Judges 18:26 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Then the people of Dan went their way. And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his home.

NIV: So the Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him, turned around and went back home.

NASB: So the sons of Dan went on their way; and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.

CSB: The Danites went on their way, and Micah turned to go back home, because he saw that they were stronger than he was.

NLT: So the men of Dan continued on their way. When Micah saw that there were too many of them for him to attack, he turned around and went home.

KJV: 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.

NKJV: Then 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.

The religious objects and hand-made gods Micah trusted to protect him have been stolen (Judges 18:14–20). The migrating people of the tribe of Dan stopped by his homestead in Ephraim and walked off with them on their way north (Judges 18:7–13). Micah chased them down, but when he and his neighbors caught up with them it became clear they were no match for the armed Danite soldiers (Judges 18:21–25). Even his own hired priest was thrilled to accept the robbers' offer of a better job.

Micah returns home in pathetic despair, yet his story ends with a sense of justice and irony. He was introduced in chapter 17 as he admitted stealing a huge sum of money from his own mother. He likely only confessed to avoid her curse. His mother used the stolen silver to make a profane object of worship to Yahweh (Judges 17:1–5). Now that precious metal has been stolen again, still in the form of a God-insulting idol (Exodus 20:4–5). Having armed men march into his home and steal his house gods while threatening to kill him and his family could be seen as the Lord's judgment against Micah. It could have been much worse: God's law commanded Israelites to stone to death any other Israelite who tried to entice them to serve other gods (Deuteronomy 13:6).

Still, instead of a final judgment, Micah now has an opportunity to repent. He can learn from this hard lesson and decide to truly put his faith in Yahweh alone. Having false, worthless, ineffective gods ripped from his hands was truly an act of mercy, allowing Micah to realize his need for true salvation. When God tears away worldly things, idols, and betraying false teachers, it makes room for true faith, for those ready to receive it. Of course, it's unlikely Micah ever came to see it this way. The book of Judges mentions Micah as an example of Israel's deep spiritual ignorance and anarchy (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25).

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).