Judges 18:15 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And they turned aside there and came to the house of the young Levite, at the home of Micah, and asked him about his welfare.

NIV: So they turned in there and went to the house of the young Levite at Micah’s place and greeted him.

NASB: So they turned aside there and came to the house of the young man, the Levite, to the house of Micah, and asked him how he was doing.

CSB: So they detoured there and went to the house of the young Levite at the home of Micah and greeted him.

NLT: Then the five men turned off the road and went over to Micah’s house, where the young Levite lived, and greeted him kindly.

KJV: And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and saluted him.

NKJV: So they turned aside there, and came to the house of the young Levite man—to the house of Micah—and greeted him.

The five scouts from Dan somehow identified the Levite priest who served in Micah's household (Judges 17:1–5) even before their first visit there (Judges 18:3). During that visit, they asked him many questions about how he came to live there. They also asked him to ask the Lord if their mission would be successful. They took his response as a positive sign they should keep going (Judges 18:4–6).

Now they have returned to Micah's home. Given Micah's family wealth, this was probably a homestead with multiple buildings. This time, however, the men from Dan come as part of a six-hundred-man army (Judges 18:11–13) on its way to slaughter the residents of a northern town (Judges 18:7–10). The Danites enter the house of the young Levite priest and treat him with apparent respect, asking about his welfare, as if they are old friends.

Judges 18:14–31 describes how the migrating people of the tribe of Dan steal from Micah (Judges 18:1–5). They take his collection of expensive idols and religious totems. His hired Levite priest accepts the Danites' invitation to come along with the raiders. Micah and his neighbors desperately chase, but the Danite forces are too large to risk attacking. The Danites arrive at Laish, in the north, and slaughter its peaceful, unprepared Sidonian occupants. They take possession of the town, rename it Dan, and establish a nexus of false worship.

The people of the tribe of Dan want to relocate because they failed to take their allotted territory in the Promised Land. They send five scouts to find land. The men stop at Micah's home (Judges 17:1–5, 13) and meet his priest before continuing north. They find Laish and realize it's a soft, vulnerable, peaceful town. A six hundred-man army and their families stop at Micah's home to steal his house gods and hired priest. When they arrive at Laish, the Danites slaughter the Sidonians living there, burn the city, rebuild it, and move in. Dan becomes a center of false worship.

In the prior chapter, Micah hires a personal cleric for his family religion. Judges 18 describes how he loses all his religious objects and that priest to raiders from the tribe of Dan. That convoy continues north to their target, the town of Laish. This town was selected, in part, for being helpless against attackers. The raiders rename the city "Dan." The people and the priest establish a center for false worship which lasts for centuries. Joshua 19:40–48 describes how Dan moved from their allotted land into this unapproved territory (Joshua 17).

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).

Accessed 12/21/2024 10:35:09 PM