Judges 18:7

THE SPIES COMPLETE THEIR MISSION

"Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was none in the land possessing authority, that might put them to shame in anything; and they were far from the Sidonians, and had no dealings with any man. And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them, What say ye? And they said, Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go and to enter in to possess the land. When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and the land is large; for our God hath given it into your hand, a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth."

"The five men ... came to Laish" (Judges 18:7). "Laish, mentioned in Joshua 19:47 as Leshem, is the same as the modern Tell el Qadi, some 26 air-miles due east of Tyre."[6] "One of the largest fountains in the world, called El Leddan, which, according to Josephus, is the source of the lesser Jordan, is at Laish."[7] Also, Campbell, a frequent visitor to this area, gave this quotation from a fellow visitor: "Water comes from every rock and hill, pouring down from the nearby mountains of Lebanon. Like Scotland, this part of Galilee is green and overgrown with all forms of vegetation. The tribe of Dan had seized upon a veritable paradise on earth."[8]

"They dwelt in security, quiet and secure" (Judges 18:7). Despite the obscurity and difficulty of the text which seems to be somewhat damaged here, it is clear enough that the citizens were a peaceable, prosperous, quiet and non-violent people, occupying what they no doubt considered to be an isolated part of the earth where no one would bother them.

We must remark here that God did not authorize the brutal and murderous assault of the Danites against this helpless village. God had given them their land in another part of Canaan, and the false words of the idolatrous Levite assuring the Danites that God was with them cannot take away the shame of this merciless land-grab on the part of the Danites.

"The land is large ... God has given it into your hand" (Judges 18:10). The spies probably based this claim upon the words of "the Levite," but we are not at liberty to believe that his words were the truth, despite their turning out to be accurate in the events which followed.