Judges 18:25 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And the people of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you, and you lose your life with the lives of your household.”

NIV: The Danites answered, 'Don't argue with us, or some of the men may get angry and attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.'

NASB: Then the sons of Dan said to him, 'Do not let your voice be heard among us, or else fierce men will attack you, and you will lose your life and the lives of your household.'

CSB: The Danites said to him, "Don't raise your voice against us, or angry men will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives."

NLT: The men of Dan said, 'Watch what you say! There are some short-tempered men around here who might get angry and kill you and your family.'

KJV: And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household.

NKJV: And the children of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry men fall upon you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household!”

Micah (Judges 17:1–5, 13) has brought neighbors to help confront the migrating people of Dan (Judges 18:1, 11–13). The convoy of six hundred warriors and their families have stolen his household idols and other sacred objects, along with his hired priest (Judges 18:14–20). Micah's group has chased the Danites down and made their complaint. The Danite warriors first pretended—probably in sarcasm—not to know why Micah was so upset. Here, they simply point out that they don't care.

In essence, they just tell Micah to go away. His group of neighbors are obviously no match for their six-hundred-man army. Their command to him is like a modern person saying, "shut up and leave if you know what's good for you." They make a point of threatening not just Micah, and those he's brought with him, but his entire family back home. There's nothing Micah can do to stop them, and they know this.

Realizing this, Micah will turn back without any of his stolen goods (Judges 18:26). The caravan from the tribe of Dan will continue to Laish (Judges 18:7–10), where they will encounter another group of people unprepared for war. This is deliberate, and the men from Dan will annihilate the peaceful Sidonians there, taking their land (Judges 18:27–28).

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).