Judges 18:18 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And when these went into Micah 's house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, the priest said to them, "What are you doing?"

NIV: When the five men went into Micah’s house and took the idol, the ephod and the household gods, the priest said to them, "What are you doing?"

NASB: When these men entered Micah’s house and took the carved image, the ephod, household idols, and the cast metal image, the priest said to them, 'What are you doing?'

CSB: When they entered Micah’s house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the silver idol, the priest said to them, "What are you doing?"

NLT: When the priest saw the men carrying all the sacred objects out of Micah’s shrine, he said, 'What are you doing?'

KJV: 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?

NKJV: When these went into Micah’s house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molded image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

The five spies sent from the tribe of Dan (Judges 18:1–6) are looting Micah's house shrine. They remember the expensive religious artifacts he has there (Judges 17:1–5). With an army waiting at the homestead's gates (Judges 18:16–17), they prepare to leave with all the carved and metal images, household gods, and the ephod. An ephod was a priestly breastplate, used in religious ceremonies. During this time, ornamentally decorated ephods had become objects of worship themselves. Gideon even made one and put it on display in his hometown, where it was said that it became a trap for his family (Judges 8:27).

Finally, the young Levite priest speaks up (Judges 17:7–13). He had been hired and ordained by Micah to be a personal priest to the family. He'd become like one of the family, almost a son to Micah (Judges 17:11). He had been content to accept Micah's salary and friendship without ever challenging Micah's idol worship or misunderstandings about how to please the Lord.

Now the priest offers a weak objection to the men stealing Micah's sacred objects. They will not reply kindly this time (Judges 18:19).

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).