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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Judges 18:14-26

The Danites had sent out their spies to find out a country for them, and they sped well in their search; but here, now that they came to the place (for till this brought it to their mind it does not appear that they had mentioned it to their brethren), they oblige them with a further discovery?they can tell them where there are gods: ?Here, in these houses, there are an ephod, and teraphim, and a great many fine things for devotion, such as we have not the like in our country; now therefore... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Judges 18:15

And they turned thitherward ,.... It seems as if the house lay a little out of their way, and therefore they turned on one hand to go unto it: and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah ; for the young man's house was only an apartment of Micah's, and lay very probably next to that in which the images, and oracle were; and they made up to the young man's apartment, rather than to Micah's, because the above things were under his care: and saluted... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Judges 18:1-31

17:1-21:25 TRIBAL DISORDER WITHIN ISRAELThe writer of the book has now finished his account of the activity of the judges. To this he adds an appendix consisting of two stories (not necessarily placed in their correct chronological position in the book) that illustrate the disorder that existed in Israel during that period. The nation had no central government and people in the various tribes did as they pleased (see 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). The stories record important changes that occurred... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Judges 18:11-20

The theft of Micah’s images and Levite 18:11-20An army of 600 Danites proceeded from Zorah and Eshtaol eastward up the Kesalon Valley to Kiriath-jearim and then northward into the Hill Country of Ephraim. They stopped at Micah’s house, noted his images and ephod, and pondered what they should do (Judges 18:14). What they should have done was execute Micah and the Levite since they were idolaters (Deuteronomy 13:6-11), but they too had departed from God. Instead they stole Micah’s images and his... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Judges 18:1-31

The Danites go in Quest of an Inheritance. They rob Micah of his Images, capture and settle in Laish, and set up Idol-Worship there1-10. The Danite Spies.2. From their coasts] RV ’from their whole number.’ For Zorah and Eshtaol see on Judges 13:25. 3. They knew] They recognised him as a Levite from the prayers he was saying.Makest] RV ’doest.’6. Before the lord] i.e. under Jehovah’s care. 7. Laish] In Joshua 19:47 the name appears as Leshem. Later on it was called Dan, from its new inhabitants... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Judges 18:15-18

(15-18) In these verses we have a graphic description of the whole nefarious proceeding. The five spies, knowing Jonathan, salute him, and inveigle him to the entrance of the court to talk to their six hundred companions. While the chiefs of this little army detain him in conversation, without any show of violence the five slip away unobserved to the alîyah, or upper room, which serves as the chapel, and steal all the essentials of the worship—namely, (1) the ephod; (2) the teraphim; (3) the... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Judges 18:1-31

Judges 18:3 'It, is a vain thought,' says Dinah Morris in Adam Bede, 'to flee from the work that God appoints us, for the sake of finding a greater blessing to our own souls, as if we could choose for ourselves where we shall find the fullness of the Divine Presence, instead of seeking it where alone it is to be found, in loving obedience.' Judges 18:7 A man's own safety is a god that sometimes makes very grim demands. George Eliot. Security, as commonly understood, is the state in which one... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Judges 18:1-31

THE STOLEN GODSJudges 17:1-13, Judges 18:1-31THE portion of the Book of Judges which begins with the seventeenth chapter and extends to the close is not in immediate connection with that which has gone before. We read {; Judges 18:30} that "Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land." But the proper reading is, "Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses." It would seem that the renegade... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Judges 18:1-31

CHAPTER 18 The Danite Idolatry 1. The Danites seek an inheritance (Judges 18:1-12 ) 2. Their robbery (Judges 18:13-26 ) 3. Laish taken and idolatry consummated (Judges 18:27-31 ) The history of this chapter is closely linked with the preceding. The tribe of Dan had failed to take the God-given inheritance (Joshua 19:40-46 ). “The Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley” (Judges 1:34 ). Then in self-will, entirely... read more

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