Judges 18:6 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And the priest said to them, "Go in peace. The journey on which you go is under the eye of the Lord."

NIV: The priest answered them, "Go in peace. Your journey has the Lord’s approval."

NASB: And the priest said to them, 'Go in peace; your way in which you are going has the Lord’S approval.'

CSB: The priest told them, "Go in peace. The Lord is watching over the journey you are going on."

NLT: Go in peace,' the priest replied. 'For the Lord is watching over your journey.'

KJV: And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the Lord is your way wherein ye go.

NKJV: And the priest said to them, “Go in peace. The presence of the Lord be with you on your way.”

These five scouts from the tribe of Dan have been sent to find additional territory for their people to occupy (Judges 18:1–5). They are willing to take land from another tribe's allotted territory without their permission. They are grossly violating God's revealed will for their people (Joshua 19:40–46) and choosing to do things their own way instead (Judges 17:6; 19:1; 21:25).

After recognizing his accent, the men asked the Levite serving as Micah's personal cleric (Judges 17:1–5, 13) about God's opinion of their quest. They want to know if they will be successful in their mission. However, as far as Scripture tells us, they have not explained their task to the Levite. His reaction to the situation later (Judges 18:18) further suggests that he doesn't really know what's happening. Yet this young man is also choosing to do things his own way instead of following God's will (Numbers 3:5–10). Acting entirely outside of the requirements of the law, he has become a cleric for hire, serving the family of a man who has a shrine to other gods (Exodus 20:1–6).

Part of reading Scripture carefully is noting what's not written and realizing that not every detail will be recorded. We're not told every word of the conversation between these men. However, the flow of the text suggests the answer from the priest wasn't the result of extensive prayer or inquiry. He seems to answer both quickly and vaguely, telling the men what they want to hear without really saying anything at all.

After telling them to go in peace, he adds that their journey is under the eye of God. It sounds at first like he is saying they will be successful; at least, that's easily how someone could interpret those words if that was their preference. In truth he only announces that Yahweh is watching them. That could be good or bad. The Levite seems careful to protect his own interests (Judges 17:10, 18:19–20), but doesn't demonstrate a genuine connection to the Lord God.

Judges 18:1–13 finds five scouts from the tribe of Dan seeking a new place to live. They stop at Micah's house in Ephraim and get to know his Levite priest (Judges 17:1–5). They continue north and identify Laish as a soft target, as well as a good place to live. Before long, six hundred armed Danite men set out with their families and belongings. The entire company arrives at the home of Micah in Ephraim to camp for the night.

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).