taken by the Philistines, (1 Kings iv.) after remaining at Silo 349 years, and 217 from the idolatry of Michas and of Dan. (Salien) (Haydock) ---

In those. The Hebrew here commences the following chapter, which contains an account of another instance of licentiousness, which probably took place after the two former. Phinees was high priest; but there was no civil head. (Calmet)

Gill: Jdg 18:1 - In those days there was no king in Israel // and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in // for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen to them among the tribes of Israel

In those days there was no king in Israel,.... No supreme magistrate, no judge, for it was before the time of the judges, after the death of Joshua and before Othniel the first judge; this is observed before, Jdg 17:6 and here repeated to account for the evil things done by the Danites, their consulting Micah's oracle, taking away his priest and his gods, and setting up his graven image in Dan, by which means idolatry was spread in Israel, and brought on their servitude to Chushanrishathaim, from which Othniel the first judge was their deliverer:

and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; that is, a family of them, as in the next verse, not the whole tribe; for as a family is sometimes put for a tribe, Jos 7:17 so a tribe for a family, Jdg 20:12.

for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen to them among the tribes of Israel: we rightly supply the words "all their"; for otherwise an inheritance had fallen to them by lot, as the other tribes. Jos 19:40, but that was not only too little for them, Jos 19:47 but all that was allotted to them did not come into their possession, but a part remained unsubdued; and some they had possession of they could not keep, either through the superior strength of the Amorites, or their own sloth and cowardice, or for want of the help of their brethren; see Jdg 1:34.

Gill: Jdg 18:2 - And the children of Dan sent of their family five men // from their coasts, men of valour from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it // and they said unto them, search the land // who when they came to Mount Ephraim // to the house of Micah, they lodged there

And the children of Dan sent of their family five men,.... According to Abarbinel one out of a family, as Moses sent one out of a tribe to spy the land; and so there must be five families concerned in this affair:

from their coasts, men of valour from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; these men were sent from the borders of the tribe, the extreme parts of it, as the word may signify, where perhaps they were the most pressed and overcrowded: Zorah and Eshtaol are particularly mentioned, and were the first cities in their lot, and were the coast of their inheritance; see Gill on Jos 19:41 some take the phrase rendered "from their coasts" to signify persons of extreme meanness, men of the lowest class among them; but the above mentioned writers interpret it to a quite contrary sense, by "Katzinim", princes, such as Moses sent to spy the land; and this better agrees with the next clause, "men of valour": and the word used signifies not only magnanimity and fortitude of mind, but wealth and riches; and these were sent not to spy the land of Canaan, but such places as fell to this tribe, but were possessed by the Canaanites; and their errand was to observe in what condition they were, and whether fit for their purpose, and easy to obtain, and how they might get the possession of any of them:

and they said unto them, search the land; and see if some convenient place cannot be found out to enlarge their inheritance, and give them more room and liberty for their families, now pent up, and a pasturage for their flocks and herds:

who when they came to Mount Ephraim; which lay upon the borders of them:

to the house of Micah, they lodged there; that is, when they were come near to the house of Micah, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it, they took up their lodging in the neighbourhood of it, perhaps at a public house or inn; for the sense is not, that they lodged in Micah's house, for after this we read of their turning into it, as in the next verse. According to Bunting ^r, this place was twenty four miles from Zorah and Eshtaol, from whence these men came.

Gill: Jdg 18:3 - When they were by the house of Micah // they knew the voice of the young man the Levite // and they turned in thither // and said unto him, who brought thee hither // and what makest thou in this place

When they were by the house of Micah,.... At their inn, which might be next to it, or as they were passing by it:

they knew the voice of the young man the Levite; who had been in their country, and they had been in his company and conversation, and they knew the tone of his voice when they heard it; a particular brogue he might have. Abarbinel conjectures, that he was singing to Micah's idol, or multiplying his prayers before him:

and they turned in thither; into Micah's house, and into the apartment where the young man was:

and said unto him, who brought thee hither? they knew he was of Bethlehemjudah; they inquire therefore how he came there, who sent for him, and by what means he was brought to that place:

and what makest thou in this place? they knew he was a Levite, and that such an one had no business to minister but at the tabernacle, and therefore they inquire what was his employment here: and what hast thou here? to support himself with, what he had for his maintenance, or how he lived.

Gill: Jdg 18:4 - And he said unto them, thus and thus dealeth Micah with me // and hath hired me // and I am his priest

And he said unto them, thus and thus dealeth Micah with me,.... Told them the whole story, how he came to the door of Micah's house, how he inquired of him who he was, and from whence he came, and whither he was going, and then invited him into his house to stay with him:

and hath hired me; by the year, for ten shekels of silver, a suit of clothes, and meat and drink, and by this means he got a livelihood, and was supported:

and I am his priest; and that was his business to offer sacrifice for his family, and to consult his oracle for him, and for whomsoever should apply.

Gill: Jdg 18:5 - And they said unto him, ask counsel, we pray thee, of God // that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous or no

And they said unto him, ask counsel, we pray thee, of God,.... They did not reprove him for assuming the priestly office, when they knew he was a Levite, such was the corruption of those times, and the great depravity and declensions they were fallen into; nor even for the idolatry he was guilty of, but encourage him in it, and thought they had got a fine opportunity, which they readily laid hold on, to have counsel asked for them of God, about the success of the errand they were sent about; to this they were led at sight of the ephod, which was like that in the tabernacle, and of the teraphim, images which, according to a notion that prevailed, when consulted, foretold future things; whether by God they meant the true God, who they thought would give an answer by these, or Micah's gods, is not certain; according to the Targum of Jonathan, they meant the true God, which paraphrases it,"ask of the Word of the Lord:"

that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous or no; whether they should find out a proper place to dwell in, and be able to get possession of it.

Gill: Jdg 18:6 - And the priest said to them, go in peace // before the Lord is your way wherein ye go

And the priest said to them, go in peace,.... After he had consulted the oracle, or had asked counsel by the ephod and teraphim; either of his own head, or by a voice he had heard, which Satan might be permitted of God to deliver, he very roundly told them that they might proceed on in their journey with their minds quite easy, and with full assurance of success:

before the Lord is your way wherein ye go; it is seen, observed, and taken notice of by him, and he approves of it; it is according to his will, and under his direction and protection, and success from him may be depended upon; though some observe that this answer is delivered in ambiguous terms, as generally the oracles of demons were, and might be taken in a good or bad sense, as the event should be; as that their way was before the Lord, and was seen by him either with pleasure or displeasure, with approbation or disapprobation, for their good, or for their harm: so that let it fall out as it might, the credit of the oracle was saved.

Gill: Jdg 18:7 - And the five men departed // and came to Laish // and saw the people that were therein // how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure // and there was no magistrate in the land that might put them to shame in anything // and they were far from the Zidonians // and had no business with any man

And the five men departed,.... From Mount Ephraim, and Micah's house there:

and came to Laish; which, according to Bunting ^s, was one hundred and four miles from Mount Ephraim, and so many he makes it to be from Jerusalem; it lay at the furthest northern border of the land of Canaan, at the foot of Mount Lebanon, near the fountain of Jordan; it was four miles from Paneas, as Jerom says ^t, as you go to Tyre; it is the Caesarea Philippi of the New Testament, and the same that is called Leshem; see Gill on Jos 19:47,

and saw the people that were therein; went into the city, and made their observations on the inhabitants of it, their number, strength, and manner of living:

how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; the inhabitants of Zidon, whose customs they might imitate, whose laws they might use, and might be under their government, since they are said to have no magistrate within themselves; and their carelessness and confidence might arise from their strong fortresses; or rather because they thought their city, and the land adjacent to it, did not belong to the land of Israel, and did not know that the Israelites made any pretensions to it, and therefore were quite easy, and in no fear of them; had no watchmen to guard their city, and did not take care to furnish themselves with weapons of war for their defence, even as the Zidonians; who, besides their city being a strong and fortified one, were in no fear of the Israelites, because their city was not in the land of Canaan, only the border of it reached to it:

and there was no magistrate in the land that might put them to shame in anything; to restrain them from vice, and punish them for it, or even to reprove and correct them, and so put them to shame; or put any mark of infamy and disgrace upon them in a public manner, that might shame them; hence they lived in a disorderly and dissolute manner, whereby they became the more easy prey to others: or the sense is, there was no king, nor an heir of the kingdom, as Kimchi interprets it, so that there were none to contest his right to the government of the place, or to accuse another, and put him to shame for taking it away from him. Jarchi takes the sense to be, that none needed to turn back his neighbour empty, when he asked anything of him for his relief, since there was no want of anything in the land, as after observed; but the first sense seems best:

and they were far from the Zidonians; who were the only people that could help them, being in friendship with them; and it may be they were under their government, as before observed; they are said ^u to be about eleven miles from them; Josephus ^w says, a day's journey:

and had no business with any man; no trade or commerce, but lived independent of others, and within themselves, their land affording them everything sufficient for them. Some understand it of their not being in any league or alliance with any other people, and so had none to call in to their assistance in case of any attack upon them.

Gill: Jdg 18:8 - And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol // and their brethren said unto them, what say ye

And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol,.... After they had well viewed the city, and made their remarks on the inhabitants of it, the condition and circumstances in which they were, and took notice of the goodness of the land about it, they returned to their brethren that sent them, particularly those that dwelt at the two places mentioned:

and their brethren said unto them, what say ye? what tidings do you bring? what account of the place and country where you have been?

Gill: Jdg 18:9 - And they said, arise, that me may go up against them // for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good // and are ye still // be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land

And they said, arise, that me may go up against them,.... That is, prepare for war, and go up in an hostile manner against the present possessors of the land, not doubting of being masters of it easily:

for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good. Adrichomius ^x says it was very good pasture land, and fertile, abounding with fruits of all kinds; and the same is attested by Josephus ^y:

and are ye still? can ye sit still, and be easy, and not bestir yourselves to go up and possess so good a country, of which an easy conquest may be made? or, affirmatively, "ye are still or silent" ^z; ye make no answer to what we say, and seem careless and indifferent about the matter; or by way of exhortation, "be silent", either that the people may remain in their quiet, easy, careless state, and lest, on hearing designs against them, should prepare for their defence; or, as Abarbinel, lest any of the other tribes of Israel should hear of it, and go take it before them:

be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land; they suggest that there was scarce anything more to be done than to go and take possession, and that it would be altogether owing to their sloth and indolence if they did not.

Gill: Jdg 18:10 - When ye go, ye shall come to a people secure, and to a large land // for God hath given it into your hands // a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth

When ye go, ye shall come to a people secure, and to a large land,.... For though it was but one city, the territories of it were large, and the villages belonging to it might be many; which, with the security of the people, might easily be surprised and taken, not being upon their guard, are the arguments used by the spies to encourage their countrymen to go up and take it, to which they add others:

for God hath given it into your hands; which they concluded from the state and condition they found the people in, thoughtless and defenceless; or it may be on account of the oracle in Micah's house they had consulted, and to which they gave credit; though some think their faith was grounded upon this place being given by lot to the tribe of Dan, but this does not appear:

a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth; in the land of Canaan; meaning, that there was nothing in the whole land but might be found there, as wheat and barley, vines, fig trees, pomegranates, olives, and honey, with all other necessaries and conveniences of life.

Gill: Jdg 18:11 - And there went from thence of the family of the Danites // out of Zorah, and out of Eshtaol // six hundred men appointed with weapons of war

And there went from thence of the family of the Danites,.... Or families, the singular being put for the plural; for it can hardly be thought that such a number of men, as after mentioned, went out of one family:

out of Zorah, and out of Eshtaol; the two places the spies were sent from, and now had returned unto: and upon their report, and at their instigation, and by the encouragement they gave, there were

six hundred men appointed with weapons of war; that set out armed from the above places, on the expedition to take Laish.

Gill: Jdg 18:12 - And they went up and pitched in Kirjathjearim in Judah // wherefore they called the name of that place Mahanehdan unto this day // behold, it is behind Kirjathjearim

And they went up and pitched in Kirjathjearim in Judah,.... Of which place see Jos 15:9. According to Bunting ^a it was sixteen miles from Zorah and Eshtaol, and this was their first day's march:

wherefore they called the name of that place Mahanehdan unto this day; which signifies the camp of Dan, or of the Danites; so it was called in the times of Samson, Jdg 13:25 and is a proof that this expedition was before his time; and it was so called, it seems, in the time of Samuel, the writer of this book:

behold, it is behind Kirjathjearim; to the west of it; for though they are said to pitch in that place, the meaning is, that they pitched near it, in the fields adjacent to it, which were the most proper and convenient for a camp.

Gill: Jdg 18:13 - And they passed thence unto Mount Ephraim

And they passed thence unto Mount Ephraim,.... Steering their coast still northward; this, according to Bunting ^b, was eight miles from Kirjathjearim, or Mahanehdan, in which Micah's house was, for as yet they were not come to it, see Jdg 18:15.

Gill: Jdg 18:14 - Then they answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish // and said unto their brethren, do ye know that there is in those houses // an ephod and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image // now therefore consider // what ye have to do

Then they answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish,.... That were sent by their brethren, Jdg 18:5 and, as it seems from hence, were sent particularly to Laish; they had some notion of that place as proper for them, and therefore sent those men to reconnoitre it; and now as they had passed this way before, when they came within sight of Micah's house, it put them in mind of what they had seen there; wherefore one in the name of the rest, and with their approbation, acquainted the company with it:

and said unto their brethren, do ye know that there is in those houses; in one of them, pointing to the houses of a village or town in sight:

an ephod and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? of which see Jdg 17:4 and no doubt but they acquainted them, only that they had seen them, and so were certain but had consulted them, and that with success:

now therefore consider, say they:

what ye have to do; whether it may not be proper to consult them again, or rather to take them with us, to consult as occasion may require, and as tokens and pledges of God being with us, and so may the rather hope that everything will succeed to our wishes.

Gill: Jdg 18:15 - And they turned thitherward // and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah // and saluted him

And they turned thitherward,.... It seems as if the house lay a little out of their way, and therefore they turned on one hand to go unto it:

and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah; for the young man's house was only an apartment of Micah's, and lay very probably next to that in which the images, and oracle were; and they made up to the young man's apartment, rather than to Micah's, because the above things were under his care:

and saluted him; asked him of his welfare in a kind and obliging manner, the rather to ingratiate themselves unto him.

Gill: Jdg 18:16 - And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war // which were of the children of Dan

And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war,.... Who were armed men, and marched with their armour about them:

which were of the children of Dan; for no other were concerned in this expedition: stood by the entering of the gate; not of Micah's house, but of the city in which his house was; here they stood while the five men went up to the house.

Gill: Jdg 18:17 - And the five men that went out to spy the land went up and came thither // and took 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 the weapons of war

And the five men that went out to spy the land went up and came thither,.... They first came to Micah's house, and saluted the young man, and after that salutation told him there was such a number of their brethren at the gate of the city, very probably, who would be glad to see him; and the young man being desirous also of seeing them, and paying his respects to them, went with them thither, and after they had introduced him, left him discoursing with them, and then returned to his apartment:

and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image; and brought them away with them; and from hence it appears plainly that there were two images, the one graven, and the other molten, since they are so manifestly distinguished, and the ephod and teraphim are spoken of between them:

and the priest stood in the entering of the gate, with the six hundred men that were appointed with the weapons of war; who kept him in talk, while the five men went and stole the above things.

Gill: Jdg 18:18 - 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 to them, what do ye

And these went into Micah's house,.... Into that part of it where his gods were; not the six hundred men last mentioned, but the five men who knew the house, and the chapel where the things were:

and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image; and brought them away in their hands to their brethren at the gate, where the priest also was: and when he saw them:

then said the priest to them, what do ye? what do you mean by this? is this your kindness to me, to take away what are my care and charge, and on which my livelihood depends? and do you consider the wickedness, the sin of sacrilege you are guilty of, to take away these sacred things, these objects of religious devotion?

Gill: Jdg 18:19 - And they said unto him, hold thy peace // lay thy hand upon thy mouth // and go with us // and be to us a 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

And they said unto him, hold thy peace,.... Be silent, make no disturbance, be quiet and easy:

lay thy hand upon thy mouth; as a token of silence; so the Egyptians used to paint Harpocrates, the god of silence, with his fingers pressing his lips:

and go with us; for they wanted him as well as his gods, not knowing well how to make use of them without him:

and be to us a father and a priest; to direct them, instruct them, perform acts of devotion for them, and ask counsel on their account; it seems as if it was common in those days to call a priest a father, see Jdg 17:10.

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? suggesting, that it must be much more honourable for him, and more to his advantage, to officiate as a priest to a body of people, that might be called a tribe, or to a family consisting of various houses, than in the house of a private person; this they left him to consider and judge of.

Gill: Jdg 18:20 - And the priest's heart was glad // and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image // and went in the midst of the people

And the priest's heart was glad,.... He rejoiced that such an opportunity offered; it suited well with his covetous, ambitious, rambling, and unsettled disposition of mind:

and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image; and no doubt the molten image also, out of the hands of the five men into his own, agreeing to go with them, and officiate for them:

and went in the midst of the people; the six hundred armed men, either for the security of himself, if Micah should raise his servants, and his neighbours, to pursue after him, and fetch him back, with his images; or, as others think, in imitation of the priests bearing the ark, who in journeying marched in the middle of the camp.

