Judges 18:1-13

Danites Seek Territory

1 ¹In those days there was no king of Israel; and ²in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for themselves to live in, for until that day an inheritance had not been allotted to them as a possession among the tribes of Israel.

2 So the sons of Dan sent from their family five men out of their whole number, valiant men from ³Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to search it; and they said to them, "Go, search the land." And they came to ⁴the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there.

3 When they were near the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite; and they turned aside there and said to him, "Who brought you here? And what are you doing in this place? And what do you have here?"

4 He said to them, "Thus and so has Micah done to me, and he has hired me and ⁵I have become his priest."

5 They said to him, "Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether our way on which we are going will be prosperous."

6 The priest said to them, "Go in peace; your way in which you are going has the LORD'S approval."

7 Then the five men departed and came to ⁶Laish and saw the people who were in it living in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was no ruler * humiliating them for anything in the land, and they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.

8 When they came back to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers said to them, "What do you report?"

9 They said, "Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And will you sit still? Do not delay to go, to enter, to possess the land.

10 "When you enter, you will come to a secure people with a spacious * land; for God has given it into your hand, ⁷a place where * there is no lack of anything * that is on the earth."

11 Then from the family of the Danites, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, six hundred men armed with weapons of war set out.

12 They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. Therefore * they called that place ⁸Mahaneh-dan to this day; behold, it is west of Kiriath-jearim.

13 They passed from there to the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah.

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Judges 18:1-13 Meaning and Commentary

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, Jud 18:1-6 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, Jud 18:7-12 and as they went, called at the house of Micah, and took away his priests and his gods, Jud 18:13-27 and having taken Laish, set up Micah's graven image there, Jud 18:28-31.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 8

1. Judges 17:6; Judges 19:1
2. Joshua 19:40-48
3. Judges 13:25
4. Judges 17:1
5. Judges 17:12
6. Joshua 19:47; Judges 18:29
7. Deuteronomy 8:9
8. Judges 13:25

Footnotes 8

[a]. Lit "it"
[b]. Lit "fallen"
[c]. Lit "men, sons of valor"
[d]. Lit "is before the LORD
[e]. Lit "possessor of restraint"
[f]. Lit "be"
[g]. I.e. the camp of Dan
[h]. Lit "behind"