Judges 18:22-31

18:22 After they had gone a good distance from Micah’s house, Micah’s neighbors¹ gathered together and caught up with the Danites. 18:23 When they called out to the Danites, the Danites² turned around and said to Micah, “Why have you gathered together?” 18:24 He said, “You stole my gods that I made, as well as this priest, and then went away. What do I have left? How can you have the audacity to say to me, ‘What do you want?’”³ 18:25 The Danites said to him, “Don’t say another word to us, or some very angry men⁴ will attack you, and you and your family will die.”⁵ 18:26 The Danites went on their way; when Micah realized⁶ they were too strong to resist,⁷ he turned around and went home.

18:27 Now the Danites⁸ took what Micah had made, as well as his priest, and came to Laish, where the people were undisturbed and unsuspecting. They struck them down with the sword and burned the city.⁹ 18:28 No one came to the rescue because the city¹⁰ was far from Sidon¹¹ and they had no dealings with anyone.¹² The city¹³ was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites¹⁴ rebuilt the city and occupied it. 18:29 They named it Dan after their ancestor, who was one of Israel’s sons.¹⁵ But the city’s name used to be Laish. 18:30 The Danites worshiped¹⁶ the carved image. Jonathan, descendant¹⁷ of Gershom, son of Moses,¹⁸ and his descendants¹⁹ served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the exile. 18:31 They worshiped²⁰ Micah’s carved image²¹ the whole time God’s authorized shrine²² was in Shiloh.

¹tn Heb “the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house.”

²tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³tn Heb “What is this you say to me, ‘What to you?’”

⁴tn Heb “bitter in spirit.” This phrase is used in 2 Sam 17:8 of David and his warriors, who are compared to a bear robbed of her cubs.

⁵tn Heb “and you will gather up your life and the life of your house.”

⁶tn Heb “saw.”

⁷tn Heb “they were stronger than he.”

⁸tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁹tn The Hebrew adds “with fire.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.

¹⁰tn Heb “it.” The Hebrew pronoun is feminine singular here, referring to the “city” (a grammatically feminine singular noun) mentioned in v. 27.

¹¹map For location see Map1-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.

¹²tn Heb “and a thing there was not to them with men.”

¹³tn Heb “it.” The Hebrew pronoun is feminine singular here, referring to the “city” (a grammatically feminine singular noun) mentioned in v. 27.

¹⁴tn Heb “They”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁵tn Heb “They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who had been born to Israel.”

¹⁶tn Heb “erected for themselves.”

¹⁷tn Heb “son.”

¹⁸tc Several ancient textual witnesses, including some LXX mss and the Vulgate, support the reading “Moses” (מֹשֶׁה, mosheh) here. Many Hebrew mss have a nun (נ) suspended above the name between the first two letters (מנשׁה), suggesting the name Manasseh (מְנַשֶּׁה, mÿnasheh). This is probably a scribal attempt to protect Moses’ reputation. For discussion, see G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 401-2.

¹⁹tn Heb “sons.”

²⁰tn Heb “they set up for themselves.”

²¹tn Heb “the carved image that Micah had made.”

²²tn Heb “the house of God.”