Gill: Jdg 18:21 - So they turned and departed // and put the little ones, and the cattle, and the carriage, before them

So they turned and departed,.... Turned from the gate of the city where Micah dwelt, and marched forward to Laish:

and put the little ones, and the cattle, and the carriage, before them; partly for safety from Micah, and his friends and neighbours, and partly that they might not be overdriven: their wives, who doubtless were with them, though not mentioned, and their children, and also their flocks and herds, they brought with them from Zorah and Eshtaol, as never intending to return again thither, and being fully assured they should take Laish, and the country about, and settle there; and also all their wealth and substance, as the Targum renders the word for "carriage", whatever they were possessed of that was movable; their vessels, silver and gold, and other movables, as Kimchi interprets it, whatever was weighty, valuable and glorious, as the word signifies, or that was of any importance and worth.

Gill: Jdg 18:22 - 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

And when they were a good way from the house of Micah,.... For it might be some time before Micah knew that his gods were stolen, and his priest was decoyed from him; and it must take up more time still to get his servants and neighbours together to pursue after those that injured him:

the men that were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together; no doubt at the request of Micah, who informed them of what had happened to him: and they being not only his neighbours, but deeply involved in the same superstition and idolatry, and closely addicted to it, and to whom it might in some respects be advantageous at it brought people from various parts to worship, or to consult the oracle: these being got together in a body, pursued

and overtook the children of Dan; who were obliged to move but slowly, because of their wives, little ones, and heavy substance they carried with them.

Gill: Jdg 18:23 - 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

And they cried unto the children of Dan,.... When they had got pretty near them, and in their hearing, they called to them aloud, and desired they would stop, having something to say to them:

and they turned their faces; that is, the Danites turned and looked at them, and stopped to hear what they had to say to them; these were they who were in the rear in marching:

and said unto Micah; who was at the head of them:

what aileth thee that thou comest with such a company? as if he intended to attack them in an hostile way, and therefore asks what should be the occasion of it? what affront had been given him, what injury had been done him, that had provoked him to come out and follow them in such a manner?

Gill: Jdg 18:24 - And he said, ye have taken away my gods that 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

And he said, ye have taken away my gods that I made,.... Meaning his graven and molten images, which he had made, or caused to be made, out of the silver his mother gave him, or however had paid for the making of; and though this might be an argument proving his right unto them, it was a very poor one in favour of their deity; and it is astonishing he should call them gods he knew the making of, and who could not save themselves from being stolen and carried off:

and the priest and ye are gone away; they had not only took away his gods, but the priest that sacrificed for him unto them, and assisted him in acts of devotion to them, or to God by them, and were gone off with both:

and what have I more? signifying, that all he had in the world, wife, children, and substance, were all nothing in comparison of these; there was nothing he so much valued as he did these, nor could he take any pleasure or comfort in anything, being deprived of them, so much was his heart set on them:

and what is this that ye say unto me, what aileth thee? what a question is this you ask, as if the injury done me was none at all, and that I had no reason to complain; that it was a trifling insignificant thing, worthy of no regard, when it was a matter of the greater moment and importance to him in life.

Gill: Jdg 18:25 - And the children of Dan said unto him, let not thy voice be heard among us // lest angry fellows run upon thee // and thou lose thy life, and the life of thy household

And the children of Dan said unto him, let not thy voice be heard among us,.... Complaining of us as having done an unjust thing, charging and reproaching us with theft and sacrilege, insisting upon a restoration of the things taken, and abusing with odious names and characters:

lest angry fellows run upon thee: lest men of bitter and passionate spirits, provoked by ill language given them, should draw their swords and fall upon thee:

and thou lose thy life, and the life of thy household; the life of himself, his family, servants, tenants, and neighbours with him, which ought to have been more precious and valuable than his gods; of which there was great danger in demanding his gods, which by this they let him know they would not part with.

Gill: Jdg 18:26 - And the children of Dan went their way // and when Micah saw they were too strong for him // he turned and went unto his own house

And the children of Dan went their way,.... Went on their way, would not stay to have any further talk with him, as being an impertinent man, and unworthy of their regard, bidding him defiance, and do his worst, having nothing to fear from him:

and when Micah saw they were too strong for him; that he could not prevail upon them by words and arguments; to take up arms, and use them, he perceived it was to no purpose, since they were more numerous and more mighty than he and his neighbours:

he turned and went unto his own house; and if he returned from his idolatry to the true God, and the right worship of him, having lost his gods, it was well for him they were taken away.

Gill: Jdg 18:27 - And they took the things which Micah had made // and the priest which he had // and came unto Laish, unto a people that were quiet and secure // and they smote them with the edge of the sword // and burnt the city with fire

And they took the things which Micah had made,.... The ephod, teraphim, and the two images, the Danites took them, or having taken them kept them, and went on with them:

and the priest which he had; him also they took, and who was willing enough to go with them:

and came unto Laish, unto a people that were quiet and secure; having no sentinels placed at any distance to give them warning of an enemy, nor any watchmen on their walls to discover one; and perhaps their gates not shut, nor any guard at any of their passes and avenues, having no apprehension at all of being visited by an enemy, especially from Israel, not being apprized that they had any pretensions to their city, and the land about it:

and they smote them with the edge of the sword; entered their city, and fell on them suddenly, and cut them to pieces:

and burnt the city with fire; to strike terror to all about; or it may be only they set fire to some part of it, as they entered, only to frighten the inhabitants, and throw them into the greater confusion, that they might become a more easy prey to them; for their intention was to inhabit it, and it seems to be the same city still, though they rebuilt it, and called it by another name.

Gill: Jdg 18:28 - And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon // and they had no business with any man // and it was in the valley that lieth by Bethrehob // and they built a city to dwell there

And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon,.... Under whose government and protection they seem to have been; and that city being at a distance from them, and the Danites coming upon them suddenly, there was no time to send to them for help, or any to come in to their assistance, and save them from their enemies, see Jdg 18:7.

and they had no business with any man; that could have given them notice of the design of the children of Dan against them, nor to the Zidonians to come soon enough for their protection and defence; none there were in alliance with them except them:

and it was in the valley that lieth by Bethrehob; which lay in the northern border of the land of Canaan, as you go to Hamath of Syria; see Gill on Num 13:21.

and they built a city to dwell there; not a new one altogether, but they rebuilt and enlarged Laish, and made it convenient for them to dwell in.

Gill: Jdg 18:29 - And they called the name of the city Dan // after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel // however, the name of the city was Laish at first

And they called the name of the city Dan,.... The name of their tribe, and to show that though they were at the furthest part of the land northward, and at such a distance from their tribe, which lay to the southwest, yet they belonged to it:

after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel; one of the twelve sons of Jacob or Israel:

however, the name of the city was Laish at first; which signifies a "lion", and might be so called from its being infested with lions, which might come from the mountain of Lebanon, near to which it was, and whither Dan, as a lion's whelp, leaped, Deu 33:22 and now the prophecy had its accomplishment. This place was also called Leshem, Jos 19:47 and it is remarkable that Leshem is the name of the precious stone in the high priest's breastplate, on which the name of Dan was engraved, which was done many years before this city fell into the hands of the Danites, though that might portend it.

Gill: Jdg 18:30 - And the children of Dan set up the graven image // and Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan // until the day of the captivity of the land

And the children of Dan set up the graven image,.... In their new city Dan, and very probably had a house built for it, peculiar to it, in the same place where Jeroboam, in later times, set up one of his golden calves. The Danites having succeeded, according to the oracle in Micah's house, they had a very great veneration for the images they brought away with them from thence, and set them up for religious worship in a proper place; for though only mention is made of the graven image, yet no doubt the molten image, and the teraphim, with the ephod, were all placed together for devotion and consultation:

and Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan: not to the whole tribe, but to that part of it which resided in this city, called Dan; and this Jonathan seems to be no other than the Levite Micah took into his house, and made a priest of; and whom the Danites took with them to Laish, to be their priest, who is said to be the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh: now Gershom was the son of Moses, and this man is thought by some to be a grandson of his; and with this agrees the time in which he lived, for as Phinehas the grandson of Aaron was now living, Jdg 20:28 so might a grandson of Moses; and though he is called a young man, he might be a younger son of Gershom's; nor is his being a Levite any objection, since it is a clear case that Moses made no provision for his family, so disinterested was he, which may be observed against the deists: and it is remarkable that the "nun", or "N" in Manasseh, is suspended over the other letters in our printed copies of the Hebrew Bible, and so without it may be read, Moses; and the Jews ^c have a notion, that this was done for the honour of Moses, and to observe that he was more like a son of Manasseh than of Moses; though rather this being the first letter of נשה, "to forget", may suggest, as Alting ^d observes, that he had forgot the virtues of his grandfather; and the Vulgate Latin version reads, the son of Moses; and some ^e are of opinion that this is the true reading of the text; though it may be that another Gershom than the son of Moses, and another Manasseh we know nothing of, are here intended, so Marcus Marinus ^f: however, this man, and his sons in succession after him, were priests in Dan:

until the day of the captivity of the land; not till the captivity of Sennacherib or Salmaneser, when Dan, with the rest of the ten tribes, were carried captives, as Jarchi; for this idolatry, and these idolatrous priests, can hardly be thought to be continued here through the times of Samuel, David, and Solomon: nor is it to be understood of the captivity of Israel by Jabin king of Canaan, as Ben Gersom; for as the other is too long a time, this is too short, since it is clear, by the next verse, that this idolatry continued all the time the house of God was at Shiloh; and which directs us to the captivity here spoken of, when the ark was carried captive by the Philistines, and the house of Shiloh was forsaken; which is the sense of Kimchi, R. Isaiah, and Abarbinel; and may be illustrated and confirmed by some passages in Psa 78:58.

Gill: Jdg 18:31 - And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made // all the time the house of God was in Shiloh

And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made,.... Which is repeated for the sake of the time of its continuance next expressed:

all the time the house of God was in Shiloh; which, according to some Jewish writers ^g, was three hundred and sixty years; that is, so long as the tabernacle was there, which was afterwards removed to Nob.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Ayat / Catatan Kaki

NET Notes: Jdg 18:1

¹ tn Heb “an inheritance.”

² tn Heb “because there had not fallen to them by that day in the midst of the tribes of Israel an inheritance.”

NET Notes: Jdg 18:2

¹ tn Heb “The Danites sent from their tribe five men, from their borders.”

² tn Heb “men, sons of strength.”

³ tn Heb “They came to the Ephraimite hill country, to Micah’s house, and spent the night there.”

NET Notes: Jdg 18:3

¹ tn Or “When they were near.”

² tn Heb “voice.” This probably means that “his speech was Judahite [i.e., southern] like their own, not Israelite [i.e., northern]” (R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 263).

³ tn Heb “turned aside.”

⁴ tn Heb “What [is there] to you here?”

NET Notes: Jdg 18:4

¹ tn Heb “He said to them, ‘Such and such Micah has done for me.’” Though the statement is introduced and presented, at least in part, as a direct quotation (note especially “for me”), the phrase “such and such” appears to be the narrator’s condensed version of what the Levite really said.

NET Notes: Jdg 18:5

¹ tn Heb “Ask God.”

² tn Heb “so we can know if our way on which we are going will be successful.”

NET Notes: Jdg 18:6

¹ tn Heb “in peace.”

² tn Heb “In front of the LORD is your way in which you are going.”

NET Notes: Jdg 18:7

¹ tn Or “went.”

² tn Heb “who were in its midst.”

³ tn Heb “according to the custom of the Sidonians.”

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

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.

NET Notes: Jdg 18:8

¹ tn Heb “They came to their brothers.”

² tn Heb “brothers.”

³ tn Heb “What you?”

NET Notes: Jdg 18:9

¹ tn Heb “Arise, and let us go up against them.”

² tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX adds “we entered and walked around in the land as far as Laish and.”

³ tn Heb “But you are inactive.”

⁴ tn Or “be lazy.”

⁵ tn Heb “to go”; “to enter”; “to possess.”

NET Notes: Jdg 18:10

¹ tn Heb “When you enter.”

² tn Heb “you will come to.”

³ tn Heb “broad of hands,” an idiom meaning “wide on both sides.”

⁴ tn Heb “a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.”

NET Notes: Jdg 18:11

¹ 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.”

NET Notes: Jdg 18:12

¹ 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.”

² tn Heb “behind.”

NET Notes: Jdg 18:14

¹ tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX lacks the phrase “of Laish.”

² tn Heb “brothers.”

NET Notes: Jdg 18:15

¹ tn Heb “turned aside.”

² tn Heb “Micah’s house.”

³ tn Heb “they asked him concerning peace.”

NET Notes: Jdg 18:16

¹ tn Heb “And the six hundred men, equipped with the weapons of war…from the sons of Dan.”

NET Notes: Jdg 18:17

¹ tn Heb “went up, went in there, took.”

² tn Heb “six hundred men, equipped with the weapons of war.”

NET Notes: Jdg 18:18

¹ tn Heb “These went into Micah’s house and took.”

NET Notes: Jdg 18:19

¹ tn See the note on the word “adviser” in 17:10.

² 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?”

NET Notes: Jdg 18:20

¹ tn Heb “and went into the midst of the people.”

NET Notes: Jdg 18:21

¹ tn Heb “They turned and went and put the children, the cattle, and the possessions in front of them.”

NET Notes: Jdg 18:22

¹ tn Heb “the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house.”

NET Notes: Jdg 18:23

¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Jdg 18:24

¹ tn Heb “What is this you say to me, ‘What to you?’”

NET Notes: Jdg 18:25

¹ 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.

² tn Heb “and you will gather up your life and the life of your house.”

NET Notes: Jdg 18:26

¹ tn Heb “saw.”

² tn Heb “they were stronger than he.”

NET Notes: Jdg 18:27

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.

NET Notes: Jdg 18:28

¹ tn Heb “it.” The Hebrew pronoun is feminine singular here, referring to the “city” (a grammatically feminine singular noun) mentioned in v. 27.

² map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

³ tn Heb “and a thing there was not to them with men.”

⁴ tn Heb “it.” The Hebrew pronoun is feminine singular here, referring to the “city” (a grammatically feminine singular noun) mentioned in v. 27.

⁵ tn Heb “They”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Jdg 18:29

¹ tn Heb “They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who had been born to Israel.”

NET Notes: Jdg 18:30

¹ tn Heb “erected for themselves.”

² tn Heb “son.”

³ tc Several ancient textual witnesses, including some LXX mss and the Vulgate, support the reading “Moses” (מֹשֶׁה, mosheh) here. Many Hebrew mss have a nun (נ) suspended above the name between the first two letters (מנשׁה), suggesting the name Manasseh (מְנַשֶּׁה, mÿnasheh). This is probably a scribal attempt to protect Moses’ reputation. For discussion, see G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 401-2.

⁴ tn Heb “sons.”

NET Notes: Jdg 18:31

¹ tn Heb “they set up for themselves.”

² tn Heb “the carved image that Micah had made.”

³ tn Heb “the house of God.”

Geneva Bible: Jdg 18:1

In those days [there was] no ^{( a )} king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day [all their] inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel.

^{( a )} Meaning, no ordinary magistrate to punish vice according to God's word.

Geneva Bible: Jdg 18:2

And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, ^{( b )} Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there.

^{( b )} For the portion which Joshua gave them, was not sufficient for all their tribe.

Geneva Bible: Jdg 18:3

When they [were] by the house of Micah, they knew the ^{( c )} voice of the young man the Levite: 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?

^{( c )} They knew by his speech that he was a stranger there.

Geneva Bible: Jdg 18:6

And the priest said unto them, ^{( d )} Go in peace: before the LORD [is] your way wherein ye go.

^{( d )} Thus sometimes God grants the idolaters requests to the destruction of those who delight in errors.

Geneva Bible: Jdg 18:9

And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it [is] very good: and ^{( e )} [are] ye still? be not slothful to go, [and] to enter to possess the land.

^{( e )} Would you lose this good opportunity because of your laziness?

Geneva Bible: Jdg 18:14

Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, ^{( f )} Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do.

^{( f )} Because before they had had good success, they wanted their brethren to be encouraged by hearing the same tidings.

Geneva Bible: Jdg 18:17

And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, [and] came in thither, [and] took the ^{( g )} 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.

^{( g )} Superstition blinded them so that they thought God's power was in the idols, and that they would have good success because of them, though they took them away by robbery and violence.

Geneva Bible: Jdg 18:20

And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the ^{( h )} people.

^{( h )} With the six hundred men.

Geneva Bible: Jdg 18:21

So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage ^{( i )} before them.

^{( i )} Suspecting them that pursued them.

Geneva Bible: Jdg 18:24

And he said, Ye have taken away my ^{( k )} 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?

^{( k )} This declares the opinion the idolaters have of their idols.

Geneva Bible: Jdg 18:27

And they took [the ^{( l )} things] which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came 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.

^{( l )} Meaning, the idols, as in (Jdg 18:18).

Geneva Bible: Jdg 18:30

And the children of Dan set up the ^{( n )} graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the ^{( o )} captivity of the land.

^{( n )} Thus instead of giving glory to God, they attributed the victory to their idols, and honoured them therefore.

^{( o )} That is, till the Ark was taken, (1Sa 5:1).

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Rentang Ayat

MHCC: Jdg 18:1-31

The Danites determined to take Micah's gods with them. Oh the folly of these Danites! How could they imagine those gods should protect them, that could not keep themselves from being stolen! To take them for their own use, was a double crime; it showed they neither feared God, nor regarded man, but were lost both to godliness and honesty. What a folly was it for Micah to call those his gods, which he had made, when He only is to be worshipped by us as God, that made us! That is put in God's place, which we are concerned about, as if our all were bound up in it. If people will walk in the name of their false gods, much more should we love and serve the true God!

