Judges 18:29 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And they named the city Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor, who was born to Israel; but the name of the city was Laish at the first.

NIV: They named it Dan after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel--though the city used to be called Laish.

NASB: And they named the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father who was born to Israel; however, the name of the city was previously Laish.

CSB: They named the city Dan, after the name of their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel. The city was formerly named Laish.

NLT: They renamed the town Dan after their ancestor, Israel’s son, but it had originally been called Laish.

KJV: And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first.

NKJV: And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel. However, the name of the city formerly was Laish.

The people of the tribe of Dan had a self-caused problem. They failed to conquer their allotted territory in Israel (Joshua 19:40–46; Judges 1:34–36). This forced them to live in limited space in the hill country of their territory, squeezed between foreign oppressors and territories occupied by Ephraim and Judah. Some portion of the small tribe—perhaps even all of them, eventually—decided to seek out a new home (Judges 18:1–7).

After robbing a man of his household idols and priest (Judges 18:14–20), the raiding party from Dan succeeded in migrating far to the north, beyond the northern end of the Sea of Galilee. They selected Laish, in part, because it was a soft target: unsuspecting, quiet, far from help, and peaceful (Judges 18:8–13). On arrival, the Danites slaughtered the Sidonian population and took it as their new hometown (Judges 18:27–28).

Now they rename the place after themselves, calling the town "Dan." This was the name of their ancestor, after whom their tribe was named. Dan (Genesis 30:5–6) was one of the twelve sons of Jacob, also called Israel (Genesis 35:10).

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).