Judg 18 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Judg 18:1-31: 18:1-31 The migration of the Danites (cp. Josh 19:40-48 ) is the story of that tribe’s failure to obey God’s covenant, and it is indicative of Israel’s decline. What began as Micah’s private heresy (Judg 17:4-5 ) would become the apostasy of an entire tribe (18:30-31 ). What began as covenant failure (1:19-36 ) turned into social breakdown in the days of Jephthah and Samson (chs 11–16 ). In the end, law and order were replaced by banditry and pillaging (18:27-28 ).

Summary for Judg 18:1-31: 18:1-31 ^a The migration of the Danites (cp. Josh 19:40-48 ^b) is the story of that tribe’s failure to obey God’s covenant, and it is indicative of Israel’s decline. What began as Micah’s private heresy (Judg 17:4-5 ^c) would become the apostasy of an entire tribe (18:30-31 ^d). What began as covenant failure (1:19-36 ^e) turned into social breakdown in the days of Jephthah and Samson (chs 11–16 ^f). In the end, law and order were replaced by banditry and pillaging (18:27-28 ^g).
18:2 ^h Zorah and Eshtaol: Scouts were selected from the area where the Spirit of the Lord began to stir Samson (13:25 ⁱ). The mention of the two towns is a grim reminder that what began with Samson had not been completed, either by his own tribe (Dan) or by their powerful neighbor (Judah). These capable warriors, rather than fighting the Lord’s battles, bullied their fellow Israelites (18:24-25 ^j) and attacked a defenseless city (18:27 ^k; cp. Gen 49:17 ^l).
Summary for Judg 18:3-4: 18:3-4 ^m The Danites either recognized the young Levite’s accent (literally voice) as belonging to the region of Judah (17:7 ⁿ) or recognized his voice because they had known him personally. Their line of questioning went beyond simply establishing his credentials to providing them with a bit of divine guidance (18:5 ^o). His reply (18:6 ^p) established his willingness to be a mercenary priest.
Summary for Judg 18:5-6: 18:5-6 ^q The Lord had already promised to give Dan an allotment in the southwest that they had failed to possess (see 1:34 ^r; Josh 19:40-48 ^s). Now they were asking God’s blessing from a hired priest whose “blessing,” like that of Micah’s mother (Judg 17:2 ^t), sounded religious while having no basis in Israel’s covenant with the Lord.
18:7 ^u Laish has been extensively excavated and was an impressive city at this time. The description of Laish and its relationship to the port of Sidon is not entirely clear in the text or from recorded history. The people of Laish, as Phoenicians, might have expected to be exempt from Israel’s attack on the Canaanites. This language is substantially repeated in 18:28 ^v.
Summary for Judg 18:9-10: 18:9-10 ^w The language resembles the report following the mission to spy out the land (Num 14:7-8 ^x; Deut 1:25 ^y), but the context is sharply different. Joshua and Caleb overcame their fear and acted in faith by remembering the Lord’s promise (cp. Josh 2:9 ^z, 24 ^aa; 6:2 ^ab; 10:19 ^ac, 30 ^ad). The Danite warriors invoked God’s blessing and recognized the value of the land, but their cocky self-assurance contrasts sharply with the godly faith of Joshua and Caleb.
18:12 ^ae Kiriath-jearim: In this town northwest of Jerusalem the Ark rested for twenty years (1 Sam 7:1-2 ^af) on its return from Philistine captivity. It lay on the border of Judah and Benjamin and was given a memorial name associated with Dan’s wanderings (cp. the different site of Judg 13:25 ^ag).
Summary for Judg 18:14-26: 18:14-26 ^ah The perfidy and insincerity of this exchange expose the ignoble values of all concerned. 18:14 ^ai sacred ephod ... household idols ... carved image ... cast idol: See study notes on 8:27 and 17:5.
18:15 ^aj Bypassing the host, the five unscrupulous scouts went straight to their target, the naive and unprincipled young Levite.
18:16 ^ak The 600 armed warriors were prepared to attack the single Levite. In contrast to Gideon’s army of 300 arrayed against the Midianite hordes (7:2-11 ^al), the Danites were merely armed bullies.
18:18 ^am The priest’s rhetorical question was less an attempt to stop the theft than an expression of concern about his own future (cp. 18:20 ^an).
18:19 ^ao Using Micah’s language (be a father and priest, 17:10 ^ap), but without its generosity, the Danites’ question was moot in light of the 600 men standing at the door.
18:20 ^aq The young priest was receptive to the offer; ignoring his generous benefactor, he joined in absconding with Micah’s prized objects. The blessing of Micah’s mother (17:3 ^ar) was becoming ever more tarnished.
18:22 ^as Some of Micah’s neighbors had apparently become converts to the cult of his shrine.
18:23 ^at The question was only intended to cow Micah into abandoning the fight.
18:24 ^au Micah’s last speech is pathetic and pitiful. He began by stealing from his own mother and ended by losing it all to worse thieves than himself. The narrative drips with irony, including Micah’s loss of the gods I have made. His fate was that of all who forsake the Lord’s covenant: I have nothing left!
18:25 ^av short-tempered (literally bitter of soul; “in deep anguish,” 1 Sam 1:10 ^aw; “discontented,” 1 Sam 22:2 ^ax; “enraged,” 2 Sam 17:8 ^ay): This term describes those whose bitter disappointment with life has made their actions unpredictable.
18:28 ^az Beth-rehob was perhaps an Aramean kingdom to the north (2 Sam 10:6 ^ba). Nothing heroic, and no holy war, accrued to these Danite warriors who captured this defenseless city. Dan fulfilled Jacob’s mixed blessing by turning from the high calling of governing his people (Gen 49:16 ^bb) to becoming “a snake beside the road, a poisonous viper along the path that bites the horse’s hooves so its rider is thrown off” (Gen 49:17 ^bc).
Summary for Judg 18:29-31: 18:29-31 ^bd The city of Dan became the northernmost landmark of Israel’s territory (e.g., 20:1 ^be; 2 Sam 3:10 ^bf; 1 Kgs 4:25 ^bg; 2 Chr 30:5 ^bh). Its identity as a center of idolatry continued throughout its history (see 1 Kgs 12:28-30 ^bi; Amos 8:14 ^bj).
18:30 ^bk The wandering Levite is now called Jonathan; he was a descendant of Moses through Gershom (Exod 2:21-22 ^bl).

• The Exile is traditionally understood to have begun with the fall of the northern kingdom in 722 BC. In light of the reference to Shiloh (Judg 18:31 ^bm), the exile of the Ark from Shiloh (1 Sam 4–6 ^bn) might be in view.
18:31 ^bo The religious infidelity of the tribe of Dan continued at least through the period of the judges; whether it was corrected by Samuel, Saul, or David is nowhere stated.

• Joshua took Shiloh, a town in the hill country of Ephraim, as his command post and central shrine (Josh 18:1 ^bp) during the conquest and distribution of the land (Josh 18–22 ^bq). The priest Eli and his sons ministered before the Lord at Shiloh (1 Sam 1:3 ^br). The town and sanctuary were probably destroyed by Philistines about 1050 BC (see 1 Sam 4:1-11 ^bs). Shiloh was later remembered as an example of God’s judgment on false worship conducted in his name (see Jer 7:12-14 ^bt; 26:6 ^bu; cp. Ps 78:60 ^bv).