Matthew Henry: Jdg 18:1-6

Here is, 1. The eye which these Danites had upon Laish, not the whole tribe of Dan, but one family of them, to whose lot, in the subdivision of Canaan, that city fell. Hitherto this family had sojourned with their brethren, who had taken possession of their lot, which lay between Judah and the Philistines, and had declined going to their own city, because there was no king in Israel to rule over them, Jdg 18:1. It lay a great way off, separate from the rest of their tribe; it was entirely in the enemy's hand, and therefore they would sponge upon their brethren rather than go far to provide for themselves. But at length necessity forced them to arouse themselves, and they began to think of an inheritance to dwell in. It is better to have a little of one's own than always to hang upon others. 2. The enquiry which this family of the Danites made concerning Laish: They sent five men to search the land (Jdg 18:2), that they might know the character of the country, whether it was an inheritance worth going so far for, and the posture of the people, whether the making of themselves masters of it was a thing practicable, what force was necessary in order thereunto, and which was the best way of making an attack upon it. The men they sent were men of valour, who, if they fell into their enemies' hands, knew how to look danger in the face. It is prudent to look before we leap. Dan had the subtlety of a serpent by the way (Gen 49:17), as well as the courage of a lion's whelp, leaping from Bashan, Deu 33:22. 3. The acquaintance which their spies got with Micah's priest, and the use they made of that acquaintance. It seems, they had know this Levite formerly, he having in his rambles been sometimes in their country; and, though his countenance might be altered, they knew him again by his voice, Jdg 18:3. They were surprised to find him so far off, enquired what brought him thither, and he told them (Jdg 18:4) what business he had there, and what encouragement. They, understanding that he had an oracle in his custody, desired he would tell them whether they should prosper in their present undertaking, Jdg 18:5. See their carelessness and regardlessness of God and his providence; they would not have enquired of the Lord at all if this Levite's mentioning the teraphim he had with him had not put it into their heads. Many never think of religion but just when it falls in their way and they cannot avoid it, like chance customers. See their ignorance of the divine law, that they thought God, who had forbidden the religious use of graven images, would yet own them in consulting an image, and give them an answer of peace. Should he be enquired of by them? Eze 14:3. They seem to have had a greater opinion of Micah's teraphim than of God's urim; for they had passed by Shiloh, and, for aught that appears, had not enquired there of God's high priest, but Micah's shabby Levite shall be an oracle to them. He betakes himself to his usual method of consulting his teraphim; and, whether he himself believed it or no, he humoured the thing so well that he made them believe he had an answer from God encouraging them to go on, and assuring them of good success (Jdg 18:6): " Go in peace, you shall be safe, and may be easy, for before the Lord is your way, "that is, "he approves it"(as the Lord is said to know the way of the righteous with acceptation), "and therefore he will make it prosperous, his eye will be upon you for good, he will direct your way, and preserve your going out and coming in. "Note, Our great care should be that our way be such as God approves, and, if it be so, we may go in peace. If God care for us, on him let us cast our care, and be satisfied that we cannot miss our way if he go before us.

Matthew Henry: Jdg 18:7-13

Here is, I. The observation which the spies made upon the city of Laish, and the posture of its inhabitants, Jdg 18:7. Never was place so ill governed and so ill guarded, which would make it a very easy prey to the invader.

1. It was ill governed, for every man might be as bad as he would, and there was no magistrate, no heir of restraint (as the word is), that might so much as put them to shame in any thing, much less put them to death, so that by the most impudent immoralities they provoked God's wrath, and by all manner of mutual mischiefs weakened and consumed one another. See here, (1.) What the office of magistrates is. They are to be heirs of restraint, that is, to preserve a constant entail of power, as heirs to an inheritance, in the places where they are, for the restraining of that which is evil. They are possessors of restraint, entrusted with their authority for this end, that they may check and suppress every thing that is vicious and be a terror to evil doers. It is only God's grace that can renew men's depraved minds and turn their hearts; but the magistrate's power may restrain their bad practices and tie their hands, so that the wickedness of the wicked may not be either so injurious or so infectious as otherwise it would be. Though the sword of justice cannot cut up the root of bitterness, it may cut off its branches and hinder its growth and spreading, that vice may not go without a check, for then it becomes daring and dangerous, and the community shares in the guilt. (2.) See what method must be used for the restraint of wickedness. Sinners must be put to shame, that those who will not be restrained by the shamefulness of the sin before God and their own consciences may be restrained by the shamefulness of the punishment before men. All ways must be tried to dash sin out of countenance and cover it with contempt, to make people ashamed of their idleness, drunkenness, cheating, lying, and other sins, by making reputation always appear on virtue's side. (3.) See how miserable, and how near to ruin, those places are that either have no magistrates or none that bear the sword to any purpose; the wicked then walk on every side, Psa 12:8. And how happy we are in good laws and a good government.

2. It was ill guarded. The people of Laish were careless, quiet, and secure, their gates left open, their walls out of repair, because under no apprehension of danger in any way, though their wickedness was so great that they had reason to fear divine vengeance every day. It was a sign that the Israelites, through their sloth and cowardice, were not now such a terror to the Canaanites as they were when they first came among them, else the city of Laish, which probably knew itself to be assigned to them, would not have been so very secure. Though they were an open and inland town, they lived secure, like the Zidonians (who were surrounded with the sea and were well fortified both by art and nature), but were far from the Zidonians, who therefore could not come in to their assistance, nor help to defend them from the danger which, by debauching their manners, they had helped to bring them into. And, lastly, they had no business with any man, which bespeaks either the idleness they affected (they followed no trade, and so grew lazy and luxurious, and utterly unable to defend themselves) or the independency they affected: they scorned to be either in subjection to or alliance with any of their neighbours, and so they had none to protect them nor bring in any aid to them. They cared for nobody and therefore nobody cared for them. Such as these were the men of Laish.

II. The encouragement which they consequently gave to their countrymen that sent them to prosecute their design upon this city, Jdg 18:8-10. Probably the Danites had formed notions of the insuperable difficulties of the enterprise, thought it impossible ever to make themselves masters of Laish, and therefore had kept themselves so long out of the possession of it, perhaps suggesting likewise to one another, in their unbelief, that it was not a country worth going so far and running such a risk for, which jealousies the spies (and they were not, in this, evil spies) had an eye to in their report. 1. They represent the place as desirable: "If you will trust our judgments, we have seen the land, and we are agreed in our verdict upon the view, that, behold, it is very good (Jdg 18:9), better than this mountainous country into which we are here crowded by the Philistines. You need not doubt of living comfortably in it, for it is a place where there is no want of any thing, "Jdg 18:10. See what a good land Canaan was, that this city which lay furthest of all northward, in the utmost corner of the country, stood on such a fruitful spot. 2. They represent it as attainable. They do not at all question but, with God's blessing, they may soon get possession of it; for the people are secure, Jdg 18:10. And the more secure always the less safe. "God has given it into your hands, and you may have it for the taking."They stir them up to the undertaking: " Arise, that we may go up against them, let us go about it speedily and resolutely."They expostulate with them for their delays, and chide them out of their sluggishness: Are you still? Be not slothful to go. Men need to be thus stirred up to mind even their interest. Heaven is a very good land, where there is no want of any thing; our God has, by the promise, given it into our hands; let us not then be slothful in making it sure, and laying hold on eternal life, but strive to enter.

III. The Danites' expedition against Laish. This particular family of them, to whose lot that city fell, now at length make towards it, Jdg 18:11-13. The military men were but 600 in all, not a hundredth part of that tribe, for when they entered Canaan the Danites were above 64,000, Num 26:43. It was strange that none of their brethren of their own tribe, much less of any other, came in to their assistance; but it was long after Israel came to Canaan before there appeared among them any thing of a public spirit, or concern for a common interest, which was the reason why they seldom united in a common head, and this kept them low and inconsiderable. It appears (by Jdg 18:21) that these 600 were the whole number that went to settle there, for they had their families and effects with them, their little ones and cattle, so confident were they of success. The other tribes gave them a free passage through their country. Their first day's march brought them to Kirjath-jearim (Jdg 18:12), and such rare things had military encampments now become in Israel that the place where they rested that night was thence called Mahaneh-dan, the camp of Dan, and probably the place whence they began their march between Zorah and Eshtaol was called by the same name, and is meant, Jdg 13:25. The second day's march brought them to Mount Ephraim, near Micah's house (Jdg 18:13), and there we must pause awhile.

Matthew Henry: Jdg 18:14-26

The Danites had sent out their spies to find out a country for them, and they sped well in their search; but here, now that they came to the place (for till this brought it to their mind it does not appear that they had mentioned it to their brethren), they oblige them with a further discovery - they can tell them where there are gods: "Here, in these houses, there are an ephod, and teraphim, and a great many fine things for devotion, such as we have not the like in our country; now therefore consider what you have to do, Jdg 18:14. We consulted them, and had a good answer from them; they are worth having, nay, they are worth stealing (that is, having upon the worst terms), and, if we can but make ourselves masters of these gods, we may the better hope to prosper, and make ourselves masters of Laish."So far they were in the right, that it was desirable to have God's presence with them, but wretchedly mistaken when they took these images (which were fitter to be used in a puppet-play than in acts of devotion) for tokens of God's presence. They thought an oracle would be pretty company for them in their enterprise, and instead of a council of war to consult upon every emergency; and, the place they were going to settle in being so far from Shiloh, they thought they had more need of a house of gods among themselves than Micah had that lived so near to it. They might have made as good an ephod and teraphim themselves as these were, and such as would have served their purpose every whit as well; but the reputation which they found them in possession of (though they had had that reputation but a while) amused them into a strange veneration for this house of gods, which they would soon have dropped if they had had so much sense as to enquire into its origin, and examine whether there were any thing divine in its institution. Being determined to take these gods along with them, we are here told how they stole the images, cajoled the priest, and frightened Micah from attempting to rescue them.

I. The five men that knew the house and the avenues to it, and particularly the chapel, went in and fetched out the images, with the ephod, and teraphim, and all the appurtenances, while the 600 kept the priest in talk at the gate, Jdg 18:16-18. See what little care this sorry priest took of his gods; while he was sauntering at the gate, and gazing at the strangers, his treasure (such as it was) was gone. See how impotent these sorry gods were, that could not keep themselves from being stolen. It is mentioned as the reproach of idols that they themselves had gone into captivity, Isa 46:2. O the sottishness of these Danites! How could they imagine those gods should protect them that could not keep themselves from being stolen? Yet because they went by the name of gods, as if it were not enough that they had with them the presence of the invisible God, nor that they stood in relation to the tabernacle, where there were even visible tokens of his presence, nothing will serve them but they must have gods to go before them, not of their own making indeed, but, which was as bad, of their own stealing. Their idolatry began in theft, a proper prologue for such an opera. In order to the breaking of the second commandment, they begin with the eighth, and take their neighbour's goods to make them their gods. The holy God hates robbery for burnt-offerings, but the devil loves it. Had these Danites seized the images to deface and abolish them, and the priest to punish him, they would have done like Israelites indeed, and would have appeared jealous for their God as their fathers had done (Jos 22:16); but to take them for their own use was such a complicated crime as showed that they neither feared God nor regarded man, but were perfectly lost both to godliness and honesty.

II. They set upon the priest, and flattered him into a good humour, not only to let the gods go, but to go himself along with them; for without him they knew not well how to make use of the gods. Observe, 1. How they tempted him, Jdg 18:19. They assured him of better preferment with them than what he now had. It would be more honour and profit to be chaplain to a regiment (for they were no more, though they called themselves a tribe ) than to be only a domestic chaplain to a private gentleman. Let him go with them, and he shall have more dependants on him, more sacrifices brought to his altar, and more fees for consulting his teraphim, than he had here. 2. How they won him. A little persuasion served: His heart was glad, Jdg 18:20. The proposal took well enough with his rambling fancy, which would never let him stay long at a place, and gratified his covetousness and ambition. He had no reason to say but that he was well off where he was; Micah had not deceived him, nor changed his wages. He was not moved with any remorse of conscience for attending on a graven image: had he gone away to Shiloh to minister to the Lord's priests, according to the duty of a Levite, he might have been welcome there (Deu 18:6), and his removal would have been commendable; but, instead of this, he takes the images with him, and carries the infection of the idolatry into a whole city. It would have been very unjust and ungrateful to Micah if he had only gone away himself, but it was much more so to take the images along with him, which he knew the heart of Micah was set upon. Yet better could not be expected from a treacherous Levite. What house can be sure of him who has forsaken the house of the Lord? Or what friend will he be true to that has been false to his God? He could not pretend that he was under compulsive force, for he was glad in his heart to go. If ten shekels won him (as bishop Hall expresses it), eleven would lose him; for what can hold those that have made shipwreck of a good conscience? The hireling flees because he is a hireling. The priest and his gods went in the midst of the people. There they placed him, that they might secure him either from going back himself, if his mind should change, or from being fetched back by Micah; or perhaps this post was assigned to him in imitation of the order of Israel's march through the wilderness, in which the ark and the priests went in the midst of their camp.

III. They frightened Micah back when he pursued them to recover his gods. As soon as ever he perceived that his chapel was plundered, and his chaplain had run away from him, he mustered all the forces he could and pursued the robbers, Jdg 18:22. His neighbours, and perhaps tenants, that used to join with him in his devotions, were forward to help him on this occasion; they got together, and pursued the robbers, who, having their children and cattle before them (Jdg 18:21), could make no great haste, so that they soon overtook them, hoping by strength of reason to recover what was stolen, for the disproportion of their numbers was such that they could not hope to do it by strength of arm. The pursuers called after them, desiring to speak a word with them; those in the rear (where it is probable they posted the fiercest and strongest of their company, expecting there to be attacked) turned about and asked Micah what ailed him that he was so much concerned, and what he would have, Jdg 18:23. He argues with them, and pleads his right, which he thought should prevail; but they, in answer, plead their might, which, it proved, did prevail; for it is common that might overcomes right.

1. He insists upon the wrong they had certainly done him (Jdg 18:24): " You have taken away my gods, my images of God, which I have an incontestable title to, for I made them myself, and which I have such an affection for that I am undone if I lose them; for what have I more that will do me any good if these be lost?"Now, (1.) This discovers to us the folly of idolaters, and the power that Satan has over them. What a folly was it for him to call those his gods which he had made, when he only that made us is to be worshipped by us as a God! Folly indeed to set his heart upon such silly idle things, and to look upon himself as undone when he had lost them! (2.) This may discover to us our spiritual idolatry. That creature which we place our happiness in, which we set our affections inordinately upon, and which we can by no means find in our hearts to part with, of which we say, "What have we more?" that we make an idol of. That is put in God's place, and is a usurper, which we are concerned about as if our life and comfort, our hope and happiness, and our all, were bound up in it. But, (3.) If all people will thus walk in the name of their god, shall we not be in like manner affected towards our God, the true God? Let us reckon the having of an interest in God and communion with him incomparably the richest portion, and the loss of God the sorest loss. Woe unto us if he depart, for what have we more? Deserted souls that are lamenting after the Lord may well wonder, as Micah did, that you should ask what ails them; for the tokens of God's favour are suspended, his comforts are withdrawn, and what have they more?

2. They insist upon the mischief they would certainly do him if he prosecuted his demand. They would not hear reason, nor do justice, nor so much as offer to pay him the prime cost he had been at upon those images, nor promise to make restitution of what they had taken when they had served their present purpose with them in this expedition and had time to copy them and make others like them for themselves: much less had they any compassion for a loss he so bitterly lamented. They would not so much as give him good words, but resolved to justify their robbery with murder if he did not immediately let fall his claims, Jdg 18:25. "Take heed lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy life, and that is worse than losing thy gods."Wicked and unreasonable men reckon it a great provocation to be asked to do justice, and support themselves by their power against right and reason. Micah's crime is asking his own, yet, for this, he is in danger of losing his life and the lives of his household. Micah has not courage enough to venture his life for the rescue of his gods, so little opinion has he of their being able to protect him and bear him out, and therefore tamely gives them up (Jdg 18:26): He turned and went back to his house; and if the loss of his idols did but convince him (as, one would think, it should) of their vanity and impotency, and his own folly in setting his heart upon them, and send him back to the true God from whom he had revolted, he that lost them had a much better bargain than those that by force of arms carried them off. If the loss of our idols cure us of the love of them, and make us say, What have we to do any more with idols? the loss will be unspeakable gain. See Isa 2:20; Isa 30:22.

Matthew Henry: Jdg 18:27-31

Here is, I. Laish conquered by the Danites. They proceeded on their march, and, because they met with no disaster, perhaps concluded they had not done amiss in robbing Micah. Many justify themselves in their impiety by their prosperity. Observe, 1. What posture they found the people of Laish in, both those of the city and those of the country about. They were quiet and secure, not jealous of the five spies that had been among them to search out the land, nor had they any intelligence of the approach of this enemy, which made them a very easy prey to this little handful of men that came upon them, Jdg 18:27. Note, Many are brought to destruction by their security. Satan gets advantage against us when we are careless and off our watch. Happy therefore is the man that feareth always. 2. What a complete victory they obtained over them: They put all the people to the sword, and burnt down so much of the city as they thought fit to rebuild (Jdg 18:27, Jdg 18:28), and, for aught that appears, herein they met with no resistance; for the measure of the iniquity of the Canaanites was full, that of the Danites was but beginning to fill. 3. How the conquerors settled themselves in their room, Jdg 18:28, Jdg 18:29. They built the city, or much of it, anew (the old buildings having gone to decay), and called the name of it Dan, to be a witness for them that, though separated so far off from their brethren, they were nevertheless Danites by birth, which might hereafter, by reason of their distance, be called in question. We should feel concerned not to lose the privilege of our relation to God's Israel, and therefore should take all occasions to own it and preserve the remembrance of it to ours after us.

