Judges 18:31 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So they set up Micah 's carved image that he made, as long as the house of God was at Shiloh.

NIV: They continued to use the idol Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh.

NASB: So they set up for themselves Micah’s carved image which he had made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

CSB: So they set up for themselves Micah’s carved image that he had made, and it was there as long as the house of God was in Shiloh.

NLT: So Micah’s carved image was worshiped by the tribe of Dan as long as the Tabernacle of God remained at Shiloh.

KJV: And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

NKJV: So they set up for themselves Micah’s carved image which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

Micah's carved and metal images, false objects of worship for the Lord, have traveled some distance. He had these made after confessing to stealing silver from his mother (Judges 17:1–5), attempting to protect him from her curse on the thief. Of course, the idea that such an object could protect or bless anyone was nonsense from the start (Isaiah 2:8; Habakkuk 2:19; 1 Corinthians 8:4). Now all his religious artifacts have been stolen (Judges 18:14–20) by Danite raiders. They are now being used as objects of worship by a false priest in a false center of worship at the very northern edge of Israel's borders. The use of idols directly disobeys the second of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:4–5).

The writer of Judges adds here that the carved image was used in this way while the true house of God was at Shiloh. Deuteronomy 12:5–6 spelled out clearly that God must only be worshipped at the place of His own choosing. During this time in Israel's history, He had identified Shiloh as that place. That's where the ark of the covenant rested, perhaps in an actual temple structure called the "house of God." Dan's idolatry in this area seems to have lasted until the entire nation was taken captive (Judges 18:30) by the Assyrians in 734 BC.

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).