Judges 18

In those days Israel had no king. In those days the tribe of Dan was looking for land of its own to settle in, because up to that time they had not received a share of land among the tribes of Israel.

1In 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 unto them among the tribes of Israel.

Note"In those days Israel had no king" is a refrain running through the closing chapters of Judges (also 17:6, 19:1, 21:25), marking the period before the monarchy, when no central authority existed. On the land: when Israel settled Canaan each tribe was assigned a fixed territory, held permanently by the tribe and its families; this allotment is what is meant by an "inheritance." Dan had been assigned land on the coastal plain, but had not been able to take possession of it and was still without a home territory.

2So the people of Dan sent out five men from their clans, brave fighting men from the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol, to scout out the land and explore it. They told them, "Go and explore the land." The men came to the hill country of Ephraim, to Micah's house, and stayed the night there.

2And 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, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there.

NoteZorah and Eshtaol were towns on the western slopes of the hill country, at the edge of the plain, the same district where Samson's story is set. Dan was living crowded into this small area instead of the territory it had been given.

3While they were near Micah's house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. So they went over to him and asked, "Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?"

3When 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? and what hast thou here?

NoteA Levite was a member of the tribe of Levi, the one tribe given no territory of its own and set apart instead for duties connected with worship; hiring a Levite as a household priest was seen as a mark of legitimacy. "Recognized the voice" may mean they knew him personally, or, as many read it: that they recognized his accent, marking him as a southerner from Judah.

4He told them, "Micah has done this and that for me. He has hired me, and I am his priest."

4And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest.

5They said to him, "Please ask God for us, so we can know whether the trip we are making will go well."

5And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.

Note"Ask God for us" means to seek a yes-or-no answer about a course of action through a priest, who used objects kept for the purpose (see the ephod in verse 14). It was a standard step before a military expedition, not a request for general advice.

6The priest said to them, "Go in peace. The journey you are making is before the LORD."

6And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the LORD is your way wherein ye go.

NoteThe Hebrew answer is short and slippery: literally "your way, on which you go, is in front of the LORD." It can mean the LORD is watching over the journey and approves it, or merely that the journey is in plain sight of the LORD. The priest does not actually say the venture will succeed.

7So the five men left and came to Laish. They saw that the people there lived without worry, in the same way as the people of Sidon, calm and feeling safe. No ruler in the land troubled them about anything. They lived far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.

7Then 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 any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man.

NoteLaish lay far to the north, near the headwaters of the Jordan, well beyond where any Israelite tribe was settled. Sidon was a wealthy Phoenician port on the Mediterranean coast; the people of Laish shared its way of life but were too far inland for Sidon to protect them. "Had no dealings with anyone" translates a Hebrew phrase that most likely means they had no treaty or alliance with any neighboring power, so no one was obliged to come to their aid. The middle of this verse is damaged in the Hebrew and its exact sense is uncertain; it describes either a land where nothing was lacking, or a place with no ruler oppressing anyone, or both.

8The men came back to their relatives at Zorah and Eshtaol, and their relatives asked them, "What do you report?"

8And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them, What say ye?

9They said, "Get up, let us go and attack them. We have seen the land, and it is very good. Are you just going to sit here? Do not be slow about going and taking the land for yourselves.

9And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land.

10When you go, you will come to a people who feel safe, and to a wide-open land. God has handed it over to you. It is a place where nothing on earth is missing."

10When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to a large land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth.

11So six hundred men from the clans of Dan set out from Zorah and Eshtaol, equipped with weapons for battle.

11And 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.

12They went up and camped at Kirjathjearim in Judah. That is why the place is called Mahanehdan to this day. It lies west of Kirjathjearim.

12And they went up, and pitched in Kirjathjearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahanehdan unto this day: behold, it is behind Kirjathjearim.

NoteKirjathjearim was a town in Judah about nine miles west of Jerusalem. "Mahanehdan" means "camp of Dan"; the name preserved the memory of this overnight stop. "To this day" refers to the time of the writer, long after the events.

13From there they crossed over into the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah's house.

13And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came unto the house of Micah.

14Then the five men who had gone to scout out the region of Laish spoke up to their relatives. They said, "Do you know that in these houses there is an ephod, household gods, a carved image, and a metal image? Now think about what you should do."

14Then 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 these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do.