II. Idolatry immediately set up there. God had graciously performed his promise, in putting them in possession of that which fell to their lot, obliging them thereby to be faithful to him who had been so to them. They inherited the labour of the people, that they might observe his statues, Psa 105:44, Psa 105:45. But the first thing they do after they are settled is to break his statues. As soon as they began to settle themselves they set up the graven image (Jdg 18:30), perversely attributing their success to that idol which, if God had not been infinitely patient, would have been their ruin. Thus a prosperous idolater goes on to offend, imputing this his power unto his god, Hab 1:11. Their Levite, who officiated as priest, is at length named here - Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh. The word Manasseh, in the original, has the letter n, set over the head, which, some of the Jewish rabbin say, is an intimation that it should be left out, and then Manasseh will be Moses, and this Levite, they say, was grandson to the famous Moses, who indeed had a son named Gershom; but, say they, the historian, in honour of Moses, by a half interposition of that letter, turned the name into Manasseh. The vulgar Latin reads it Moses. And if indeed Moses had a grandson that was rakish, and was picked up as a fit tool to be made use of in the setting up of idolatry, it is not the only instance (would to God it were!) of the unhappy degenerating of the posterity of great and good men. Children's children are not always the crown of old men. But the learned bishop Patrick takes this to be an idle conceit of the rabbin, and supposes this Jonathan to be of some other family of the Levites. How long these corruptions continued we are told in the close. 1. That the posterity of this Jonathan continued to act as priests to this family of Dan that was seated at Laish, and in the country about, till the captivity, Jdg 18:30. After Micah's image was removed this family retained the character of priests, and had respect paid them as such by that city, and it is very probable that Jeroboam had an eye to them when he set up one of his calves there (which they could welcome at Can, and put some reputation upon, when the priests of the Lord would have nothing to do with them), and that this family officiated as some of his priests. 2. That these images continued till Samuel's time, for so long the ark of God was at Shiloh; and it is probable that in him time effectual care was taken to suppress and abolish this idolatry. See how dangerous it is to admit an infection, for spiritual distempers are not so soon cured as caught.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 18:1

This took place at a time when Israel had no king, and the tribe of the Danites sought an inheritance for themselves to dwell in, because until that day no such portion had fallen to them among the tribes as an inheritance. To the expression נפלה לא (had not fallen) we must supply נחלה as the subject from the previous clause; and בּנחלה signifies in the character of a nachalah , i.e., of a possession that could be transmitted as hereditary property from father to son. נפל , to fall, is used with reference to the falling of the lot (vid., Num 34:2; Jos 13:6, etc.). The general statement, that as yet no inheritance had fallen to the tribe of Dan by lot, has its limitation in the context. As the Danites, according to Jdg 18:2, sent out five men from Zorea and Eshtaol, and, according to Jdg 18:11, six hundred men equipped for fight went out to Laish, which the spies had discovered to be a place well fitted for a settlement, and had settled there, it is very evident from this that the Danites were not absolutely without an inheritance, but that hitherto they had not received one sufficient for their wants. The emigrants themselves were already settled in Zorea and Eshtaol, two of the towns that had fallen to the tribe of Dan by lot (Jos 19:41). Moreover, the six hundred equipped Danites, who went out of these towns, were only a very small part of the tribe of Danites, which numbered 64,400 males of twenty years old and upwards at the last census (Num 26:43). For a tribe of this size the land assigned by Joshua to the tribe of Dan, with all the towns that it contained, was amply sufficient. But from Jdg 1:34 we learn that the Amorites forced the Danites into the mountains, and would not allow them to come down into the plain. Consequently they were confined to a few towns situated upon the sides or tops of the mountains, which did not supply all the room they required. Feeling themselves too weak to force back the Canaanites and exterminate them, one portion of the Danites preferred to seek an inheritance for themselves somewhere else in the land. This enterprise and emigration are described in Jdg 18:2. The time cannot be determined with perfect certainty, as all that can be clearly inferred from Jdg 18:12, as compared with Jdg 13:25, is, that it took place some time before the days of Samson. Many expositors have therefore assigned it to the period immediately following the defeat of Jabin by Barak (Jdg 4:24), because it was not till after the overthrow of this powerful king of the Canaanites that conquests were possible in the north of Canaan, and the tribe of Dan at that time still remained in ships (Jdg 5:17), so that it had not yet left the territory assigned it by the sea-shore (Josh 19). But these arguments have neither of them any force; for there is nothing surprising in the fact that Danites should still be found by the sea-shore in the time of Deborah, even if Danite families from Zorea and Eshtaol had settled in Laish long before, seeing that these emigrants formed but a small fraction of the whole tribe, and the rest remained in the possessions assigned them by Joshua. Moreover, the strengthening of the force of the Canaanites, and the extension of their dominion in the north, did not take place till 150 years after Joshua, in the days of Jabin; so that long before Jabin the town of Laish may have been conquered by the Danites, and taken possession of by them. In all probability this took place shortly after the death of Joshua, as we may infer from Jdg 18:30 (see the exposition of this verse).

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 18:2

To spy out and explore the land for the object mentioned, the Danites sent out five brave men " out of their (the Danites') ends ,"i.e., from their whole body (vid., 1Ki 12:31; 1Ki 13:33, and the commentary on Gen 19:4). They came up to the mountains of Ephraim, and as far as Micah's house, where they passed the night.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 18:3-6

When they were at Micah's house and recognised the voice of the young Levite, i.e., heard his voice, and perceived form his dialect that he was not a native of these mountains, they turned aside there, sc., from the road into the house, near to which they rested, and asked him, " Who brought thee hither, and what doest thou at this place? what hast thou to do here? " When he told them his history ("thus and thus,"lit. according to this and that; cf. 2Sa 11:25; 1Ki 14:5), they said to him, " Ask God, we pray thee, that we may learn whether our way will be prosperous. " בּאלהים שׁאל , used for asking the will of God, as in Jdg 1:1, except that here the inquiry was made through the medium of the imitation of the ephod and the worship of an image. And he said to them, sc., after making inquiry of the divine oracle, " Go in peace; straight before Jehovah is your way, "i.e., it is known and well-pleasing to Him (vid., Pro 5:21; Jer 17:16).

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 18:7

Thus the five men proceeded to Laish , which is called Leshem in Jos 19:47, and was named Dan after the conquest by the Danites-a place on the central source of the Jordan, the present Tell el Kadi (see at Jos 19:47)-and saw the people of the town dwelling securely after the manner of the Sidonians, who lived by trade and commerce, and did not go out to war. יושׁבת is the predicate to את־העם , and the feminine is to be explained from the fact that the writer had the population before his mind (see Ewald , §174, b .); and the use of the masculine in the following words וּבטח שׁקט , which are in apposition, is not at variance with this. The connection of יושׁבת with בּקרבּהּ , which Bertheau revives from the earlier commentators, is opposed to the genius of the Hebrew language. וּבטח שׁקט , " living quietly and safely there ." וגו ואין־מכלים , " and no one who seized the government to himself did any harm to them in the land ." הכלים , to shame, then to do an injury (1Sa 25:7). דּבר מכלים , shaming with regard to a thing, i.e., doing any kind of injury. עצר , dominion, namely tyrannical rule, from עצר , imperio coercere . The rendering "riches"( θησαυρός , lxx), which some give to this word, is founded simply upon a confounding of עצר with אוצר . ירשׁ does not mean "to possess,"but "to take possession of,"and that by force (as in 1Ki 21:18). " And they were far from the Sidonians, "so that in the event of a hostile invasion they could not obtain any assistance from this powerful city. Grotius draws the very probable conclusion from these words, that Laish may have been a colony of the Sidonians. " And they had nothing to do with (other) men ,"i.e., they did not live in any close association with the inhabitants of other towns, so as to be able to obtain assistance from any other quarter.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 18:8-9

On their return, the spies said to their fellow-citizens, in reply to the question אתּם מה , "What have you accomplished?"" Up, let us go up against them (the inhabitants of Laish), for the land is very good, and ye are silent, "i.e., standing inactive (1Ki 22:3; 2Ki 7:9). " Be not slothful to go (to proceed thither), to come and take possession of the land! "

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 18:10

" When ye arrive, ye will come to a secure people (i.e., a people living in careless security, and therefore very easy to overcome); and the land is broad on both sides (i.e., furnishes space to dwell in, and also to extend: vid., Gen 34:21; 1Ch 4:40); for God has given it into your hand ."They infer this from the oracular reply they had received from the Levite (Jdg 18:6). " A place where there is no want of anything that is in the land (of Canaan)."

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 18:11-12

Removal of Six Hundred Danites to Laish - Robbery of Micah's Images - Conquest of Laish, and Settlement There. - Jdg 18:11, Jdg 18:12. In consequence of the favourable account of the spies who returned, certain Danites departed from Zorea and Eshtaol, to the number of 600 men, accoutred with weapons of war, with their families and their possessions in cattle and goods (see Jdg 18:21), and encamped by the way at Kirjath-jearim (i.e., Kuriyet Enab; see Jos 9:17), in the tribe territory of Judah, at a place which received the permanent name of Mahaneh Dan (camp of Dan) from that circumstance, and was situated behind, i.e., to the west of, Kirjath-jearim (see at Jdg 13:25). The fact that this locality received a standing name from the circumstance described, compels us to assume that the Danites had encamped there for a considerable time, for reasons which we cannot determine from our want of other information. The emigrants may possibly have first of all assembled here, and prepared and equipped themselves for their further march.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 18:13

From this point they went across to the mountains of Ephraim, and came to Micah's house, i.e., to a place near it.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 18:14

Then the five men who had explored the land, viz., Laish ( Laish is in apposition to הארץ , the land), said to their brethren (tribe-mates), " Know ye that in these houses (the village or place where Micah dwelt) there are an ephod and teraphim, and image and molten work (see at Jdg 17:4-5)? and now know what ye will do. "The meaning of these last words is very easily explained: do not lose this opportunity of obtaining a worship of our own for our new settlement.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 18:15

Then they turned from the road thither, and went to the house of the young Levite, the house of Micah, and asked him (the Levite) concerning his health, i.e., saluted him in a friendly manner (see Gen 43:27; Exo 18:7, etc.).

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 18:16

The 600 men, however, placed themselves before the door.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 18:17-19

Then the five spies went up, sc., into Micah's house of God, which must therefore have been in an upper room of the building (see 2Ki 23:12; Jer 19:13), and took the image, ephod, etc., whilst the priest stood before the door with the 600 armed men. With the words וגו בּאוּ the narrative passes from the aorist or historical tense ויּעלוּ into the perfect. "The perfects do not denote the coming and taking on the part of the five men as a continuation of the previous account, but place the coming and taking in the same sphere of time as that to which the following clause, 'and the priest stood,' etc., belongs"( Bertheau ). But in order to explain what appears very surprising, viz., that the priest should have stood before the gate whilst his house of God was being robbed, the course which the affair took is explained more clearly afterwards in Jdg 18:18, Jdg 18:19, in the form of a circumstantial clause. Consequently the verbs in these verses ought to be rendered as pluperfects, and the different clauses comprised in one period, Jdg 18:18 forming the protasis, and Jdg 18:19 the apodosis. " Namely, when those (five) men had come into Micah's house, and had taken the image of the ephod, etc., and the priest had said to them, What are ye doing? they had said to him, Be silent, lay thy hand upon thy mouth and go with us, and become a father and priest to us (see Jdg 17:10). Is it better to be a priest to the house of a single man, or to a tribe and family in Israel? "The combination האפוד פּסל (the ephod-pesel), i.e., the image belonging to the ephod, may be explained on the ground, that the use of the ephod as a means of ascertaining the will of God presupposes the existence of an image of Jehovah, and does not prove that the ephod served as a covering for the Pesel . The priest put on the ephod when he was about to inquire of God. The או in the second question is different from אם , and signifies "or rather"(see Gen 24:55), indicating an improvement upon the first question (see Ewald , §352, a .). Consequently it is not a sign of a later usage of speech, as Bertheau supposes. The word וּלמשׁפּחה (unto a family) serves as a more minute definition or limitation of לשׁבט (to a tribe).

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 18:20

Then was the priest's heart glad (merry; cf. Jdg 19:6, Jdg 19:9; Rth 3:7), and he took the ephod, etc., and came amongst the people (the Danites). The first clause of this verse is attached to the supplementary statement in Jdg 18:18, Jdg 18:19, for the purpose of linking on the further progress of the affair, which is given in the second clause; for, according to Jdg 18:17, the priest could only receive the ephod, etc., into his charge from the hands of the Danites, since they had taken them out of Micah's God's house.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 18:21

The 600 Danites then set out upon their road again and went away; and they put the children, the cattle, and the valuable possessions in front, because they were afraid of being attacked by Micah and his people from behind. הטּף , "the little ones,"includes both women and children, as the members of the family who were in need of protection (see at Exo 12:37). כבוּדה is literally an adjective, signifying splendid; but here it is a neuter substantive: the valuables, not the heavy baggage. The 600 men had emigrated with their families and possessions.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 18:22-23

The two clauses of Jdg 18:22 are circumstantial clauses: " When they (the 600) had got to some distance from Micah's house, and the men who were in the houses by Micah's house were called together, and had overtaken the Danites, they (i.e., Micah and his people, whom he had called together from the neighbourhood to pursue the emigrants) called to the Danites; and they turned their faces, and said to Micah, What is to thee (what is the matter), that thou hast gathered together? "

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 18:24-25

And when he replied, " Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and have departed; what is there still to me (what have I left)? and how can ye say to me, What is to thee? "they ordered him to be silent, lest he should forfeit his life: " Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest men of savage disposition ( נפשׁ מרי as in 2Sa 17:8) should fall upon thee (vid., Jdg 15:12; Jdg 8:21, etc.), and thou shouldst not save thy life and that of thy household, "i.e., shouldst bring death upon thyself and thy family. ואספתּה is also dependent upon פּן .

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 18:26

Then the Danites went their way; but Micah, seeing that they were stronger than he, turned back and returned home.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 18:27-29

And they (the Danites) had taken what Micah had made, i.e., his idols and his priest, and they fell upon Laish ( על כּוא , to come over a person, to fall upon him, as in Gen 34:25), a people living quietly and free from care (vid., Jdg 18:7), smote them with the edge of the sword (see at Gen 34:26), and burned down the city (cf. Jos 6:24), as it had no deliverer in its isolated condition ( Jdg 18:28 ; cf. Jdg 18:7). It was situated " in the valley which stretches to Beth-rehob. "This valley is the upper part of the Huleh lowland, through which the central source of the Jordan ( Leddan ) flows, and by which Laish-Dan , the present Tell el Kadi , stood (see at Jos 19:47). Beth-rehob is most probably the same place as the Rehob mentioned in Num 13:21, and the Beth-rehob of 2Sa 10:6, which is there used to designate a part of Syria, and for which Rehob only is also used in Jdg 18:8. Robinson (Bibl. Res. pp. 371ff.) supposes it to be the castle of Hunin or Honin , on the south-west of Tell el Kadi; but this is hardly correct (see the remarks on Num 13:21, Pent. p. 709). The city, which lay in ashes, was afterwards rebuilt by the Danites, and called Dan , from the name of the founder of their tribe; and the ruins are still to be seen, as already affirmed, on the southern slope of the Tell el Kadi (see Rob. Bibl. Res. pp. 391-2, and the comm. on Jos 19:47).

Keil-Delitzsch: Jdg 18:30-31

Establishment of the Image-worship in Dan . - After the rebuilding of Laish under the name of Dan, the Danites set up the pesel or image of Jehovah, which they had taken with them out of Micah's house of God. " And Jehonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites till the day of the captivity of the land. "As the Danites had taken the Levite whom Micah had engaged for his private worship with them to Dan, and had promised him the priesthood (Jdg 18:19 and Jdg 18:27), Jehonathan can hardly be any other than this Levite. He was a son of Gershom, the son of Moses (Exo 2:22; Exo 18:3; 1Ch 23:14-15). Instead of בּן־משׁה , our Masoretic text has בּן־מנשּׁה with a hanging נ . With regard to this reading, the Talmud (Baba bathr.f. 109 b ) observes: "Was he a son of Gershom, or was he not rather a son of Moses? as it is written, the sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer (1Ch 23:14), but because he did the deeds of Manasseh (the idolatrous son of Hezekiah, 2 Kings 21) the Scripture assigns him to the family of Manasseh." On this Rabbabar bar Channa observes, that "the prophet (i.e., the author of our book) studiously avoided calling Gershom the son of Moses , because it would have been ignominious to Moses to have had an ungodly son; but he calls him the son of Manasseh , raising the n , however, above the line, to show that it might either be inserted or omitted, and that he was the son of either מנשּׁה (Manasseh) or משׁה (Moses), - of Manasseh through imitating his impiety, of Moses by descent"(cf. Buxtorfi Tiber . p. 171). Later Rabbins say just the same. R. Tanchum calls the writing Menasseh , with a hanging nun , a סופרים תקּוּן , and speaks of ben Mosheh as Kethibh , and ben Menasseh as Keri. Ben Mosheh is therefore unquestionably the original reading, although the other reading ben Menasseh is also very old, as it is to be found in the Targums and the Syriac and Sept . versions, although some Codd . of the lxx have the reading uhiou' Moou'see' (vid., Kennic. dissert. gener. in V. T . §21).

