In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel.
And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there.
men. Heb. sons. Zorah
Judges 18:8,11 And they came to their brothers to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brothers …
Judges 13:2,25 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, …
Judges 16:31 Then his brothers and all the house of his father came down, and …
Genesis 42:9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said …
Joshua 19:41 And the coast of their inheritance was Zorah, and Eshtaol, and Irshemesh,
to spy
Numbers 13:17 And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, …
Joshua 2:1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, …
Proverbs 20:18 Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.
Luke 14:31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sits not down first…
mount
Judges 17:1 And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
Judges 19:1,18 And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel…
Joshua 17:15-18 And Joshua answered them, If you be a great people, then get you …
When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here?
And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest.
hired me
Judges 17:10 And Micah said to him, Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a …
Proverbs 28:21 To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread …
Isaiah 56:11 Yes, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are …
Ezekiel 13:19 And will you pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and …
Hosea 4:8,9 They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity…
Malachi 1:10 Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nothing? …
John 10:12,13 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep …
Acts 8:18-21 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands …
Acts 20:33 I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel.
1 Timothy 3:3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, …
Titus 1:11 Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching …
2 Peter 2:3,14,15 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise …
And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.
ask counsel
1 Kings 22:5 And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray you, …
2 Kings 16:15 And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, On the great altar …
Isaiah 30:1 Woe to the rebellious children, said the LORD, that take counsel, …
Ezekiel 21:21 For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head …
Hosea 4:12 My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declares to …
Acts 8:10 To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, …
of God
Judges 18:14 Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, …
Judges 17:5,13 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, …
And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the LORD is your way wherein ye go.
go in peace
1 Kings 22:6,12,15 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four …
Jeremiah 23:21,22,32 I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to …
before
Deuteronomy 11:12 A land which the LORD your God cares for: the eyes of the LORD your …
Psalm 33:18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on them that fear him, on them that …
1 Thessalonians 3:11 Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct …
the Lord. As the Levite uses the word Jehovah, and as the Danites succeeded according to the oracle delivered by him, some learned men are of opinion, that the worship established by Micah was not of an idolatrous kind.
Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man.
Laish
Joshua 19:47 And the coast of the children of Dan went out too little for them: …
Called. Leshem. how they
Judges 18:27,28 And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which …
Revelation 18:7 How much she has glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much …
magistrate. Heb. possessor or heir of restraint
1 Samuel 3:13 For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the …
1 Kings 1:6 And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why …
Romans 13:3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Will …
1 Peter 2:14 Or to governors, as to them that are sent by him for the punishment …
and had no. In the most correct copies of the LXX, this clause stands thus; 'and they had no transactions will Syria; ' evidently reading instead of adam, aram, Syria; words so nearly similar that the only difference between them is in the raish, and daleth, which in both MSS. and printed books is sometimes indiscernible. Laish was situated on the frontiers of Syria.
And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them, What say ye?
And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land.
arise
Numbers 13:30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up …
Numbers 14:7-9 And they spoke to all the company of the children of Israel, saying, …
Joshua 2:23,24 So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed …
are ye still
1 Kings 22:23 Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth …
be not
Joshua 18:3 And Joshua said to the children of Israel, How long are you slack …
1 Samuel 4:9 Be strong and quit yourselves like men, O you Philistines, that you …
2 Samuel 10:12 Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people, and for …
John 6:27 Labor not for the meat which perishes, but for that meat which endures …
Hebrews 6:11,12 And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to …
2 Peter 1:10,11 Why the rather, brothers, give diligence to make your calling and …
When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to a large land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth.
secure
Judges 18:7,27 Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people …
God hath
Deuteronomy 2:29 (As the children of Esau which dwell in Seir, and the Moabites which …
Deuteronomy 4:1 Now therefore listen, O Israel, to the statutes and to the judgments, …
Joshua 6:16 And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with …
where there
Exodus 3:8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, …
Deuteronomy 8:7-9 For the LORD your God brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water…
Deuteronomy 11:11,12 But the land, where you go to possess it, is a land of hills and …
Ezekiel 20:6 In the day that I lifted up my hand to them, to bring them forth …
1 Timothy 6:17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high minded, …
And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war.
And they went up, and pitched in Kirjathjearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahanehdan unto this day: behold, it is behind Kirjathjearim.
And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came unto the house of Micah.
Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do.
then
1 Samuel 14:28 Then answered one of the people, and said, Your father straightly …
in these
Judges 18:3,4 When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the …
Judges 17:5 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, …
now therefore
Proverbs 19:27 Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causes to err from the …
Isaiah 8:19,20 And when they shall say to you, Seek to them that have familiar spirits, …
And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and saluted him.
saluted him. Heb. asked him of peace
Genesis 37:14 And he said to him, Go, I pray you, see whether it be well with your …
Genesis 43:27 And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, …
1 Samuel 17:22 And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, …
2 Kings 4:26 Run now, I pray you, to meet her, and say to her, Is it well with …
Matthew 10:12,13 And when you come into an house, salute it…
Luke 10:4-6 Carry neither purse, nor money, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way…
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you: not as the world …
And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate.
And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war.
five men
Judges 18:2,14 And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their …
the graven
Judges 6:31 And Joash said to all that stood against him, Will you plead for …
Judges 17:4,5 Yet he restored the money to his mother; and his mother took two …
Exodus 32:20 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, …
1 Samuel 4:11 And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and …
1 Samuel 6:2-9 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, …
2 Kings 19:18,19 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but …
Isaiah 46:1,2,7 Bel bows down, Nebo stoops, their idols were on the beasts, and on …
And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye?
