Judg 18:14-31 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Judg 18:14-26: 18:14-26 The perfidy and insincerity of this exchange expose the ignoble values of all concerned. 18:14 sacred ephod ... household idols ... carved image ... cast idol: See study notes on 8:27 and 17:5.

Summary for Judg 18:14-26: 18:14-26 ^a The perfidy and insincerity of this exchange expose the ignoble values of all concerned. 18:14 ^b sacred ephod ... household idols ... carved image ... cast idol: See study notes on 8:27 and 17:5.
18:15 ^c Bypassing the host, the five unscrupulous scouts went straight to their target, the naive and unprincipled young Levite.
18:16 ^d 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 ^e), the Danites were merely armed bullies.
18:18 ^f 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 ^g).
18:19 ^h Using Micah’s language (be a father and priest, 17:10 ⁱ), but without its generosity, the Danites’ question was moot in light of the 600 men standing at the door.
18:20 ^j 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 ^k) was becoming ever more tarnished.
18:22 ^l Some of Micah’s neighbors had apparently become converts to the cult of his shrine.
18:23 ^m The question was only intended to cow Micah into abandoning the fight.
18:24 ⁿ 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 ^o short-tempered (literally bitter of soul; “in deep anguish,” 1 Sam 1:10 ^p; “discontented,” 1 Sam 22:2 ^q; “enraged,” 2 Sam 17:8 ^r): This term describes those whose bitter disappointment with life has made their actions unpredictable.
18:28 ^s Beth-rehob was perhaps an Aramean kingdom to the north (2 Sam 10:6 ^t). 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 ^u) 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 ^v).
Summary for Judg 18:29-31: 18:29-31 ^w The city of Dan became the northernmost landmark of Israel’s territory (e.g., 20:1 ^x; 2 Sam 3:10 ^y; 1 Kgs 4:25 ^z; 2 Chr 30:5 ^aa). Its identity as a center of idolatry continued throughout its history (see 1 Kgs 12:28-30 ^ab; Amos 8:14 ^ac).
18:30 ^ad The wandering Levite is now called Jonathan; he was a descendant of Moses through Gershom (Exod 2:21-22 ^ae).

• 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 ^af), the exile of the Ark from Shiloh (1 Sam 4–6 ^ag) might be in view.
18:31 ^ah 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 ^ai) during the conquest and distribution of the land (Josh 18–22 ^aj). The priest Eli and his sons ministered before the Lord at Shiloh (1 Sam 1:3 ^ak). The town and sanctuary were probably destroyed by Philistines about 1050 BC (see 1 Sam 4:1-11 ^al). Shiloh was later remembered as an example of God’s judgment on false worship conducted in his name (see Jer 7:12-14 ^am; 26:6 ^an; cp. Ps 78:60 ^ao).