(Note: These two readings of the lxx seem to be fused together in the text given by Theodoret ( quaest . xxvi.): Ἰωνάθαν γάρ φησίν υἱὸς Μανασσῆ, υἱοῦ Γερσὼμ υἱοῦ Μωσῆ )

Jerome also has filii Moysi . At the same time, it does not follow with certainty from the reading ben Gershom that Jehonathan was actually a son of Gershom, as ben frequently denotes a grandson in such genealogical accounts, unknown fathers being passed over in the genealogies. There is very little probability of his having been a son, for the simple reason, that if Jehonathan was the same person as Micah's high priest - and there is no ground for doubting this - he is described as נער in Jdg 17:7; Jdg 18:3, Jdg 18:15, and therefore was at any rate a young man, whereas the son of Gershom and grandson of Moses would certainly have passed the age of youth by a few years after the death of Joshua. This Jehonathan and his sons performed the duties of the priesthood at Dan הארץ גּלות עד־יום . This statement is obscure. הארץ .eru גּלות can hardly mean anything else than the carrying away of the people of the land into exile, that is to say, of the inhabitants of Dan and the neighbourhood at least, since גּלה is the standing expression for this. Most of the commentators suppose the allusion to be to the Assyrian captivity, or primarily to the carrying away by Tiglath-Pileser of the northern tribes of Israel, viz., the population of Gilead, Galilee, and the tribe of Naphtali, in the midst of which Laish-Dan was situated (2Ki 15:29). But the statement in Jdg 18:31, " And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh, "is by no means reconcilable with such a conclusion. We find the house of God, i.e., the Mosaic tabernacle, which the congregation had erected at Shiloh in the days of Joshua (Jos 18:1), still standing there in the time of Eli and Samuel (1Sa 1:3., Jdg 3:21; Jdg 4:3); but in the time of Saul it was at Nob (1Sa 21:1-15), and during the reign of David at Gibeon (1Ch 16:39; 1Ch 21:29). Consequently "the house of God"only stood in Shiloh till the reign of Saul, and was never taken there again. If therefore Micah's image, which the Danites set up in Dan, remained there as long as the house of God was at Shiloh, Jonathan's sons can only have been there till Saul's time at the longest, and certainly cannot have been priests at this sanctuary in Dan till the time of the Assyrian captivity.

(Note: The impossibility of reconciling the statement as to time in Jdg 18:31 with the idea that "the captivity of the land"refers to the Assyrian captivity, is admitted even by Bleek (Einl. p. 349), who adopts Houbigant's conjecture, viz., הארון גּלות , "the carrying away of the ark.")

There are also other historical facts to be considered, which render the continuance of this Danite image-worship until the Assyrian captivity extremely improbable, or rather preclude it altogether. Even if we should not lay any stress upon the fact that the Israelites under Samuel put away the Baalim and Astartes in consequence of his appeal to them to turn to the Lord (1Sa 7:4), it is hardly credible that in the time of David the image-worship should have continued at Dan by the side of the lawful worship of Jehovah which he restored and organized, and should not have been observed and suppressed by this king, who carried on repeated wars in the northern part of his kingdom. Still more incredible would the continuance of this image-worship appear after the erection of Solomon's temple, when all the men of Israel, and all the elders and heads of tribes, came to Jerusalem, at the summons of Solomon, to celebrate the consecration of this splendid national sanctuary (1 Kings 5-7). Lastly, the supposition that the image-worship established by the Danites at Dan still continued to exist, is thoroughly irreconcilable with the fact, that when Jeroboam established the kingdom of the ten tribes he had two golden calves made as images of Jehovah for the subjects of his kingdom, and set up one of them at Dan, and appointed priests out of the whole nation who were not of the sons of Levi. If an image-worship of Jehovah had been still in existence in Dan, and conducted by Levitical priests. Jeroboam would certainly not have established a second worship of the same kind under priests who were not Levitical. All these difficulties preclude our explaining the expression, "the day of the captivity of the land,"as referring to either the Assyrian or Babylonian captivity. It can only refer to some event which took place in the last years of Samuel, or the first part of the reign of Saul. David Kimchi and many others have interpreted the expression as relating to the carrying away of the ark by the Philistines, for which the words מיּשׂראל כבוד גּלה are used in 1Sa 4:21-22 (e.g., Hengstenberg , Beitr. vol. ii. pp. 153ff.; Hävernick, Einl. ii. 1, p. 109; O. v. Gerlach , and others). With the carrying away of the ark of the covenant, the tabernacle lost its significance as a sanctuary of Jehovah. We learn from Psa 78:59-64 how the godly in Israel regarded that event. They not only looked upon it as a casting away of the dwelling-lace of God at Shiloh; but in the fact that Jehovah gave up His might and glory (i.e., the ark) into captivity, they discerned a surrender of the nation into the full power of its foes which resembled a carrying away into captivity. For, apart altogether form the description in Psa 78:62-64, we may infer with certainty from the account of the tyranny which these foes still exercised over the Israelites in the time of Saul (1Sa 13:19-23), that, after this victory, the Philistines may have completely subjugated the Israelites, and treated them as their prisoners. We may therefore affirm with Hengstenberg , that "the author looked upon the whole land as carried away into captivity in its sanctuary, which formed as it were its kernel and essence."If, however, this figurative explanation of הארץ גּלות should not be accepted, there is no valid objection to our concluding that the words refer to some event with which we have no further acquaintance, in which the city of Dan was conquered by the neighbouring Syrians, and the inhabitants carried away into captivity. For it is evident enough from the fact of the kings of Zoba being mentioned, in 1Sa 14:47, among the different enemies of Israel against whom Saul carried on war, that the Syrians also invaded Israel in the tie of the Philistine supremacy, and carried Israelites away out of the conquered towns and districts. The Danite image-worship, however, was probably suppressed and abolished when Samuel purified the land and people from idolatry, after the ark had been brought back by the Philistines (1 Sam. 2 ff.).

Constable: Jdg 17:1--21:25

III. THE RESULTS OF ISRAEL'S APOSTASY chs. 17--21

The following two extended incidents (ch. 17-21) differ from the records of the judges just completed (chs. 3-16). They are not accounts of the activities of any of Israel's judges. They are the record of events that took place during the period of the judges that throw light on conditions in Israel during this era. The purpose behind their inclusion seems to have been to illustrate even more clearly ". . . the low moral standards, . . . the debased religious conceptions and . . . the disordered social structure" in Israel.³⁰⁵

"As was the case in the earlier chapters of the Book of Judges [1:1-3:6], these chapters deal with the subject of spiritual apostasy and its effects upon the nation of Israel."³⁰⁶

Whereas chapters 3-16 record Israel's struggles with her external enemies, chapters 17-21 document the internal conditions of the nation that made her so weak. In chapters 17-18 we see Israel abandoning God, and in chapters 19-21 we see her destroying herself.

The town of Bethlehem features in each of three stories. These stories are Micah and the Danites (chs. 17-18), the Levite and the Benjamites (chs. 19-21), and the story of Ruth in the Book of Ruth. Therefore some scholars refer to this section of Scripture as the "Bethlehem trilogy." These stories also share other themes and motifs.

"They concern individuals in more or less private settings whose identities and activities are nevertheless inseparable from and crucial to a full understanding of the Davidic monarchy which followed them. Accounts of actual events that transpired in the days of the judges, they are included in the sacred record for the purpose of tracing the roots of the Davidic dynasty and justifying its existence in opposition to Saul."³⁰⁷

The first incident (chs. 17-18) describes the fate of the Danites, and the second (chs. 19-21) the fate of the Benjamites. Both tribes received land in Israel's heartland, between Judah and Ephraim, the tribes that would, after the monarchy divided, lead the Southern and Northern Kingdoms respectively. By selecting incidents from these tribes, the narrator showed that the degenerating tendency in Israel was not just a problem in the fringe territories. Canaanite influence had infected the heart of the nation.

Both Dan and Benjamin found themselves in dire straits but for different reasons. The Danites could not settle into their allotted inheritance because of Canaanite influence, and the Benjamites could not remain in theirs because of their hostile Israelite brethren. In both instances a nameless Levite with Bethlehem-Judah (17:7-8; 19:1-2) and Mt. Ephraim (17:1; 19:1) connections precipitated the crisis. Both accounts include priestly characters inquiring of God concerning the outcome of a proposed course of action (18:5-6; 20:27-28), and both conclude with a reference to Shiloh (18:31; 21:19-24). In both accounts military contingents of 800 men play a crucial role (18:11, 16, 25; 20:47; 21:7, 12, 14, 16-17, 23), and both contain references to the absence of a king in Israel (17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). These parallel phenomena have the effect of making the reader conclude that the Canaanization of Israel had become complete.³⁰⁸

Constable: Jdg 17:1--18:31

A. The idolatry of Micah and the Danites chs. 17-18

God undoubtedly included the story of Micah and the Danites in the sacred record because it relates the establishment of image worship in Israel. This was a new and catastrophic departure from Yahweh for the Israelites. Image worship continued, grew, and became an increasing snare to the Israelites from this time on in their history until the Babylonian Captivity. Consequently this incident exposes the extent of the spiritual apostasy of Israel.

The events recorded in these two chapters evidently took place while the Philistines were putting pressure on the tribes of Dan, Judah, and Benjamin. Perhaps the writer included them here because of their connection with the arena of Samson's activities that he just related (chs. 13-16). Another connection is the mention of "1,100 . . . of silver" (16:5; 17:2).³⁰⁹ Riches played a significant role in Samson's downfall, and they played a major part in Micah's defection. As mentioned previously, the writers of the Old Testament frequently connected events and laws that were similar or had a logical relationship to one another rather than following a strict chronological sequence. Probably the writer placed this incident before chapters 19--21 because it indicates a basic problem, namely, spiritual apostasy, and chapters 19-21 record the resultant political and social conditions.

It is difficult to determine exactly when during the amphictyony this incident may have occurred. Jonathan, the Levite in the story, was evidently a descendant of Moses (18:30). The English texts call him the "son" of Gershom the "son" of Moses (18:30). However the Hebrew word translated "son" (ben) frequently means "descendant" in the Old Testament. If Jonathan was the grandson of Moses, he probably would have been a "young man" (17:7; et al.) during the wilderness wanderings.

Constable: Jdg 17:1--19:30

A. The Reminder to Remember the Apostles' Warning vv. 17-19

vv. 17-18 "Forgetfulness of the teaching and warnings of God in Scripture is a major cause of spiritual deterioration. . . .

"Remember! It is the first imperative that Jude has used, and it heads a whole cluster of them in this concluding section."⁶⁹

The term "apostles" here evidently refers to the Twelve plus Paul rather than to the larger group of Christian leaders whom Jesus sent out with the gospel (Matt. 28:19-20). The New Testament writers also called this larger group apostles (cf. Rom. 16:7; 2 Cor. 8:23; Phil. 2:25). The smaller group of apostles, however, were those who mainly revealed the faith once for all delivered to the saints (v. 3). It is for that faith Jude urged his readers to contend. The official apostles therefore seem to be in view here rather than all those who functioned as apostles.

Jude's quotation of the apostles' teaching (v. 18) seems to be a general summary rather than a specific reference. We find a similar statement in 2 Peter 3:3, and that too is probably a summary. Many conservative scholars believe Peter wrote his second epistle after Jude, so Jude may not have been quoting 2 Peter 3:3 here.

The "last time" refers to the end of the historical period that encompasses the church age and the Tribulation. After this "last time" God will rule directly over humankind, first during the Millennium and then in the new heavens and new earth (cf. 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Tim. 3:1; et al.). It is the last time in relation to Jesus Christ's return to reign on earth.

The object of the "mockers" mocking seems to be the revealed will of God (cf. Ps. 35:16; Prov. 14:6; 19:25; et al.).

"These workers were . . . ever intent on experiencing the thrills of new forms of ungodliness."⁷⁰

v. 19 The false teachers' teaching divided the believers into two basic groups: those who remained in the apostles' teaching and those who departed from it. While they may have claimed to be the truly spiritual group, the false teachers were really worldly-minded sharing the viewpoint of unbelievers. In the case of the unbelievers, they were completely devoid of the Holy Spirit. In the case of the saved apostates, they were devoid of the effective influence of the Holy Spirit.

"In refusing the Divine Spirit they had sunk to the level of an animal life, immoral in itself, and productive of confusion to the Church."⁷¹

Constable: Jdg 18:1-6

The messengers from Dan 18:1-6

This chapter begins with another reference to the fact that there was no king in Israel then (cf. 17:6). The writer reminded us again that the Israelites were living unrestrained lives. Abundant evidence of this follows in chapter 18.

"The nation needs no king to lead them in battle or into apostasy. They will do both on their own."³¹⁹

In verse 1 the NASB and NIV translators have implied that the following incident happened before the Danites had received their tribal inheritance (Josh. 19:40-48). If true, this statement would date the incident that follows during the days of Joshua. The AV and NKJV versions imply that the Danites had not yet subdued and fully occupied their allotted tribal territory. In this case the incident probably happened after Joshua's death. Most of the commentators prefer the latter view.³²⁰ In either case the incident shows the Danites' dissatisfaction with their condition. They either did not wait for God to give them what He had promised (cf. Josh. 13:1-7), or they were unwilling to fight the Amorites so they could inhabit it (cf. 1:34). They felt that they did not have an adequate inheritance. They then sent a group of five men to investigate the possibilities of other land that might be available to them in other parts of Canaan.

"They clearly felt that the boundary lines had not fallen for them in pleasant places' (Ps 16:6). Their desire to move revealed a lack of faith in the Lord who had allotted to them their original territory."³²¹

The center of Danite activity was then between Zorah and Eshtaol, the area where Samson grew up. However this incident seems to have antedated Samson's judgeship. Previously Moses and later Joshua had sent spies before them (Num. 13; Josh. 2).³²² There is no reference to God's leading the Danites to send spies, however. In view of what follows this decision seems to have lacked divine initiative.

When these representatives happened to come to Micah's house, they recognized the distinctive voice of his Levite (v. 3). After learning what he was doing there, the Danites explained their mission and asked the Levite to inquire from Yahweh whether their journey would be successful (v. 5). The tabernacle was just a few miles from Micah's house, and the Danites should have gone there if they wanted to know God's will. The Levite, perhaps using Micah's ephod, announced God's approval of their mission (v. 6). In view of his own relationship to God it is doubtful that he really received an answer from Yahweh. Moreover in view of what the soldiers proceeded to do their plan was definitely not in harmony with God's will.

Constable: Jdg 18:7-10

The report of the spies 18:7-10

The five Danites continued northward about 100 miles and finally came upon an area they felt would be ideal for their needs. They discovered the isolated town of Laish (Leshem, Josh. 19:47) that they believed they could capture fairly easily.³²³ It occupied a beautiful location on the southwestern foothills of Mt. Hermon.

"Unlike most Canaanite cities of the time, Laish was not defended by stone walls but by huge ramparts consisting of alternating layers of soil from the surrounding region and debris from previous settlements."³²⁴

"The Bible refers to the country as Phoenicia only in the New Testament (Mark 7:26; Acts 11:19; 15:3; 21:2). The Old Testament regularly uses merely the name of either or both of its principal two cities, Tyre and Sidon. These two cities, both prominent in merchandising activity, continue to the present day and are only twenty miles apart. They never seem to have enjoyed any real political cohesion, however, which means that the country never did either. In fact, the boundaries of the country, at any given time, are difficult to fix because this was true. The people often are called simply Sidonians' in the Old Testament (Deut. 3:9: Josh. 13:4, 6; Judg. 3:3; 18:7; 1 Kings 5:6; etc.). This is because Sidon was more important than Tyre in early history."³²⁵

Encouraged by the Levite's report these spies persuaded their fellow Danites to believe that God would give them this new "promised land." Its advantages were three (v. 7). It was a "quiet and secure" site (cf. v. 27). There was no dominating ruler under whom the Danites would have to submit; they could continue to do as they pleased. Third, it enjoyed an isolated location that also suggested no interference from people who might object to the Danites' practices. Obviously the Danites wanted to continue to live as they chose rather than submitting to God's will for His people.

One writer suggested the following translation of verse 7 on the basis of the Arabic cognate of the Hebrew word translated "humiliating" in the NASB: "there was no one speaking with authority in the land, no one in possession of control."³²⁶ This translation is possible but probably not as accurate as the NASB marginal reading that suggests the ruler's restraining influence.

The spies' use of the phrase "to possess the land" (v. 9) appears to have been a pious ploy to convince their brethren that this self-seeking plan was God's will. Moses and Joshua had repeatedly urged the Israelites to "possess the land," but only the land that was God's will for them to possess. The Danite spies were trying to provide security for their tribe contrary to God's previous directions. Likewise the phrase "for God has given it into your hand" (v. 10) had previously been Joshua's battle cry (cf. Josh. 6:16; et al.).

The Danites were unable, or unwilling, to claim their God-appointed territory in which no city was larger than Laish. But they were eager to march miles north and battle other Canaanites for a town that suited them better. The fact that Laish lay within the Promised Land, the full extent of the land that God had said He would give the Israelites, does not justify the Danites' action. It was God's will for His people first to settle in their appointed tribal allotments. Then He would given them the rest of the land later.