And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel?
lay thine. This was the token of silence. These men were evidently very ignorant; and absurdly concluded that they should, by taking Micah's gods, secure the presence and favour of the God of Israel, in their expedition and settlement. They perhaps supposed the piety of their motives, and the goodness of their end, would justify the means. But it was a base robbery of Micah, aggravated by the Levite's ingratitude, and their menaces.
Job 21:5 Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand on your mouth.
Job 29:9 The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.
Job 40:5,6 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yes, twice; but I will …
Proverbs 30:32 If you have done foolishly in lifting up yourself, or if you have …
Micah 7:16 The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they …
a father
Judges 17:10 And Micah said to him, Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a …
2 Kings 6:21 And the king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, My father, …
2 Kings 8:8,9 And the king said to Hazael, Take a present in your hand, and go, …
2 Kings 13:14 Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash …
Matthew 23:9 And call no man your father on the earth: for one is your Father, …
And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people.
heart
Judges 17:10 And Micah said to him, Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a …
Proverbs 30:15 The horse leach has two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are …
Isaiah 56:11 Yes, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are …
Ezekiel 13:19 And will you pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and …
Hosea 4:3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwells therein …
Acts 20:33 I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel.
Philippians 3:19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory …
2 Peter 2:3,15,16 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise …
went. He was glad of his preferment among the Danites; and went into the crowd, that he might not be discovered by Micah or his family.
So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage before them.
and put. These men were so confident of success, that they removed their whole families, household goods, cattle, and all. The carriage. to be heavy, denotes the luggage or baggage.
And when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan.
And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company?
what aileth
Genesis 21:17 And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to …
1 Samuel 11:5 And, behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field; and Saul …
2 Samuel 14:5 And the king said to her, What ails you? And she answered, I am indeed …
2 Kings 6:28 And the king said to her, What ails you? And she answered, This woman …
Psalm 114:5 What ailed you, O you sea, that you fled? you Jordan, that you were driven back?
Isaiah 22:1 The burden of the valley of vision. What ails you now, that you are …
comest. Heb. art gathered together
And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away: and what have I more? and what is this that ye say unto me, What aileth thee?
And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household.
And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his house.
And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire.
And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by Bethrehob. And they built a city, and dwelt therein.
and there
2 Samuel 14:6 And your handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the …
Psalm 7:2 Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there …
Psalm 50:22 Now consider this, you that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, …
Daniel 3:15-17 Now if you be ready that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, …
far from. Probably the people of Laish were originally a colony of the Zidonians; who being an opulent people, and in possession of a strong city, lived in a state of security, not being afraid of their neighbours. In this the Leshemites imitated them, though they appear not to have had the same reason for their confidence; and though they might naturally expect help from their country-men, yet as they lived at a considerable distance from Sidon, the Danites saw they could strike the blow before the news of the invasion could reach that city.
Judges 18:1,7 In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the …
Joshua 11:8 And the LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, …
Isaiah 23:4,12 Be you ashamed, O Zidon: for the sea has spoken, even the strength …
Bethrehob
Numbers 13:21 So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin …
Rehob
2 Samuel 10:6 And when the children of Ammon saw that they stank before David…
And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first.
Dan
Judges 20:1 Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was …
Genesis 14:14 And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed …
Joshua 19:47 And the coast of the children of Dan went out too little for them: …
2 Samuel 17:11 Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered to you, …
1 Kings 12:29,30 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan…
1 Kings 15:20 So Benhadad listened to king Asa, and sent the captains of the hosts …
who was
Genesis 30:6 And Rachel said, God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, …
Genesis 32:28 And he said, Your name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: …
Laish, or Dan, was situated at the northern extremity of the land of Canaan, in a beautiful and fertile plain, at the foot of mount Lebanon, on the springs of Jordan, and, according to Eusebius, four miles from Caesarea Philippi, or Paneas, now Banian, (with which some have confounded it,) towards Tyre. Burckhardt says, that the source of the river El Dhan, or Jordan, is at an hour's distance from Banias, which agrees with Eusebius.
And the children of Dan set up the graven 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.
set up
Exodus 20:4 You shall not make to you any graven image, or any likeness of any …
Leviticus 26:1 You shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither raise you up …
Deuteronomy 17:2-7 If there be found among you, within any of your gates which the LORD …
Deuteronomy 27:15 Cursed be the man that makes any graven or molten image, an abomination …
Deuteronomy 31:16,29 And the LORD said to Moses, Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers; …
Judges 18:30 And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the …
God had graciously performed his promise, in putting these Danites in possession of that which fell to their lot, obliging them thereby to be faithful to him who had been so to them; they inherited the labour of the people, that they might observe his statues.
Psalm 105:44,45 And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labor …
But the first thing they do after they are settled is to break his laws, by setting up the graven image, attributing their success to that idol, which, if God had not been infinitely patient, would have been their ruin. Thus a prosperous idolater goes on to offend, imputing this his power unto his God. Instead of Manasseh, some would read Moses; as it is found in some MSS., in the Vulgate and in the concessions of the most intelligent Jews. But Bp. Patrick takes this to be an idle conceit of the Rabbins, and supposes this Jonathan to be of some other family of the Levites. Yet Kimchi acknowledges, that the Jews deeply concerned for the honour of their lawgiver, to whom they thought it would be a great dishonour to have a grandson who was an idolater, suspended the letter, noon, over the word Moses; which, by means of the points, they have changed into Manasseh. until
Judges 13:1 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD…
1 Samuel 4:2,3,10,11 And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when …
Psalm 78:60-62 So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed …
the land. Houbigant contends that instead of the land we should read the ark.
And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.
