Judges 18:21 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So they turned and departed, putting the little ones and the livestock and the goods in front of them.

NIV: Putting their little children, their livestock and their possessions in front of them, they turned away and left.

NASB: Then they turned and left, and put the children, the livestock, and the valuables in front of them.

CSB: They prepared to leave, putting their dependents, livestock, and possessions in front of them.

NLT: They turned and started on their way again, placing their children, livestock, and possessions in front of them.

KJV: So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage before them.

NKJV: Then they turned and departed, and put the little ones, the livestock, and the goods in front of them.

The convoy from the tribe of Dan (Judges 18:11–15) had waited outside of Micah's property (Judges 18:16). They have secured Micah's cultic religious objects (Judges 17:1–5) and his Levite priest (Judges 18:16–20). This young man was overjoyed at the chance to betray his former employer (Judges 17:7–13) and become the false "priest" of an entire tribe. Every person involved in the story is guilty of violating God's commands, which is one reason the book of Judges so often notes that Israel had no king during this era (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25).

As they resume moving north (Judges 18:7–10) the six hundred armed warriors position themselves at the back of the group. They send the noncombatants and livestock ahead of them. This is for strategic reasons: if Micah sends warriors to retrieve his stolen gods, he will have to deal with the soldiers first, and they are prepared for battle. Micah will make such an attempt, only to realize the enemy is too strong for him to overcome (Judges 18:26).

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).

Accessed 4/29/2024 3:22:37 PM