Constable: Jdg 18:11-20

The theft of Micah's images and Levite 18:11-20

An army of 600 Danites proceeded from Zorah and Eshtaol eastward up the Kesalon Valley to Kiriath-jearim and then northward into the Hill Country of Ephraim. They stopped at Micah's house, noted his images and ephod, and pondered what they should do (v. 14). What they should have done was execute Micah and the Levite since they were idolaters (Deut. 13:6-11), but they too had departed from God. Instead they stole Micah's images and his priest. They convinced his Levite that it would be better for him to serve a whole tribe than just one family. They made him an offer that this upwardly mobile apostate could not refuse. Here was an opportunity for a larger ministry. It did not matter to him that it involved violating God's will concerning ordinary Levites serving as priests.

"The question the Danites posed to him is asked every day by pastoral search committees: Which is better, to be the pastor of a small family or to be the pastor of a megachurch?' The contemporary problem of ambition and opportunism in the ministry has at least a three-thousand-year history."³²⁷

"His fickle and mercenary attitude reflects the state of the priesthood during this period. Equally deplorable is the fact that one tribe would steal from another with apparent impunity. The treacherous behavior of the tribe of Dan in dealing with Micah and the city of Laish illustrates the serpent' nature predicted by Jacob in Genesis 49:17."³²⁸

The Danites' theft and intimidation were actions contrary to God's will (Exod. 20:15). Apparently the writer wanted to highlight the theft since he referred to it five times in this chapter (vv. 17, 18, 20, 24, and 27; cf. 17:2, 4). The bullying tactics of the soldiers further identify their selfishness (cf. v. 25).

Constable: Jdg 18:21-26

Micah's attempt to recover his losses 18:21-26

Micah gathered some of his neighbors and pursued the Danites hoping to force them to return what they had taken from him. However the Danites proved stronger than he anticipated, and he had to withdraw without a fight (cf. Gen. 14). Here is another example of the Israelites fighting among themselves rather than uniting to combat their common foe.

It is comical to read Micah's sniveling complaint that the Danite soldiers had taken his gods "which I made" (v. 24). Obviously they had no power to protect him from his enemies. The fact that he had made them should have made this clear to him. His pathetic question, "What do I have besides?" reflects the emptiness of idolatry.

"His failure is in marked contrast to the stunning victory gained by Abraham and his small army when they overtook the coalition of kings who had captured Lot and the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 14:10-16). The God of Abraham proved stronger than the idol deities fashioned by Micah. Like the gods of Babylon, Micah's gods were taken captive, unable to effect their own escape (cf. 6:31; Isa 46:1-2)."³²⁹

Likewise Micah's priest, whom he had treated as a son, turned against him. None of the characters in this story shows any integrity.

Constable: Jdg 18:27-31

The establishment of idolatry at Dan 18:27-31

The Danites' defeat of the inhabitants of Laish appears cruel and unjustified (cf. 9:45-49). The town that seemed so desirable to the spies was really vulnerable and isolated. Its advantages proved to be weaknesses. Since God had adequate territory for the Danites in southern Canaan this whole expedition was displeasing to God in spite of the Levite's blessing (v. 6). Some of the Danites remained in their original southern tribal allotment and did not move north.

Note in verse 27 that the Danites took three things: the "gods" that Micah had made (cf. v. 14), a priest whom they could buy, and a town that its inhabitants could not defend. On these flimsy foundations the Danites built their future in the North.

Definitely contrary to God's will was the setting up of Micah's graven image in their newly named town. Jonathan was the Levite the writer referred to previously. Only now did the writer identify him by name probably as a final forceful shock for us, the readers. He was, of all people, a direct descendant of Moses (marginal reading, v. 30).

"It is universally agreed that the reference [to Manasseh] was originally to Moses. The reason for the amendment may have been to safeguard the reputation of this great leader by excluding him from the pedigree of this time-serving and idolatrous Levite."³³⁰

The revelation of the identity of this apostate Levite as Moses' descendant at the end of this already shocking story brings it to an almost unbelievable climax. A direct descendant of the man most responsible for securing Israel's unswerving commitment to Yahweh played a major role in leading the Israelites away from God!

"The problem of religious syncretism is so deeply rooted it has infected the most sacred institutions and the most revered household. . . . If ben means son' rather than grandson' or descendant,' then these events must have happened within a hundred years of the arrival of the Israelites."³³¹

The captivity referred to (v. 30) may be that of the Philistines (1 Sam. 4:11, 22) or the Arameans (1 Sam. 14:47).³³² Some scholars believe that it was the Assyrian Captivity of Israel that began in 734 B.C. (2 Kings 15:29),³³³ but if so this statement was a later editorial insertion in the text. Idolatry that centered in Dan did plague Israel for over 600 years, and the Danites were responsible for it.

"In the book of 1 Chronicles, when the list of the tribes and families of Israel is given, Dan is the only tribe which is totally ignored. Zebulun's genealogy is also not chronicled, but it is mentioned elsewhere (1 Chron. 6:63, 77; 12:33, 40). Dan appears only as a geographical name, not as a tribe. They had vanished into obscurity, probably because of intermarriage with the Philistines. (E.g., 2 Chron. 2:14.) Dan did not take what God had given to them, and they took what God had not given them. In the process, they lost all that they had."³³⁴

The last verse of the story makes the most important point. The writer contrasted "Micah's graven image that he had made" with "the house of God" that He had ordained.

"I suggest the writer places these two sanctuaries [Micah's house of gods, translated "shrine" in 17:5, and the tabernacle], the false and the true, over against one another. There is the true house of God at Shiloh and then there is Micah's collection of cultic Tinkertoys."³³⁵

"The narrator's point is that throughout the period of the judges the cult site at Dan functioned as an apostate challenge to the true worship of Yahweh."³³⁶

The Danites were the first tribe to establish idolatry publicly in Israel. Perhaps this is why their tribe does not appear in the list of 12 tribes that will each produce 12,000 godly Israelite witnesses during the tribulation period (Rev. 7:5-8).

". . . the tribe of Dan was one of the first to go into idolatry, was small in number, and probably was thereafter classified with the tribe of Naphtali . . ."³³⁷

This whole story of Micah and the Danites illustrates the terrible spiritual apostasy that corrupted Israel during the age of the judges. Even the grandson (or descendant) of Moses took leadership in it. It was no wonder that Israel had trouble with her external enemies (chs. 3-16) since she was so spiritually corrupt internally (chs. 17-18).

"The general theme pervading the whole narrative is its concern over false religion . . ."³³⁸

These two chapters teach us important lessons. We should obey God's Word, not disregard it, as Micah did. We should serve God faithfully as He directs, not advance ourselves at the cost of disobedience, as Jonathan did. We should also wait for God and engage our spiritual enemy, not rush ahead or run away to establish our own security, as the Danites did. Micah's error was self-styled worship, Jonathan's was self-determined service, and the Danites' was self-seeking security.

"In this portrayal of the events the narrator provides another challenge to the traditional scholarly understanding of Deuteronomism, which insists that sin brings on the curse, but blessing follows obedience. Here sin succeeds! Ironically, and perhaps tragically, the agendas people set for themselves are sometimes achieved--which sends a solemn warning to the church at the close of the twentieth century. Success is not necessarily a sign of righteousness or an indication that we must be doing something right. It may in fact be the opposite. God does not stifle every corrupt thought and scheme of the human heart."³³⁹

Guzik: Jdg 18:1-31 - Micah's Idolatry and the Migration of the Tribe of Dan

Judges 18 - Micah's Idolatry and the Migration of the Tribe of Dan

A. Dan spies out Laish.

1. (1-2) The tribe of Dan sends spies to look for land to take among the people of Israel.

In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for itself to dwell in; for until that day their inheritance among the tribes of Israel had not fallen to them. So the children of Dan sent five men of their family from their territory, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and search it. They said to them, "Go, search the land." So they went to the mountains of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there.

a. For until that day their inheritance among the tribes of Israel had not fallen to them: The tribe of Dan had land apportioned to them, but they found their own land too hard to conquer.

b. So they went to the mountains of Ephraim: Looking for easier land to conquer and make their own, the Danites came to the land of the tribe of Ephraim and the house of Micah.

2. (3-6) The Danites meet with Micah's Levite.

While they were at the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. They turned aside and said to him, "Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What do you have here?" He said to them, "Thus and so Micah did for me. He has hired me, and I have become his priest." So they said to him, "Please inquire of God, that we may know whether the journey on which we go will be prosperous." And the priest said to them, "Go in peace. The presence of the LORD be with you on your way."

a. The recognized the voice of the young Levite: It may be that the spies from the tribe of Dan knew the renegade Levite personally. It is also possible that they simply recognized his accent as being from the southern part of Judea.

b. Please inquire of God, that we may know whether the journey on which we go will be prosperous: This shows what a spiritually confused time this was in Israel. Danites on a sinful mission met with a sinful Levite, and wanted to know from a righteous God if their mission would be successful. Then the sinful Levite sent the sinning men on their way with God's blessing.

3. (7-10) The Danites choose a city for expansion: Laish.

So the five men departed and went to Laish. They saw the people who were there, how they dwelt safely, in the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure. There were no rulers in the land who might put them to shame for anything. They were far from the Sidonians, and they had no ties with anyone. Then the spies came back to their brethren at Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brethren said to them, "What is your report?" So they said, "Arise, let us go up against them. For we have seen the land, and indeed it is very good. Would you do nothing? Do not hesitate to go, and enter to possess the land. When you go, you will come to a secure people and a large land. For God has given it into your hands, a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth."

a. They dwelt safely, in the manner of the Sidonians: The Danites found a city nearby that was not occupied by Israelites, but by a colony of the Sidonians. This was a group that God told Israel to drive out of the land of Canaan (Joshua 13:4).

b. For we have seen the land, and indeed it is very good: Seeing that the land was good and the city was not heavily defended, the Danites believed this would be a good city to conquer and take as their own territory.

4. (11-13) They assemble an army of 600 to take possession of Laish.

And six hundred men of the family of the Danites went from there, from Zorah and Eshtaol, armed with weapons of war. Then they went up and encamped in Kirjath Jearim in Judah. (Therefore they call that place Mahaneh Dan to this day. There it is, west of Kirjath Jearim.) And they passed from there to the mountains of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.

a. Six hundred men . . . armed with weapons of war: Curiously, they assembled an army of 600 men to fight for the city of Laish in the land of the tribe of Ephraim. Yet they could not fight for the land of their own tribal allotment. For some reason, to them and often to us, a distant battle seemed easier.

B. The tribe of Dan adopts Micah's idolatry.

1. (14-18a) On their way to Laish, the army of 600 men come to take Micah's shrine for themselves.

Then the five men who had gone to spy out the country of Laish answered and said to their brethren, "Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod, household idols, a carved image, and a molded image? Now therefore, consider what you should do." So they turned aside there, and came to the house of the young Levite man; to the house of Micah; and greeted him. The six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land went up. Entering there, they took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molded image. The priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men who were armed with weapons of war. When these went into Micah's house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molded image,

a. Entering there, they took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molded image: This was a strange combination of low morality and strong religious feeling. It was as if someone really wanted to study the Bible - therefore they stole several Bibles.

b. Took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molded image: During the Los Angeles riots in the 1990's, a reporter came across three looters leaving a store. He asked them what they took, and the first two told him off with profanity. But the third man said, "I got some gospel music. I love Jesus!"

2. (18b-21) The Levite goes with the army from the tribe of Dan.

The priest said to them, "What are you doing?" And they said to him, "Be quiet, put your hand over your mouth, and come with us; be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest to the household of one man, or that you be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?" So the priest's heart was glad; and he took the ephod, the household idols, and the carved image, and took his place among the people. Then they turned and departed, and put the little ones, the livestock, and the goods in front of them.

a. Put your hand over your mouth: This was a threat. They commanded the Levite to "shut up" or be attacked.

b. So the priest's heart was glad: His heart was glad because he was filled with mercenary ambition. The Levite did not care about Micah, only for the pay and status that he might get by being the priest for a whole tribe instead of a mere family.

3. (22-24) Micah's foolish idolatry comes to nothing.

When they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah's house gathered together and overtook the children of Dan. And they called out to the children of Dan. So they turned around and said to Micah, "What ails you, that you have gathered such a company?" So he said, "You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and you have gone away. Now what more do I have? How can you say to me, 'What ails you?'"

a. You have taken away my gods which I made: This is powerful irony. Micah had to rescue his own gods. Obviously, his gods should be able to care for themselves. We wonder if Micah saw the foolishness of this.

i. We each either worship a god of our own making or we worship the true God who made us. But the gods we make are always less than we are. Idol worship is just another way of worshipping self.

b. Now what more do I have? This shows how empty Micah's idolatry was. His false gods didn't bring him any lasting good.

4. (25-26) The army of the tribe of Dan refuses to give Micah his god back, so Micah goes home empty handed.

And the children of Dan said to him, "Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry men fall upon you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household!" Then the children of Dan went their way. And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.

a. Lest angry men fall upon you, and you lose your life: This event and these words illustrate the general lawlessness in Israel during this long period of the Judges. The children of Dan stole Michah's idol simply under the principle of "might makes right."

5. (27-29) The army from the tribe of Dan conquers the city of Laish and rename it Dan.

So they took the things Micah had made, and the priest who had belonged to him, and went to Laish, to a people quiet and secure; and they struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire. There was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no ties with anyone. It was in the valley that belongs to Beth Rehob. So they rebuilt the city and dwelt there. And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel. However, the name of the city formerly was Laish.

a. And they called the name of the city Dan: The city of Dan will become the most prominent northern city in Israel. The phrase "from Dan to Beersheba" (Judges 20:1, 1 Samuel 3:20) will become an expression meaning, "from the north to the south of Israel" indicating all of Israel.

6. (30-31) The tribe of Dan officially adopts the idolatry that began with Micah.

Then the children of Dan set up for themselves the carved image; and Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. So they set up for themselves Micah's carved image which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

a. The children of Dan set up for themselves the carved image: This was the beginning of established idolatry in Israel in the Promised Land. There was individual idolatry in Israel long before this, but this is official idolatry.

i. Through a strange chain of events, this began with a son stealing 1,100 shekels from his mother (Judges 17:1-2). It ended with an entire tribe of Israel led into established idolatry.

b. So they set up for themselves Micah's carved image: We can suppose that Micah had no idea how far-reaching the effects of his sin would become. His personal idolatry became the idolatry of an entire tribe, setting up a rival center of worship to the house of God . . . in Shiloh.

© 2003 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Pendahuluan / Garis Besar

JFB: Judges (Pendahuluan Kitab)

JUDGES is the title given to the next book, from its containing the history of those non-regal rulers who governed the Hebrews from the time of Joshua to that of Eli, and whose functions in time of peace consisted chiefly in the administration of justice, although they occasionally led the people in their wars against their public enemies. The date and authorship of this book are not precisely known. It is certain, however, that it preceded the Second Book of Samuel (compare Jdg 9:35 with 2Sa 11:21), as well as the conquest of Jerusalem by David (compare Jdg 1:21 with 2Sa 5:6). Its author was in all probability Samuel, the last of the judges (see Jdg 19:1; Jdg 21:25), and the date of the first part of it is fixed in the reign of Saul, while the five chapters at the close might not have been written till after David's establishment as king in Israel (see Jdg 18:31). It is a fragmentary history, being a collection of important facts and signal deliverances at different times and in various parts of the land, during the intermediate period of three hundred years between Joshua and the establishment of the monarchy. The inspired character of this book is confirmed by allusions to it in many passages of Scripture (compare Jdg 4:2; Jdg 6:14 with 1Sa 12:9-12; Jdg 9:53 with 2Sa 11:21; Jdg 7:25 with Psa 83:11; compare Jdg 5:4-5 with Psa 7:5; Jdg 13:5; Jdg 16:17 with Mat 2:13-23; Act 13:20; Heb 11:32).

