Judges 18

The Danites Settle in Laish

1 In those days there was no king in Israel, and the tribe of the Danites was looking for territory to occupy. For up to that time they had not come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.

2 So the Danites sent out five men from their clans, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. “Go and explore the land,” they told them. The men entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night.

3 And while they were near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; so they went over and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?”

4 “Micah has done this and that for me,” he replied, “and he has hired me to be his priest.”

5 Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God to determine whether we will have a successful journey.”

6 And the priest told them, “Go in peace. The LORD is watching over your journey.”

7 So the five men departed and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living securely, like the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting. There was nothing lacking in the land and no oppressive ruler. And they were far away from the Sidonians and had no alliance with anyone.

8 When the men returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers asked them, “What did you find?”

9 They answered, “Come on, let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and it is very good. Why would you fail to act? Do not hesitate to go there and take possession of the land!

10 When you enter, you will come to an unsuspecting people and a spacious land, for God has delivered it into your hand. It is a place where nothing on earth is lacking.”

11 So six hundred Danites departed from Zorah and Eshtaol, armed with weapons of war.

12 They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. That is why the place west of Kiriath-jearim is called Mahaneh-dan ^[a] to this day.

13 And from there they traveled to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah’s house.

The Danites Take Micah’s Idols

14 Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish said to their brothers, “Did you know that one of these houses has an ephod, household gods, a graven image, and a molten idol? Now think about what you should do.”

15 So they turned aside there and went to the home of the young Levite, the house of Micah, and greeted him.

16 The six hundred Danites stood at the entrance of the gate, armed with their weapons of war.

17 And the five men who had gone to spy out the land went inside and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten idol, while the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred armed men.

18 When they entered Micah’s house and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten idol, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

19 “Be quiet,” they told him. “Put your hand over your mouth and come with us and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest for the house of one person or a priest for a tribe and family in Israel?”

20 So the priest was glad and took the ephod, the household idols, and the graven image, and went with the people.

21 Putting their small children, their livestock, and their possessions in front of them, they turned and departed.

22 After they were some distance from Micah’s house, the men in the houses near Micah’s house mobilized and overtook the Danites.

23 When they called out after them, the Danites turned to face them and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you that you have called out such a company?”

24 He replied, “You took the gods I had made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’”

25 The Danites said to him, “Do not raise your voice against us, or angry men will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.”

26 So the Danites went on their way, and Micah turned to go back home, because he saw that they were too strong for him.

27 After they had taken Micah’s idols and his priest, they went to Laish, to a quiet and unsuspecting people, and they struck them with their swords and burned down the city.

28 There was no one to deliver them, because the city was far from Sidon and had no alliance with anyone; it was in a valley near Beth-rehob. And the Danites rebuilt the city and lived there.

29 They named it Dan, after their forefather Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city was formerly named Laish.

30 The Danites set up idols for themselves, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, ^[b] and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.

31 So they set up for themselves Micah’s graven image, and it was there the whole time the house of God was in Shiloh.

Judges 18 Commentary

Chapter 18

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

- 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!

Footnotes

• [a] Mahaneh-dan means camp of Dan.
• [b] Some Hebrew and LXX manuscripts and Vulgate; other Hebrew and LXX manuscripts the son of Manasseh

Chapter Summary

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.