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Judges 18
World English Bible

18 In those days there was no king in Israel. In those days the tribe of the Danites sought an inheritance to dwell in; for to that day, their inheritance had not fallen to them among the tribes of Israel. 2 The children of Dan sent five men of their family from their whole number, men of valor, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to search it. They said to them, “Go, explore the land!”

They came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. 3 When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite; so they went over there and said to him, “Who brought you here? What do you do in this place? What do you have here?”

4 He said to them, “Thus and thus has Micah dealt with me, and he has hired me, and I have become his priest.”

5 They said to him, “Please ask counsel of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.”

6 The priest said to them, “Go in peace. Your way in which you go is before Yahweh.”

7 Then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw the people who were there, how they lived in safety, in the way of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was no one in the land possessing authority, that might put them to shame in anything, and they were far from the Sidonians, and had no dealings with anyone else. 8 They came to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol; and their brothers asked them, “What do you say?”

9 They said, “Arise, and let’s go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. Do you stand still? Don’t be slothful to go and to enter in to possess the land. 10 When you go, you will come to an unsuspecting people, and the land is large; for God has given it into your hand, a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.”

11 The family of the Danites set out from Zorah and Eshtaol with six hundred men armed with weapons of war. 12 They went up and encamped in Kiriath Jearim in Judah. Therefore they call that place Mahaneh Dan to this day. Behold, it is behind Kiriath Jearim. 13 They passed from there to the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.

14 Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish answered and said to their brothers, “Do you know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim,[a] and a carved image, and a molten image? Now therefore consider what you have to do.” 15 They went over there and came to the house of the young Levite man, even to the house of Micah, and asked him how he was doing. 16 The six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. 17 The five men who went to spy out the land went up, and came in there, and took the engraved image, the ephod, the teraphim, and the molten image; and the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war.

18 When these went into Micah’s house, and took the engraved image, the ephod, the teraphim, and the molten image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

19 They said to him, “Hold your peace, put your hand on your mouth, and go with us. Be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?”

20 The priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod, the teraphim, and the engraved image, and went with the people. 21 So they turned and departed, and put the little ones, the livestock, and the goods before them. 22 When they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house gathered together and overtook the children of Dan. 23 As they called to the children of Dan, they turned their faces, and said to Micah, “What ails you, that you come with such a company?”

24 He said, “You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and have gone away! What more do I have? How can you ask me, ‘What ails you?’”

25 The children of Dan said to him, “Don’t let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall on you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household.”

26 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 They took that which Micah had made, and the priest whom he had, and came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck them with the edge of the sword; then they burned the city with fire. 28 There was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone else; and it was in the valley that lies by Beth Rehob. They built the city and lived in it. 29 They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel; however the name of the city used to be Laish. 30 The children of Dan set up for themselves the engraved image; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land. 31 So they set up for themselves Micah’s engraved image which he made, and it remained all the time that God’s house was in Shiloh.

Footnotes

  1. 18:14 teraphim were household idols that may have been associated with inheritance rights to the household property.
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Judges 18
New English Translation

The Tribe of Dan Finds an Inheritance

18 In those days Israel had no king. And in those days the Danite tribe was looking for a place[a] to settle, because at that time they did not yet have a place to call their own among the tribes of Israel.[b] 2 The Danites sent out from their whole tribe five representatives,[c] capable men[d] from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. They said to them, “Go, explore the land.” They came to the Ephraimite hill country and spent the night at Micah’s house.[e] 3 As they approached[f] Micah’s house, they recognized the accent[g] of the young Levite. So they stopped[h] there and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?”[i] 4 He told them what Micah had done for him, saying,[j] “He hired me, and I became his priest.” 5 They said to him, “Seek a divine oracle for us,[k] so we can know if we will be successful on our mission.”[l] 6 The priest said to them, “Go with confidence.[m] The Lord will be with you on your mission.”[n]

7 So the five men journeyed on[o] and arrived in Laish. They noticed that the people there[p] were living securely, like the Sidonians do,[q] undisturbed and unsuspecting. No conqueror was troubling them in any way.[r] They lived far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.[s] 8 When the Danites returned to their tribe[t] in Zorah and Eshtaol, their kinsmen[u] asked them, “How did it go?”[v] 9 They said, “Come on, let’s attack them,[w] for[x] we saw their land and it is very good. You seem lethargic,[y] but don’t hesitate[z] to invade and conquer[aa] the land. 10 When you invade,[ab] you will encounter[ac] unsuspecting people. The land is wide![ad] God is handing it over to you—a place that lacks nothing on earth!”[ae]