JFB: Judges (Garis Besar)

• THE ACTS OF JUDAH AND SIMEON. (Jdg 1:1-3)
• ADONI-BEZEK JUSTLY REQUITED. (Jdg. 1:4-21)
• SOME CANAANITES LEFT. (Jdg 1:22-26)
• AN ANGEL SENT TO REBUKE THE PEOPLE AT BOCHIM. (Jdg 2:1-10)
• WICKEDNESS OF THE NEW GENERATION AFTER JOSHUA. (Jdg 2:11-19)
• NATIONS LEFT TO PROVE ISRAEL. (Jdg 3:1-4)
• BY COMMUNION WITH THESE THE ISRAELITES COMMIT IDOLATRY. (Jdg 3:5-7)
• OTHNIEL DELIVERS ISRAEL. (Jdg 3:8-11)
• EHUD SLAYS EGLON. (Jdg. 3:12-30)
• DEBORAH AND BARAK DELIVER ISRAEL FROM JABIN AND SISERA. (Jdg. 4:1-17)
• DEBORAH AND BARAK'S SONG OF THANKSGIVING. (Jdg. 5:1-31)
• THE ISRAELITES, FOR THEIR SINS, OPPRESSED BY MIDIAN. (Jdg 6:1-6)
• A PROPHET REBUKES THEM. (Jdg 6:7-10)
• AN ANGEL SENDS GIDEON TO DELIVER THEM. (Jdg 6:11-16)
• GIDEON'S PRESENT CONSUMED BY FIRE. (Jdg. 6:17-32)
• THE SIGNS. (Jdg 6:33-39)
• GIDEON'S ARMY. (Jdg 7:1-8)
• HE IS ENCOURAGED BY THE DREAM AND THE INTERPRETATION OF THE BARLEY CAKE. (Jdg 7:9-15)
• HIS STRATAGEM AGAINST MIDIAN. (Jdg 7:16-24)
• THE EPHRAIMITES OFFENDED, BUT PACIFIED. (Jdg 8:1-9)
• ZEBAH AND ZALMUNNA TAKEN. (Jdg. 8:10-27)
• MIDIAN SUBDUED. (Jdg 8:28)
• ABIMELECH IS MADE KING BY THE SHECHEMITES. (Jdg 9:1-6)
• JOTHAM BY A PARABLE REPROACHES THEM. (Jdg 9:7-21)
• GAAL'S CONSPIRACY. (Jdg. 9:22-49)
• ABIMELECH SLAIN. (Jdg 9:50-57)
• TOLA JUDGES ISRAEL IN SHAMIR. (Jdg 10:1-5)
• ISRAEL OPPRESSED BY THE PHILISTINES AND AMMONITES. (Jdg 10:6-9)
• THEY CRY TO GOD. (Jdg 10:10-15)
• THEY REPENT; GOD PITIES THEM. (Jdg 10:16-18)
• JEPHTHAH. (Jdg 11:1-3)
• THE GILEADITES COVENANT WITH JEPHTHAH. (Jdg 11:4-11)
• HIS VOW. (Jdg 11:29-31)
• HE OVERCOMES THE AMMONITES. (Jdg 11:32-33)
• THE EPHRAIMITES QUARRELLING WITH JEPHTHAH. (Jdg 12:1-3)
• DISCERNED BY THE WORD SIBBOLETH, ARE SLAIN BY THE GILEADITES. (Jdg 12:4-15)
• ISRAEL SERVES THE PHILISTINES FORTY YEARS. (Jdg 13:1)
• AN ANGEL APPEARS TO MANOAH'S WIFE. (Jdg 13:2-10)
• THE ANGEL APPEARS TO MANOAH. (Jdg 13:11-14)
• MANOAH'S SACRIFICE. (Jdg 13:15-23)
• SAMSON BORN. (Jdg 13:24-25)
• SAMSON DESIRES A WIFE OF THE PHILISTINES. (Jdg 14:1-5)
• HE KILLS A LION. (Jdg 14:5-9)
• HIS MARRIAGE FEAST. (Jdg 14:10-11)
• HIS RIDDLE. (Jdg 14:12-18)
• HE SLAYS THIRTY PHILISTINES. (Jdg 14:19-20)
• SAMSON IS DENIED HIS WIFE. (Jdg 15:1-2)
• HE BURNS THE PHILISTINES' CORN. (Jdg 15:3-8)
• HE IS BOUND BY THE MEN OF JUDAH, AND DELIVERED TO THE PHILISTINES. (Jdg 15:9-13)
• SAMSON CARRIES AWAY THE GATES OF GAZA. (Jdg 16:1-3)
• DELILAH CORRUPTED BY THE PHILISTINES. (Jdg 16:4-14)
• HE IS OVERCOME. (Jdg 16:15-20)
• THE PHILISTINES TOOK HIM AND PUT OUT HIS EYES. (Jdg 16:21-22)
• THEIR FEAST TO DAGON. (Jdg 16:23-25)
• HIS DEATH. (Jdg 16:26-31)
• MICAH RESTORING THE STOLEN MONEY TO HIS MOTHER, SHE MAKES IMAGES. (Jdg 17:1-4)
• THE DANITES SEEK OUT AN INHERITANCE. (Jdg. 18:1-26)
• THEY WIN LAISH. (Jdg 18:27-29)
• THEY SET UP IDOLATRY. (Jdg 18:30-31)
• A LEVITE GOING TO BETHLEHEM TO FETCH HIS WIFE. (Jdg 19:1-15)
• AN OLD MAN ENTERTAINS HIM AT GIBEAH. (Jdg 19:16-21)
• THE GIBEAHITES ABUSE HIS CONCUBINE TO DEATH. (Jdg 19:22-28)
• THE LEVITE, IN A GENERAL ASSEMBLY, DECLARES HIS WRONG. (Jdg 20:1-7)
• THEIR DECREE. (Jdg 20:8-17)
• THE PEOPLE BEWAIL THE DESOLATION OF ISRAEL. (Jdg 21:1-15)
• THE ELDERS CONSULT HOW TO FIND WIVES FOR THOSE THAT WERE LEFT. (Jdg 21:16-21)

TSK: Judges (Pendahuluan Kitab)

The book of Judges forms an important link in the history of the Israelites. It furnishes us with a lively description of a fluctuating and unsettled nation; a striking picture of the disorders and dangers which prevailed in a republic without magistracy; when " the high-ways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through by-ways" (Jdg 5:6), when few prophets were appointed to control the people, and " every one did that which was right in his own eyes" (Jdg 17:6). It exhibits the contest of true religion with superstition; and displays the beneficial effects that flow from the former, and the miseries and evil consequences of impiety. It is a most remarkable history of the long-suffering of God towards the Israelites, in which we see the most signal instances of his justice and mercy alternately displayed. the people sinned, and were punished; they repented, and found mercy. These things are written for our warning. none should presume, for God is just; none need despair, for God is merciful. Independently of the internal evidence of the authenticity of this sacred book, the transactions it records are not only cited or alluded to by other inspired writers, but are further confirmed by the traditions current among heathen nations.

TSK: Judges 18 (Pendahuluan Pasal)

Overview

Jdg 18:1, The Danites send five men to seek out an inheritance; Jdg 18:3, At the house of Micah they consult with Jonathan, and are encouraged on their way; Jdg 18:7, They search Laish, and bring back news of good hope; Jdg 18:11, Six hundred men are sent to surprise it; Jdg 18:14, In their way they rob Micah of his priest and his consecrated things; Jdg 18:27, They win Laish, and call it Dan; Jdg 18:30, They set up idolatry, wherein Jonathan inherits the priesthood.

Poole: Judges (Pendahuluan Kitab)

BOOK OF JUDGES

THE ARGUMENT

THE author of this book is not certainly known, whether it was Samuel, or Ezra, or some other prophet; nor is it material to know.

1. It matters not who was the king’ s secretary, or with what pen it was written, if it be once known that it was. the king who made the order or decree: it is sufficient that unto the Jews were committed to the oracles of God , Rom 3:2 , i.e. the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament, one part of which this was, by confession of all; and that the Jews did not falsify their trust therein, but kept those holy books themselves, and delivered them to the world, entire, without addition or diminution; for neither Christ nor his apostles, who severely rebuke them for their mistakes and misunderstandings of some passages of Scripture, ever charge them with any perfidiousness about the canon or books of the Scripture. This book is called the Book of Judges , because it treats of the judges, or of the state of the commonwealth of Israel under all the judges, except Eli and Samuel, who being the last of the judges, and the occasions or instruments of the change of this government, are omitted in this book. The judges were a sort of magistrates inferior to kings, and could neither make new laws, nor impose any tributes, but were the supreme executors of God’ s laws and commands, and the generals of their armies.

Poole: Judges 18 (Pendahuluan Pasal)

CHAPTER 18

Those of the tribe of Dan, having not sufficient inheritance, send forth five men to spy out a place; they come to the house of Micah, and desire the Levite to ask counsel of God touching their journey, Jud 18:1-5 . He encouraging them, they spy out the city Laish; and at their return instigate their brethren to set upon the city, Jud 18:6-10 . Six hundred go forth armed: in their march they seize upon Micah’ s priest and idols; which he in vain, demandeth again, Jud 18:11-25 . They pull down Laish; build it again; inhabit it; and call it Dan, Jud 18:26-29 ; consecrate their priest, and set up Micah’ s images, Jud 18:30,31 .

In those days; not long after Joshua’ s death, of which See Poole on "Jud 17:6" .

MHCC: Judges (Pendahuluan Kitab)

The book of Judges is the history of Israel during the government of the Judges, who were occasional deliverers, raised up by God to rescue Israel from their oppressors, to reform the state of religion, and to administer justice to the people. The state of God's people does not appear in this book so prosperous, nor their character so religious, as might have been expected; but there were many believers among them, and the tabernacle service was attended to. The history exemplifies the frequent warnings and predictions of Moses, and should have close attention. The whole is full of important instruction.

MHCC: Judges 18 (Pendahuluan Pasal)

The Danites seek to enlarge their inheritance, and rob Micah.

Matthew Henry: Judges (Pendahuluan Kitab)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Book of Judges

This is called the Hebrew Shepher Shophtim , the Book of Judges, which the Syriac and Arabic versions enlarge upon, and call it, The Book of the Judges of the Children of Israel; the judgments of that nation being peculiar, so were their judges, whose office differed vastly from that of the judges of other nations. The Septuagint entitles it only Kritai , Judges. It is the history of the commonwealth of Israel, during the government of the judges from Othniel to Eli, so much of it as God saw fit to transmit to us. It contains the history (according to Dr. Lightfoot's computation) of 299 years, reckoning to Othniel of Judah forty years, to Ehud of Benjamin eighty years, to Barak of Naphtali forty years, to Gideon of Manasseh forty years, to Abimelech his son three years, to Tola of Issachar twenty-three, to Jair of Manasseh twenty-two, to Jephtha of Manasseh six, to Ibzan of Judah seven, to Elon of Zebulun ten, to Abdon of Ephriam eight, to Samson of Dan twenty, in all 299. As for the years of their servitude, as were Eglon is said to oppress them eighteen years and Jabin twenty years, and so some others, those must be reckoned to fall in with some or other of the years of the judges. The judges here appear to have been of eight several tribes; that honour was thus diffused, until at last it centred in Judah. Eli and Samuel, the two judges that fall not within this book, were of Levi. It seems, there was no judge of Reuben or Simeon, Gad or Asher. The history of these judges in their order we have in this book to the end of ch. 16. And then in the last five chapters we have an account of some particular memorable events which happened, as the story of Ruth did (Rth 1:1) in the days when the judges ruled, but it is not certain in which judge's days; but they are put together at the end of the book, that the thread of the general history might not be interrupted. Now as to the state of the commonwealth of Israel during this period, I. They do not appear here either so great or so good as one might have expected the character of such a peculiar people would be, that were governed by such laws and enriched by such promises. We find them wretchedly corrupted, and wretchedly oppressed by their neighbours about them, and nowhere in all the book, either in war or council, do they make any figure proportionable to their glorious entry into Canaan. What shall we say to it? God would hereby show us the lamentable imperfection of all persons and things under the sun, that we may look for complete holiness and happiness in the other world, and not in this. Yet, II. We may hope that though the historian in this book enlarges most upon their provocations and grievances, yet there was a face of religion upon the land; and, however there were those among them that were drawn aside to idolatry, yet the tabernacle-service, according to the law of Moses, was kept up, and there were many that attended it. Historians record not the common course of justice and commerce in a nation, taking that for granted, but only the wars and disturbances that happen; but the reader must consider the other, to balance the blackness of them. III. It should seem that in these times each tribe had very much its government in ordinary within itself, and acted separately, without one common head, or council, which occasioned many differences among themselves, and kept them from being or doing any thing considerable. IV. The government of the judges was not constant, but occasional; when it is said that after Ehud's victory the land rested eighty years, and after Barak's forty , it is not certain that they lived, much less that they governed, so long; but they and the rest were raised up and animated by the Spirit of God to do particular service to the public when there was occasion, to avenge Israel of their enemies, and to purge Israel of their idolatries, which are the two things principally meant by their judging Israel. Yet Deborah, as a prophetess, was attended for judgment by all Israel, before there was occasion for her agency in war, Jdg 4:4. V. During the government of the judges, God was in a more especial manner Israel's king; so Samuel tells them when they were resolved to throw off this form of government, 1Sa 12:12. God would try what his own law and the constitutions of that would do to keep them in order, and it proved that when there was no king in Israel every man did that which was right in his own eyes; he therefore, towards the latter end of this time, made the government of the judges more constant and universal that it was at first, and at length gave them David, a king after his own heart; then, and not till then, Israel began to flourish, which should make us very thankful for magistrates both supreme and subordinate, for they are ministers of God unto us for good. Four of the judges of Israel are canonized (Heb 11:32), Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephtha. The Learned bishop Patrick thinks the prophet Samuel was the penman of this Book.

Matthew Henry: Judges 18 (Pendahuluan Pasal)

How idolatry crept into the family of Micah we read in the preceding chapter, how it was translated thence into the tribe of Dan we have an account in this chapter, and how it gained a settlement in a city of note; for how great a matter does a little fire kindle! The tribe of Dan had their lot assigned them last of all the tribes, and, it happening to be too strait for them, a considerable city in the utmost corner of Canaan northward was added to it. " Let them get it, and take it;" it was called Laish or Leshem, Jos 19:47. Now here we are told, I. How they sent spies to bring them an account of the place, who, by the way, got acquainted with Micah's priest (Jdg 18:1-6). II. What an encouraging report these spies brought back (Jdg 18:7-10). III. What forces were sent to conquer Laish (Jdg 18:11-13). IV. How they, by the way, plundered Micah of his gods (Jdg 18:14-26). V. How easily they conquered Laish (Jdg 18:27-29), and, when they had it, set up the graven image in it (Jdg 18:30, Jdg 18:31).

Constable: Judges (Pendahuluan Kitab)

Introduction

Title

The English title, Judges, comes to us from the Latin translation (Vulgate) that the Greek translation (Septuagint) influenced. In all three languages the title means "judges." This title is somewhat misleading, however, because most English-speaking people associate the modern concept of a judge with Israel's judges. As we shall see, judges then were very different from judges now. The Hebrew title is also Judges (Shophetim). The book received its name from its principle characters, as the Book of Joshua did.

The judge in Israel was not a new office during the period of history that this book records. Moses ordered the people to appoint judges in every Israelite town to settle civil disputes (Deut. 16:18). In addition, there was to be a chief justice at the tabernacle who would, with the high priest, help settle cases too difficult for the local judges (Deut. 17:9). Evidently there were several judges at the tabernacle who served as a supreme court (Deut. 19:17).

When Joshua died God did not appoint a man to succeed him as the military leader of the entire nation of Israel. Instead each tribe was to proceed to conquer and occupy its allotted territory. As the need arose God raised up several different individuals who were judges in various parts of Israel at various times to lead segments of the Israelites against local enemies. These judges were similar to modern mayors of towns. God endowed them with certain qualities and identified them in various ways as being those He had chosen to lead His people. This leadership sometimes involved military command. As God had raised up Moses and Joshua, and as he would raise up David (1 Sam. 16:13), so He also raised up the judges. The writer also described Yahweh as a judge in Judges (11:27). This points out the fact that the judges were God's agents in Israel who judged under Him at this period in the nation's history.

"Though the judge enjoyed great prestige, he was in no sense a king. His authority was neither absolute, nor permanent, nor in any case hereditary; it rested solely in those personal qualities (the charisma) that gave evidence that he was the man of Yahweh's spirit. It was a type of authority perfectly expressive of the faith and constitution of early Israel: the God-King's direct leadership of his people through his spirit-designated representative. . . .

"The judges were by no means men of identical character. Some (e.g., Gideon) rose to their task at the behest of a profound experience of divine vocation; one (Jephthah) was no better than a bandit who knew how to strike a canny bargain; one (Samson) was an engaging rogue whose fabulous strength and bawdy pranks became legendary. None, so far as we know, ever led a united Israel into battle. All, however, seem to have had this in common: they were men who, stepping to the fore in times of danger, by virtue only of those personal qualities (charisma) which gave evidence to their fellows that Yahweh's spirit was upon them, rallied the clans against the foe."¹

Judges is the second book of the Former Prophets section of the Hebrew Old Testament. As I pointed out in the notes on Joshua, the fact that the Hebrews placed the book in this section of their canon is significant. It demonstrates that they recognized it as God's selective history of the period designed to teach spiritual lessons more than simply to record historical facts. God revealed Himself through the events of life and history as well as through the sermons of the prophets.

Date and Writer

Internal references help us locate the approximate date of composition of this book. The clause, "In those days there was no king in Israel," (17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25) suggests that someone wrote Judges during the monarchical period that followed the period of rule by judges (amphictyony). Someone probably wrote it after 1051 B.C. when Saul became king. However at the time of writing Jerusalem was still in the hands of the Jebusites (1:21). David captured Jerusalem about 1004 B.C. Therefore the writing of Judges seems to date between 1051 and 1004 B.C.

Jewish tradition suggests that Samuel wrote Judges.² This was the opinion of the writers of the Talmud, the collection of Jewish writings that grew up around revealed Scripture beginning very early in Israel's history. Samuel is a likely writer because of his role in Israel when someone wrote Judges. Samuel's ministry began about 1090 B.C. and apparently ended a few years before Saul's death (ca. 1021 B.C.). If Samuel wrote Judges, he probably did so between 1051 and about 1021 B.C.

Scope

In contrast to Joshua, which spans only about 35 years, Judges covers a much longer period of Israel's history.

The book opens shortly after the death of Joshua (1:1). God did not give us sufficient information to enable us to fix the date of Joshua's death. Leon Wood figured that he died about 1390 B.C.³ Eugene Merrill calculated his death at about 1366 B.C.⁴ The latest event the writer of Judges recorded is probably the death of Samson (16:30-31). Wood believed Samson died about 1055 B.C.⁵ Merrill wrote that he died near 1084 B.C.⁶ Consequently the Book of Judges records about 300 years of Israel's history (cf. 11:26).⁷ The period of rule by the judges, however, extended beyond the events the Book of Judges records to Saul's coronation in 1050 or 1051 B.C.⁸ According to Wood's chronology this was five years beyond the end of Judges and according to Merrill's it was 33 years beyond.

