Judges 18:14 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Then the five men who had gone to scout out the country of Laish said to their brothers, “Do you know that in these houses there are an ephod, household gods, a carved image, and a metal image? Now therefore consider what you will do.”

NIV: Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laish said to their fellow Danites, 'Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod, some household gods and an image overlaid with silver? Now you know what to do.'

NASB: Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish said to their kinsmen, 'Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod and household idols, and a carved image and a cast metal image? Now then, consider what you should do.'

CSB: The five men who had gone to scout out the land of Laish told their brothers, "Did you know that there are an ephod, household gods, and a carved image and a silver idol in these houses? Now think about what you should do."

NLT: The five men who had scouted out the land around Laish explained to the others, 'These buildings contain a sacred ephod, as well as some household idols, a carved image, and a cast idol. What do you think you should do?'

KJV: Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do.

NKJV: Then the five men who had gone to spy out the country of Laish answered and said to their brethren, “Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod, household idols, a carved image, and a molded image? Now therefore, consider what you should do.”

The tribe of Dan—or at least a portion of it—is migrating in a large group from their former homeland (Judges 18:11–13). Their destination is a town called Laish, in the northern part of the Promised Land. The five men who first scouted out the new home have led the people to the home of Micah, where they had stopped previously (Judges 17:1–5, 13; 18:1–5).

What's presented here is an example of a "loaded question." This is when someone asks with the intent of getting a specific response, and not because they really want the information. These people from Dan were convinced to make their journey because Laish is said to be defenseless. They are marching to attack a peaceful people, unprovoked, and take their land. The same men who recommended that plan are asking about the riches kept in Micah's home.

There's no question what the five scouts have in mind. Their "question" is something like saying, "How many of you six hundred armed men know about the rich man's home full of expensive goods over there?" Their obvious intent is for the Danite warriors to begin their conquest early—by robing Micah of his wealth. The tribe is in a warlike mindset; stealing resources when it would benefit the war effort was part of that attitude. This open act of robbery fits this book's repeated reminder that Israel was lawless and out of control during this era in her history (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).