11 So 600 Danites, fully armed, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol.[af] 12 They went up and camped in Kiriath Jearim in Judah. (To this day that place is called Camp of Dan.[ag] It is west[ah] of Kiriath Jearim.) 13 From there they traveled through the Ephraimite hill country and arrived at Micah’s house. 14 The five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish[ai] said to their kinsmen,[aj] “Do you realize that inside these houses are an ephod, some personal idols, a carved image, and a metal image? Decide now what you want to do.” 15 They stopped[ak] there, went inside the young Levite’s house (which belonged to Micah),[al] and asked him how he was doing.[am] 16 Meanwhile the 600 Danites, fully armed, stood at the entrance to the gate.[an] 17 The five men who had gone to spy out the land broke in and stole[ao] the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, while the priest was standing at the entrance to the gate with the 600 fully armed men.[ap] 18 When these men broke into Micah’s house and stole[aq] the carved image, the ephod, the personal idols, and the metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” 19 They said to him, “Shut up! Put your hand over your mouth and come with us! You can be our adviser[ar] and priest. Wouldn’t it be better to be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for just one man’s family?”[as] 20 The priest was happy. He took the ephod, the personal idols, and the carved image and joined the group.[at]

21 They turned and went on their way, but they walked behind the children, the cattle, and their possessions.[au] 22 After they had gone a good distance from Micah’s house, Micah’s neighbors[av] gathered together and caught up with the Danites. 23 When they called out to the Danites, the Danites[aw] turned around and said to Micah, “Why have you gathered together?” 24 He said, “You stole my gods that I made, as well as this priest, and then went away. What do I have left? How can you have the audacity to say to me, ‘What do you want?’”[ax] 25 The Danites said to him, “Don’t say another word to us, or some very angry men[ay] will attack you, and you and your family will die.”[az] 26 The Danites went on their way; when Micah realized[ba] they were too strong to resist,[bb] he turned around and went home.

27 Now the Danites[bc] took what Micah had made, as well as his priest, and came to Laish, where the people were undisturbed and unsuspecting. They struck them down with the sword and burned the city.[bd] 28 No one came to the rescue because the city[be] was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with anyone.[bf] The city[bg] was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites[bh] rebuilt the city and occupied it. 29 They named it Dan after their ancestor, who was one of Israel’s sons.[bi] But the city’s name used to be Laish. 30 The Danites worshiped[bj] the carved image. Jonathan, descendant[bk] of Gershom, son of Moses,[bl] and his descendants[bm] served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the exile. 31 They worshiped[bn] Micah’s carved image[bo] the whole time God’s authorized shrine[bp] was in Shiloh.