The judgeships of some of the individual judges apparently overlapped. Some ruled in one area of Israel while one or more others ruled elsewhere in some cases.⁹

The Book of Judges does not record the ministries of all Israel's judges. Eli and Samuel were also judges whose work the writer of 1 Samuel recorded. Only the judges whom the divine Author selected for inclusion appear in this book.

Purpose

Arthur Cundall suggested that one of the purposes of Judges may have been to provide apologetic justification for Israel's monarchy.¹⁰ William Dumbrell believed its purpose was primarily to show the sovereign grace of God in preserving Israel in spite of Israel.¹¹ Leon Wood wrote that its primary purpose was to show why Israel did not experience God's promised blessings.¹² Herbert Wolf believed the primary purpose was to show that Israel's spiritual condition determined its political and material situation.¹³ Daniel Block argued that it was to reveal the Canaanization of Israel in the premonarchic period of Israel's history.¹⁴ All these explanations seem to me to be in harmony with what the book records.

Message¹⁵

Joshua reveals that victory, success, and progress result when God's people trust and obey Him consistently. Judges shows that defeat, failure, and retrogression follow when they fail to trust and obey consistently. In this respect Joshua and Judges are like two sides of one coin. The former is a positive lesson and the latter a negative one.

Judges portrays the deterioration of the nation of Israel: what caused it, the course it followed, and the chaos that resulted.

Israel failed because her heart turned from Yahweh, and then her head forsook His covenant. Keil and Delitzsch wrote, "The writer writes throughout from a prophet's point of view. He applies the standard of the law to the spirit of the age by which the nation was influenced as a whole, and pronounces a stern and severe sentence upon all deviations from the path of rectitude set before it in the law."¹⁶

We could visualize the structure of the book as a descending spiral. Israel departed from God, fell under His discipline, repented, experienced deliverance from her oppressors, dedicated herself anew to Yahweh, experienced His blessing, and then apostatized again. In each cycle Israel seems to have sunk lower than she had been previously even though each cycle included a spiritual revival.

Judges reveals the course and process by which Israel deteriorated as a nation. The same process takes place on the personal level as well as on the national level, but it is easier to observe on the national level in Judges.

The root cause of Israel's deterioration was religious apostasy. The Israelites turned from God. They did not drive out the Canaanites as God had commanded (1:21, 27-33). Instead they made covenants with them (2:1-2). Rather than destroying the pagan altars, the Israelites served idols and forsook the Lord (2:11-12, 17, 19).

Their apostasy began with toleration of things that God had condemned and prohibited. In time the Israelites began to admire these things. Finally they conformed to them.

The story of Micah and the Danites (chs. 17-18) is a short illustration of the religious apostasy in Israel at this time. Chapters 17-21 are an appendix to the book.

Religious apostasy led to political disorganization in Israel. Shortly after Israel departed from God it began to come apart as a nation. The people stopped working together toward their God-given goal of possessing the entire land and began fighting with one another instead. At the beginning of the amphictyony the tribes were fairly united, but by the end of this period of Israel's history anarchy prevailed (21:25).

The government in Israel deteriorated from theocracy (rule by God) to anarchy (no rule or government). Israel became fragmented, weak, and unable to withstand her enemies. This is ironic because after Joshua died Israel was in position to begin to enjoy the benefits of the theocracy in the land for the first time. Until Judges opens, God was preparing Israel to enjoy the theocracy in the land.

There are several examples of tribal jealousies in Judges (e.g., 8:1-3; 12:1-6), but the worst example of political disorganization is the vignette that concludes the book. This is the civil war in which 11 of the tribes almost annihilated the twelfth, Benjamin (chs. 20-21). Instead of destroying the Canaanites, God's people allowed them to live among them while the Israelites proceeded to destroy one another.

Another evidence of Israel's deterioration as a nation was social chaos.

Three characteristics marked the social chaos in Israel during the period of the judges. Lawlessness characterized national life. People were afraid to go out in public and traveled the byways rather than the highways of the land (5:6). People committed violent crimes without fear of punishment (ch. 19). Blindness also characterized the people. They were blind to what was happening in their midst, namely, God using discipline after apostasy to bring them to repentance and deliverance. They were also blind to God's dealings with their ancestors in their history. Third, immorality marked Israel's social life. Even Samson, one of the judges, was a victim of this cancer.

The story of the Levite and his concubine who visited the town of Gibeah (ch. 19) is a slice of life out of the period of the judges that shows the immorality that characterized Israel's social life. The behavior demonstrated in this story was the fruit of departure from God. The sin that had previously characterized the Canaanites of Sodom (Gen. 19) now marked God's people. Chapter 19 is a third part of the appendix to the book.

God revealed this process of deterioration to warn all people. Spiritual apostasy leads to political disorganization and social chaos. Social and governmental evils rise out of spiritual conditions. When the Israelites repented and rededicated themselves to God, God brought political deliverance and restored social order.

Judges not only reveals what causes deterioration, but it also clarifies the steps to restoration. Israel's history during this period resembles a downward spiral. The general trend was downward. Nevertheless there were six revivals of the peoples' faith in God and commitment to him too. These revivals cycled in Israel's history at this time.

Israel began from a privileged position of divine blessing.

In time the people apostatized by turning away from God and His covenant to the gods and practices of the Canaanites.

To bring them back to Himself God disciplined His people by allowing them to fall under the control and domination of their enemies. Israel chose to bow down to idols, so God allowed the idolaters to bend her over in bondage. The Israelites tolerated the Canaanites, but God made the Canaanites intolerant of them. The people with the birthright to the land had to hide in caves and among the rocks fearing to show themselves (6:2). God disciplined them severely for their apostasy. In Joshua God dealt with sin primarily among the Canaanites, but in Judges He dealt with it primarily among the Israelites. However, God's discipline was always remedial. God designed it to bring the Israelites back to a consciousness of sin and their need for God.

When the Israelites cried out to Yahweh in repentance, God heard their cry and delivered them mercifully. I mean "repentance" in the general sense of turning to God, not in the specific sense of cleaning up the life. God did not give deliverance as a reward the people had earned, but as grace in response to their helpless cry, as the text makes clear.

When they truly repented, He delivered them by raising up a judge. In each case, deliverance came at the right moment. It always came by the right instrument. God raised up the right person in each case. In almost every case God used one person, either a man or a woman. Judges reveals how God remarkably works through all types of different individuals to accomplish His purposes. He raised up the judge whom He had prepared for the needs of his time and place. Each judge was just right for his mission. In almost every case God used one single individual to change the whole course of history in Israel. E. M. Bounds wrote, "The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods, but through man. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but people--people of prayer."

As a result of this deliverance the people rededicated themselves anew to Yahweh. Spiritual revival was the result of God's physical deliverance.

The people then began to enjoy God's blessing again. God gave them rest from the oppression of their enemies. Arthur Cundall labeled these stages "sin, servitude, supplication, and salvation."¹⁷

God's methods are the same today as they were in the days of the judges.

The fact that the writer repeated this cycle of events six times in Judges points to its timeless quality and its universality. Charles Feinberg wrote, "If ever there were history with a purpose it is here."¹⁸

I would state the message of the Book of Judges therefore as follows. Apostasy leads to disorganization and chaos, but repentance results in deliverance and blessing. This is true nationally and personally.

Constable: Judges (Garis Besar)

Outline

I. The reason for Israel's apostasy 1:1-3:6

A. Hostilities between the Israelites and the Canaanites after Joshua's death 1:1-2:5

1. Initial successes and failures ch. 1

2. The announcement of God's discipline 2:1-5

B. Israel's conduct toward Yahweh and Yahweh's treatment of Israel in the period of the judges 2:6-3:6

1. Review of Joshua's era 2:6-10

2. The pattern of history during the judges' era 2:11-23

3. God's purposes with Israel 3:1-6

II. The record of Israel's apostasy 3:7-16:31

A. The first apostasy 3:7-11

B. The second apostasy 3:12-31

1. Oppression under the Moabites and deliverance through Ehud 3:12-30

2. Oppression under the Philistines and deliverance through Shamgar 3:31

C. The third apostasy chs. 4-5

1. The victory over Jabin and Sisera ch. 4

2. Deborah's song of victory ch. 5

D. The fourth apostasy 6:1-10:5

1. The story of Gideon 6:1-8:32

2. Israel's departure from Yahweh 8:33-35

3. The story of Abimelech ch. 9

4. The judgeships of Tola and Jair 10:1-5

E. The fifth apostasy 10:6-12:15

1. Renewed oppression 10:6-7

2. Oppression under the Ammonites 10:8-18

3. Deliverance through Jephthah 10:1-12:7

4. The judgeships of Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon 12:8-15

F. The sixth apostasy chs. 13-16

1. Samson's birth ch. 13

2. Samson's intended marriage to the Timnite ch. 14

3. Samson's vengeance on the Philistines ch. 15

4. Samson's final fatal victory ch. 16

III. The results of Israel's apostasy ch. 17-21

A. The idolatry of Micah and the Danites ch. 17-18

1. The idolatry of Micah ch. 17

2. The apostasy of the Danites ch. 18

B. The immorality of Gibeah and the Benjamites chs. 19-21

1. The atrocity in Gibeah ch. 19

2. The civil war in Israel ch. 20

3. The preservation of Benjamin ch. 21

Constable: Judges

Judges

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Peet, J. H. John. "The Chronology of the Judges--Some Thoughts." Journal of Christian Reconstruction 9:1-2 (1982-83):161-81.

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: Judges (Pendahuluan Kitab)

INTRODUCTION.

THE BOOK OF JUDGES.

This Book is called Judges, because it contains the history of what passed under the government of the judges, who ruled Israel before they had kings. The writer of it, according to the more general opinion, was the prophet Samuel. (Challoner) --- Some are of opinion, that the judges might have each left records of their respective administration, (Menochius) which might be put in order by Samuel. The author of this book seems to have lived under the reign of Saul, before David had expelled the Jebusites, chap. xviii. 31. (Du Hamel) --- The captivity, which is mentioned [in] ver. 30, must be understood of that when the ark of God, as well as the idol Micha, and may of the people were taken by the Philistines. (Huet) --- Many passages of the Psalms, &c., are taken from this book, which shew its antiquity, Psalm lxvii. 8., and 2 Kings xi. 21. The divine Providence is here displayed in a very striking manner. (Du Hamel) --- The theocracy still subsisted and God generally chose these judges to be his ministers, and to deliver the people, on their repentance, from some dreadful calamity. (Haydock) --- They exercised a supreme power, yet without bearing the insignia of regal authority, or imposing taxes, or making any alteration in the established laws. The Suffetes, who were Carthaginian magistrates, seem to have taken their name from these Ssuptim. (Du Hamel) --- When God did not raise up judges, in an extraordinary manner, a kind of ananchy prevailed. (Haydock) --- Each of the tribes regarded only their own affairs, and the republic was dissolved. (Grotius) --- Prosperous and unfortunate days succeeded each other, in proportion as the people gave themselves up to repentance or to dissolution. Sicut se habebant peccata populi & misericordia Dei, alternaverunt prospera & adversa bellorum. (St. Augustine, City of God xviii. 23.) St. Jerome (ep. ad Eust. & ad Paulin.) exhorts us to penetrate the spiritual sense of the historical books, and he regards "the judges as so many figures" of the apostles, who established the church of Christ. Though some of them had been noted for their misconduct, they were reclaimed by the grace of God. Then all the judges, every one by name, whose heart was not corrupted, who turned not away from the Lord, that their memory might be blessed, &c., Ecclesiasticus xlvi. 13, 14. (Worthington) --- St. Paul mentions four of them, though the conduct of Jephte and of Samson might have been regarded as more exceptionable than that of Othoniel, who is said to have been filled with the spirit of the Lord, chap. iii. 10. Serarius doubts not but they are all in heaven. Salien (in the year of the world 2640,) supposes that the transactions recorded in the five last chapters, took place before this 40th year from the death of Josue, which was the last of Othoniel. With respect to the chronology of these times, there are many opinions. Houbigant endeavours to shew that the system of Usher is inadmissible, as well as that of Petau. Marsham maintains that many of the captivities, and of the Judges, related only to some tribes, so that the different years which are specified, must be referred to the same period of time. Thus while Jephte ruled over those on the east side of the Jordan, and fought against the Ammonites, other judges endeavoured to repel the armies of the Philistines on the west. See 3 Kings vi. 1., and Judges xi. 16. By this expedient, he finds no difficulty in shewing that 480 years elapsed from the departure out of Egypt till the building of the temple, and that the Israelites had occupied the country of the Ammonites during the space of 300 years. (Haydock) --- Houbigant seems to adopt this system in some respects, and he thinks that errors have crept into some of the numbers, so that Aod procured a peace of only 20 instead of 80 years, &c. He observes that the name of judge here designates, 1. A warrior, like Samson; 2. a person who passes sentence according to the law, which was the office of Heli; 3. one divinely commissioned to exercise the sovereign authority, as Samuel did, even after Saul had been elected king. (Proleg. Chronol.) Others have compared the power of these judges with that of the Roman Dictators, or the Archontes of Athens. (Serarius) --- They were properly God's lieutenants. Their revenue seems to have been very precarious, and their exterior deportment modest and unassuming. They were guided by the declarations of the high priests, when arrayed with the Urim and Thummim; and their business was to promote the observance of the true religion, and to defend the people of God. This book concludes with the history of Samson, describing the transactions of 317 years, (Calmet) according to the calculation of Usher, which has met with the approbation of many of the learned, and is therefore chiefly inserted in this edition, as it was in that which was published in 1791, at Dublin, by the care of the Rev. B. Mac Mahon, who seems to have made some alterations. It is not indeed free from many serious difficulties. But we have not leisure to examine them at present. See chap. iii. 11, 30. We shall only subjoin the chronological table of Houbigant, which is not very common, that the reader may perceive where they are chiefly at variance. Moses governed 40 years, Josue 20, the Ancients 20, king of Mesopotamia 8, Othoniel 40, Moabites 18, Aod 20, Samgar 0, the Chanaanites 20, Debora and Barac 40, Madianites 7, Gedeon 40, Abimelech 3, Thola 23, Ammonites 0, Jair 22, Jephte 6, Abesan 7, Ahialon 10, Abdon 8, Philistines 0, Samson 20, and with Heli 20, Heli and Samuel 25, Samuel and Saul 20, David 40, Solomon 3. In the 4th year of his reign the temple was begun, 480 years after the liberation from Egypt. Those to whom no years are assigned, lived at the same time with others whose years enter into the calculation. Thus Samgar gained a victory over the Philistines, while the Chanaanites held the Israelites in subjection, chap. iii. 31. For other particulars we must refer to the author. (Chron. sacra.) (Haydock)

Gill: Judges (Pendahuluan Kitab)

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES

The title of this book in the Hebrew copies is Sepher Shophetim, the Book of Judges; but the Syriac and Arabic interpreters call it,

"the Book of the Judges of the Children of Israel;''

and the Septuagint only Judges; so called, not because it was written by them, though some think it was compiled out of annals and diaries kept by them; but it seems to be the work of one person only: the true reason of its name is, because it treats of the judges of Israel, gives an account of their lives and actions, and especially such as concerned their office; which office was different from that of kings, and seems only to have been occasional, and chiefly lay in delivering the people out of the hands of their enemies, when oppressed, distressed, or carried captive by them; in protecting them in the enjoyment of their country, rights, and liberties; in leading out their armies against their enemies when needful; and in settling differences, judging law suits, and administering justice. The government of the nation, during their time, was a theocracy. It is not certain who was the penman of this book; some ascribe it to King Hezekiah, others to Ezra; but the Jewish writers ^a are generally of opinion that it was written by Samuel, which is most likely, who was the last of the judges; and it seems plainly to be written before the times of David, us appears from a speech of Joab, 2Sa 11:21; and from some passages in Psa 68:8, which seem to refer or allude to Jdg 5:4; and from Jerusalem being called Jebus, which shows it to be inhabited by the Jebusites in the time of the writer of this book, whereas it was taken out of their hands by David; besides, Samuel himself refers to the annals of this book; 1Sa 12:9; and from whose testimonies, as well as from others in the New Testament, there is no doubt to be made of its being genuine and authentic, and written by divine inspiration; as is evident from the use the Apostle Paul, and the author of the epistle to the Hebrews, have made of it, Act 13:20; it is useful as an history, and without which the history of the people of Israel would not be complete; it containing an account of all their judges, excepting the two last, Eli and Samuel, of whom an account is given in the following books, and of some facts incidental to those times, related in an appendix at the end of it, concerning the idol of Micah, and the war of Benjamin; and furnishes out many useful moral observations concerning God's displeasure at sin in his own people Israel, and his corrections for it; and about his providential care of them in raising up for them deliverers in their time of need, as well as points at various virtues and excellencies in great and good men, worthy of imitation. It contains, according to Piscator, Dr. Lightfoot, and others, an history of two hundred ninety and nine years.

Gill: Judges 18 (Pendahuluan Pasal)

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 18

This chapter relates how the Danites, being overcrowed in their inheritance, sent out spies to search the land, and see if they could find any proper place to add unto it, and enlarge it, Jdg 18:1 who returned and reported Laish as such, and encouraged the Danites to go and possess it; for which purpose they sent six hundred men up to it, Jdg 18:7 and as they went, called at the house of Micah, and took away his priests and his gods, Jdg 18:13 and having taken Laish, set up Micah's graven image there, Jdg 18:28.