Judges 18

In those days there was no king in Israel.

18:1 The tribe of Dan had been allotted a small territory west of Ephraim and Judah which extended to the Mediterranean coast (Josh 19:40-46). However, they had not been able to possess all of their inheritance (Jud 1:34).⚜

And in those days the tribe of the Danites was looking for an inheritance in which to live; for to that day no inheritance had fallen to them among the tribes of Israel. 2 And the children of Dan sent five men of their family from their territory, brave men from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to explore it. And they said to them, “Go, explore the land”. When they came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim, they spent the night there.

3 When they were by 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? What are you doing in this place? What do you have here?”

4 And he said to them, “Micah has done such and such for me and has hired me, and I am his priest”.

5 And they said to him, “Please ask counsel from God, so that we may know whether our journey, which we are going on, will be successful”.

18:5 God had already revealed where the tribe of Dan should be (Josh 19:40-46. Note at Josh 14:2). It was up to them to trust God to enable them to take all the territory allotted to them, and not to run away from it. It is never good for anyone to try to escape from the place where God has placed him (or her).⚜

6 And the priest said to them, “Go in peace. Your journey on which you are going is in the LORD’s presence”.

18:6 He did not know whether or not the Lord approved. He told them what they wanted to hear, and he used God’s name in vain.⚜

7 Then the five men departed and came to Laish, and saw the people who were there, how they lived carelessly, just like the Sidonians, quiet and carefree. And there was no ruler in the land who might humiliate them in any way. And they were far from the Sidonians, and had no dealings with anyone.

18:7 Laish is the same as the Leshem of Josh 19:47. It was about 160 kilometers from where they started. The Sidonians were to the west on the Mediterranean coast.⚜

8 And the Danites came to their brethren at Zorah and Eshtaol; and their brethren said to them, “What do you say?”

9 And they said, “Arise, let’s go up against them; for we saw the land, and, look, it is very good. And will you do nothing? Don’t hesitate to go and enter to take possession of the land. 10 When you go, you will come to a carefree people, and to a spacious land; for God has given it into your hands. It is a place where there is no lack of anything on earth”.

11 And six hundred men of the family of the Danites, armed with weapons of war, set out from Zorah and from Eshtaol. 12 And they went up and camped in Kirjath-Jearim, in Judah. Therefore they call that place Mahaneh-Dan to this day. Look, it is west of Kirjath-Jearim. 13 And they went from there to the hill country of Ephraim and arrived at the house of Micah.

14 Then the five men who had gone to spy out the country of Laish, responded and said to their brethren, “Do you know that in these houses there are an ephod and household gods and a carved image and a cast metal idol? So now consider what you have to do”. 15 And they turned aside there and came to the house of the young man, the Levite, to Micah’s house, and greeted him. 16 And the six hundred men who were of the children of Dan, armed with their weapons of war, stood by the entrance of the gate. 17 And the five men who had gone to spy out the land went up, entered there, and took the carved image and the ephod and the household gods and the cast idol. And the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men who were armed with weapons of war.

18 And these went into Micah’s house and brought out the carved image, the ephod and the household gods and the cast metal idol. Then the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

19 And they said to him, “Keep quiet! Put your hand on your mouth, and go with us and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or to be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?” 20 And the priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod and the household gods and the carved image and went among the people. 21 So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the valuables before them.

22 And when they were some distance from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house gathered together, and caught up with the children of Dan. 23 And they shouted to the children of Dan. And they turned their faces and said to Micah, “What’s wrong with you, that you come with such a crowd?”

24 And he said, “You have taken away my gods, which I made, and the priest, and you have gone away. And what else do I have? And what is this you say to me, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ ”

25 And the children of Dan said to him, “Let not your voice be heard among us, or else some angry fellows will rush at you, and you will lose your life, with the lives of your household”.

18:25 They were willing to break another of God’s laws and murder fellow Israelites for the sake of idols! Jud 21:25. It is not surprising that Dan later became a center of idolatry – 1 Kings 12:28-30.⚜

26 And 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.

27 And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest he had, and came to Laish, to a people at peace and carefree, and they struck them down with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire. 28 And there was no one to save them, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone. And it was in the valley that lies near Beth-Rehob. And they built a city and lived in it.

29 And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of their father Dan, who was born to Israel. But at first the name of the city was Laish. 30 And the children of Dan set up the carved 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. 31 And they set up for themselves Micah’s carved image which he had made. It was there all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.