Judges 18:9

9 "Come on," they replied, "let's march up against them! Indeed, we've seen the land, and it's very good. Right now you're doing nothing! Don't hold back from going and taking possession of the land.

Judges 18:9 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 18:9

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

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 says it was very good pasture land, and fertile, abounding with fruits of all kinds; and the same is attested by Josephus ^F25:

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" ^F26; 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.

F24 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 3. sect. 1.)
F25 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 3. sect. 1.)
F26 (Myvxm Mta) "vos autem desidetis", Tigurine version; "et vos quiescitis", Munster.

Judges 18:9 In-Context

7 So the five men journeyed on until they reached Laish. There they saw that its people were living without worry in the same way as the Sidonians, undisturbed and secure. Nobody held back anything in the land, so no one had to hoard. Yet they lived far away from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone else.

8 When the men came back to their relatives at Zorah and Eshtaol, they asked them, "What did you find?"

9 "Come on," they replied, "let's march up against them! Indeed, we've seen the land, and it's very good. Right now you're doing nothing! Don't hold back from going and taking possession of the land.

10 When you arrive, you'll come upon a secure people and a wide-open land, because God has given to you a place where nothing on earth is lacking."

11 At this, six hundred men from the Danite clan at Zorah and Eshtaol set out armed for battle.