NoteFour objects, all connected with seeking answers from a god. An **ephod** was a priest's ceremonial garment, but the word is also used of a standing object used in divination, which is how it is used here, since it can be carried off. **Household gods** (Hebrew *teraphim*) were small images kept in a home, used in divination and associated with a family's identity and property claims. A **carved image** was cut from wood or stone; a **metal image** was cast. The Hebrew leaves it unclear whether these are two separate objects or a single wooden figure overlaid with cast metal.

15So they turned that way and came to the house of the young Levite, which was Micah's house, and they greeted him.

15And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and saluted him.

16The six hundred men of Dan, equipped with their weapons for battle, stood at the entrance of the gate.

16And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate.

NoteThe "gate" is the entrance to Micah's own walled compound, not a city gate; a substantial household of the period was a cluster of buildings around an enclosed courtyard with a single gateway.

17The five men who had gone to scout out the land went up and went inside, and they took the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image. Meanwhile the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred armed men.

17And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in 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 weapons of war.

18When these men went into Micah's house and carried off the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, the priest said to them, "What are you doing?"

18And these went into Micah’s house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye?

19They 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 priest for one man's household, or priest for a whole tribe and clan in Israel?"

19And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine 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?

NotePutting a hand over the mouth was a set gesture for forced silence. Calling a priest "father" was a title of respect for someone who gives guidance and rulings, not a statement about age or family.

20The priest was glad in his heart. He took the ephod, the household gods, and the carved image, and went along in the middle of the group.

20And 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.

21So they turned and went on their way, putting their small children, their livestock, and their goods in front of them.

21So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage before them.

NotePlacing the children, animals and baggage at the front put the armed men at the rear, between the vulnerable part of the column and any pursuit from behind.

22When they were a good distance from Micah's house, the men who lived in the houses near Micah's house gathered together and caught up with the people of Dan.

22And 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.

23They shouted after the men of Dan. The men of Dan turned around and said to Micah, "What is wrong with you, that you have come out with such a crowd?"

23And 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?

24He said, "You have taken away the gods I made, and my priest, and you have gone off. What do I have left? How can you say to me, 'What is wrong with you?'"

24And he said, Ye have taken away my 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?

NoteThe Hebrew word here is *elohim*, which can be plural ("gods") or singular ("god"), and the verse can be read either way. Micah's complaint is about ownership: the objects were made for his house, and with the priest gone as well he has no way of getting an answer from any god.

25The men of Dan said to him, "Do not let us hear your voice again, or hot-tempered men may attack you, and you will lose your life and the lives of your household."

25And 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, with the lives of thy household.

26So the men of Dan went on their way. When Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned around and went back home.

26And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his house.

27They took the things Micah had made, and the priest he had, and came to Laish, to a people who were calm and feeling safe. They struck them down with the sword and burned the city with fire.

27And they took the 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.

Note"Struck them down with the sword" renders a fixed Hebrew phrase, literally "struck with the mouth of the sword," used throughout these books for killing an entire population of a captured town.

28There was no one to rescue them, because the city was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with anyone. It lay in the valley near Bethrehob. The men of Dan rebuilt the city and settled there.

28And 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, and dwelt therein.

NoteBethrehob was a small Aramean territory in the far north, near the headwaters of the Jordan. "No one to rescue them" is a legal-sounding point rather than a moral one: Laish had no allies bound to intervene, and the nearest major city, Sidon, was too distant.

29They named the city Dan, after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel. But the city had been called Laish at first.

29And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first.

NoteThis is how the northern city of Dan got its name. It became Israel's traditional northern boundary marker, hence the later phrase "from Dan to Beersheba" for the whole land. Dan the ancestor was one of Jacob's sons; "Israel" here is Jacob's other name.

30The people of Dan set up the carved image for themselves. Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, and his sons after him served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the day the land's people were taken away as captives.

30And 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.

NoteGershom was Moses' firstborn son (Exodus 2:22), which would make this priest Moses' grandson. The Hebrew text as preserved reads "Manasseh," but the letter *n* is written raised above the line, an ancient scribal mark showing it was inserted into the name *Mosheh* (Moses) to produce *Menasheh* (Manasseh). Some early versions read "Moses." "The day the land's people were taken away as captives" is not clearly dated; it may refer to the Assyrian deportation of the north in the eighth century BC, or to an earlier local disaster.

31They kept Micah's carved image set up for themselves the whole time that the house of God was at Shiloh.

31And they set them up Micah’s graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

NoteShiloh, in the hill country of Ephraim, was where the portable sanctuary, the "house of God", stood during this period, before Jerusalem. The verse dates how long the Danite shrine operated by setting it alongside that older site.