And they passed thence unto Mount Ephraim ,.... Steering their coast still northward; this, according to Bunting F2 Ibid. (Travels of the Patriarchs, &c.; p. 112.) , was eight miles from Kirjathjearim, or Mahanehdan, in which Micah's house was, for as yet they were not come to it, see Judges 18:15 . read more
Judges 18:12-14. Mahaneh-dan That is, the camp of Dan. They came unto the house of Micah That is, to the town in which his house was, for they had not yet entered into it. Then answered the five men That is, they spake; the word answering being often used in Scripture of the first speaker. There is in these houses That is, in one of these houses. Consider what ye have to do Whether it be not expedient to take them for your further use. Perhaps the remembrance of the ark being... read more
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
2. The apostasy of the Danites ch. 18 read more
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
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
(13) Unto the house of Micah.—Probably the precincts of the new sanctuary gave their name to a sort of village—Beth-Micah. read more
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
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
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Judges 18:7-13
Here is, I. The observation which the spies made upon the city of Laish, and the posture of its inhabitants, Jdg. 18:7. Never was place so ill governed and so ill guarded, which would make it a very easy prey to the invader. 1. It was ill governed, for every man might be as bad as he would, and there was no magistrate, no heir of restraint (as the word is), that might so much as put them to shame in any thing, much less put them to death, so that by the most impudent immoralities they provoked... read more