Judges 18:9 - Printer Friendly

ESV: They said, "Arise, and let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And will you do nothing? Do not be slow to go, to enter in and possess the land.

NIV: They answered, "Come on, let’s attack them! We have seen the land, and it is very good. Aren’t you going to do something? Don’t hesitate to go there and take it over.

NASB: And they said, 'Arise, and let’s go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And will you sit still? Do not hesitate to go, to enter, to take possession of the land.

CSB: They answered, "Come on, let’s attack them, for we have seen the land, and it is very good. Why wait? Don’t hesitate to go and invade and take possession of the land!

NLT: The men replied, 'Come on, let’s attack them! We have seen the land, and it is very good. What are you waiting for? Don’t hesitate to go and take possession of it.

KJV: And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land.

NKJV: So they said, “Arise, let us go up against them. For we have seen the land, and indeed it is very good. Would you do nothing? Do not hesitate to go, and enter to possess the land.

Dan, one of the tribes that was allotted land in Canaan (Numbers 3:5–10), is feeling cramped. This is because they failed to fully control their assigned territory (Judges 1:34–36). Rather than complete that conquest, they send advance scouts to look for other territory they can take. That leads the "spies" to an area called Laish, occupied by a peaceful group of Sidonians and rich in natural resources. These people are repeatedly referred to as "unsuspecting" (Judges 18:7, 10). This means they are unprepared for war and would be seen as an easy target.

Perhaps some of the Danites hearing this report objected to moving so far away. The location in question would have been several days' journey, even for scouts. It's not a nearby territory. Yet the five scouts are insistent. They say it's time for their tribe to get up, go, and attack. They know the land is good and beautiful. The scouts see no reason to hesitate. Now is the best time to act.

The scenario is a perverse echo of the days when the Israelites first came to the Promised Land. They too sent spies in to scout the territory. Those spies also returned with reports that the land was good. In that case, though, most of the scouts said Israel could never defeat the people of Canaan (Numbers 13:25—14:10). They were wrong, since God had given that land to His people and would bless their efforts to take it. Perhaps the memory of that story motivated these spies to be especially positive about the opportunity to possess a new land. And yet, the tribe of Dan is now enthusiastic about taking land they have not been given, which is not meant to be theirs, at all.

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).