Judges 18:8 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And when they came to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers said to them, “What do you report?”

NIV: When they returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their fellow Danites asked them, 'How did you find things?'

NASB: When they came back to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers said to them, 'What do you say?'

CSB: When the men went back to their relatives at Zorah and Eshtaol, their relatives asked them, "What did you find out? "

NLT: When the men returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their relatives asked them, 'What did you find?'

KJV: And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them, What say ye?

NKJV: Then the spies came back to their brethren at Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brethren said to them, “What is your report?”

The five "spies," meaning scouts, of the tribe of Dan had been sent to find a new home territory. They no longer fit into the space they occupied around Zorah and Eshtaol in central Israel. Depending on when this is taking place, they may have been under pressure from the Amorites or the Philistines. This was their own fault, having failed (Judges 1:34–36) to complete their takeover of the land allotted them by God (Numbers 3:5–10). Their tribe was living right up against the border of Ephraim. They wanted to migrate to somewhere new.

Now their advance scouts have returned after a journey (Judges 18:1–7) well to the north and back. The people are eager to hear their report. As it happens, they have found a place which is not only rich in resources, but it's also populated by peaceful people oblivious to the danger around them. As the tribe of Dan will see it, this is an easy target (Judges 18:10).

Judges 18:1–13 finds five scouts from the tribe of Dan seeking a new place to live. They stop at Micah's house in Ephraim and get to know his Levite priest (Judges 17:1–5). They continue north and identify Laish as a soft target, as well as a good place to live. Before long, six hundred armed Danite men set out with their families and belongings. The entire company arrives at the home of Micah in Ephraim to camp for the night.

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 5/5/2024 11:21:49 AM