Judges 18:27 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But the people of Dan took what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him, and they came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire.

NIV: Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a people at peace and secure. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city.

NASB: Then they took what Micah had made and the priest who had belonged to him, and came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck them with the edge of the sword; and they burned the city with fire.

CSB: After they had taken the gods Micah had made and the priest that belonged to him, they went to Laish, to a quiet and unsuspecting people. They killed them with their swords and burned the city.

NLT: Then, with Micah’s idols and his priest, the men of Dan came to the town of Laish, whose people were peaceful and secure. They attacked with swords and burned the town to the ground.

KJV: And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire.

NKJV: So they took the things Micah had made, and the priest who had belonged to him, and went to Laish, to a people quiet and secure; and they struck them with the edge of the sword and burned the city with fire.

The writer of Judges makes no effort to sympathize with this group of people from the tribe of Dan. Unlike other groups of nomads seeking a home, they are entirely unlikable. They were introduced in search of more territory for their people (Judges 18:1). At first glance, their action might seem to fit with the Lord's previous commands to Israel. That directive included wiping out the depraved inhabitants of the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5).

However, the people of Dan had been given their inheritance in the central and western areas of the Promised Land (Joshua 19:40–46. They failed to trust God enough to finish driving the inhabitants from their specific borders (Judges 1:34–36). As did other tribes in Israel, Dan repeatedly participated in the worship of false gods (Judges 2:16–19). This group robbed a man of his idols and his hired family priest (Judges 18:14–20).

That robbery was merely a short stop on their way to their ultimate target: the city of Laish. Earlier, five scouts identified it (Judges 18:2) as a lush, prosperous area. They also noted that the inhabitants were peaceful and completely unprepared to defend themselves from attack (Judges 18:7, 13).

Dan's convoy arrives at Laish and accomplishes their goal. They butcher the undisturbed, oblivious Sidonians who live there and burn their city. While this might yet have been part of God's judgment on the nations of the territory (Deuteronomy 9:4–6), the tribe of Dan is not acting in dependence on Yahweh. They act without Him and take what they want from territory allotted to another tribe (Joshua 17).

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).