Footnotes

  1. Judges 18:1 tn Heb “an inheritance.”
  2. Judges 18:1 tn Heb “because there had not fallen to them by that day in the midst of the tribes of Israel an inheritance.”
  3. Judges 18:2 tn Heb “The Danites sent from their tribe five men, from their borders.”
  4. Judges 18:2 tn Heb “men, sons of strength.”
  5. Judges 18:2 tn Heb “They came to the Ephraimite hill country, to Micah’s house, and spent the night there.”
  6. Judges 18:3 tn Or “When they were near.”
  7. Judges 18:3 tn Heb “voice.” This probably means that “his speech was Judahite [i.e., southern] like their own, not Israelite [i.e., northern]” (R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 263).
  8. Judges 18:3 tn Heb “turned aside.”
  9. Judges 18:3 tn Heb “What [is there] to you here?”
  10. Judges 18:4 tn Heb “He said to them, ‘Such and such Micah has done for me.’” Though the statement is introduced and presented, at least in part, as a direct quotation (note especially “for me”), the phrase “such and such” appears to be the narrator’s condensed version of what the Levite really said.
  11. Judges 18:5 tn Heb “Ask God.”
  12. Judges 18:5 tn Heb “so we can know if our way on which we are going will be successful.”
  13. Judges 18:6 tn Heb “in peace.”
  14. Judges 18:6 tn Heb “In front of the Lord is your way in which you are going.”
  15. Judges 18:7 tn Or “went.”
  16. Judges 18:7 tn Heb “who were in its midst.”
  17. Judges 18:7 tn Heb “according to the custom of the Sidonians.”
  18. Judges 18:7 tn Heb “and there was no one humiliating anything in the land, one taking possession [by] force.”
  19. Judges 18:7 tc Heb “and a thing there was not to them with men.” Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX and Symmachus read “Syria” here rather than the MT’s “men.” This reading presupposes a Hebrew Vorlage אֲרָם (ʾaram, “Aram,” i.e., Arameans) rather than the MT reading אָדָם (ʾadam). This reading is possibly to be preferred over the MT.
  20. Judges 18:8 tn Heb “They came to their brothers.”
  21. Judges 18:8 tn Heb “brothers.”
  22. Judges 18:8 tn Heb “What you?”
  23. Judges 18:9 tn Heb “Arise, and let us go up against them.”
  24. Judges 18:9 tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX adds “we entered and walked around in the land as far as Laish and.”
  25. Judges 18:9 tn Heb “But you are inactive.”
  26. Judges 18:9 tn Or “be lazy.”
  27. Judges 18:9 tn Heb “to go”; “to enter”; “to possess.”
  28. Judges 18:10 tn Heb “When you enter.”
  29. Judges 18:10 tn Heb “you will come to.”
  30. Judges 18:10 tn Heb “broad of hands,” an idiom meaning “wide on both sides.”
  31. Judges 18:10 tn Heb “a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.”
  32. Judges 18:11 tn Heb “They journeyed from there, from the tribe of the Danites, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, 600 men, equipped with weapons of war.”
  33. Judges 18:12 tn Or “Mahaneh Dan”; the Hebrew term “Mahaneh” means “camp [of].” Many English versions retain the transliterated Hebrew expression, but cf. CEV “Dan’s Camp.”
  34. Judges 18:12 tn Heb “behind.”
  35. Judges 18:14 tc Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX lacks the phrase “of Laish.”
  36. Judges 18:14 tn Heb “brothers.”
  37. Judges 18:15 tn Heb “turned aside.”
  38. Judges 18:15 tn Heb “Micah’s house.”
  39. Judges 18:15 tn Heb “they asked him concerning peace.”
  40. Judges 18:16 tn Heb “And the 600 men, equipped with the weapons of war…from the sons of Dan.”
  41. Judges 18:17 tn Heb “went up, went in there, took.”
  42. Judges 18:17 tn Heb “600 men, equipped with the weapons of war.”
  43. Judges 18:18 tn Heb “These went into Micah’s house and took.”
  44. Judges 18:19 tn See the note on the word “adviser” in 17:10.
  45. Judges 18:19 tn Heb “Is it better for you to be priest for the house of one man or for you to be priest for a tribe, for a clan in Israel?”
  46. Judges 18:20 tn Heb “and went into the midst of the people.”
  47. Judges 18:21 tn Heb “They turned and went and put the children, the cattle, and the possessions in front of them.”
  48. Judges 18:22 tn Heb “the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house.”
  49. Judges 18:23 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  50. Judges 18:24 tn Heb “What is this you say to me, ‘What to you?’”
  51. Judges 18:25 tn Heb “bitter in spirit.” This phrase is used in 2 Sam 17:8 of David and his warriors, who are compared to a bear robbed of her cubs.
  52. Judges 18:25 tn Heb “and you will gather up your life and the life of your house.”
  53. Judges 18:26 tn Heb “saw.”
  54. Judges 18:26 tn Heb “they were stronger than he.”
  55. Judges 18:27 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  56. Judges 18:27 tn The Hebrew adds “with fire.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.
  57. Judges 18:28 tn Heb “it.” The Hebrew pronoun is feminine singular here, referring to the “city” (a grammatically feminine singular noun) mentioned in v. 27.
  58. Judges 18:28 tn Heb “and a thing there was not to them with men.”
  59. Judges 18:28 tn Heb “it.” The Hebrew pronoun is feminine singular here, referring to the “city” (a grammatically feminine singular noun) mentioned in v. 27.
  60. Judges 18:28 tn Heb “They”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  61. Judges 18:29 tn Heb “They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who had been born to Israel.”
  62. Judges 18:30 tn Heb “erected for themselves.”
  63. Judges 18:30 tn Heb “son.”
  64. Judges 18:30 tc Several ancient textual witnesses, including some LXX mss and the Vulgate, support the reading “Moses” (מֹשֶׁה, mosheh) here. Many Hebrew mss have a nun (נ) suspended above the name between the first two letters (מנשׁה), suggesting the name Manasseh (מְנַשֶּׁה, menasheh). This is probably a scribal attempt to protect Moses’ reputation. For discussion, see G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 401-2.
  65. Judges 18:30 tn Heb “sons.”
  66. Judges 18:31 tn Heb “they set up for themselves.”
  67. Judges 18:31 tn Heb “the carved image that Micah had made.”
  68. Judges 18:31 tn Heb “the house of God.”
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