Judg 18:30, 1Sa 5:1-2, 2Ch 6:41, Psa 132:8 | TSK | STEP | set up. God had graciously performed his promise, in putting these Danites in possession of that which fell to their lot, obliging them thereby to be faithful to him who had been so to them; they inherited the labour of the people, that they might observe his statues. Ps 105:44, 45. But the first thing they do after they are settled is to break his laws, by setting up the graven image, attributing their success to that idol, which, if God had not been infinitely patient, would have been their ruin. Thus a prosperous idolater goes on to offend, imputing this his power unto his God. Instead of Manasseh, some would read Moses; as it is found in some MSS., in the Vulgate and in the concessions of the most intelligent Jews. But Bp. Patrick takes this to be an idle conceit of the Rabbins, and supposes this Jonathan to be of some other family of the Levites. Yet Kimchi acknowledges, that the Jews, deeply concerned for the honour of their lawgiver, to whom they thought it would be a great dishonour to have a grandson who was an idolater, suspended the letter, [Nûwn,] {noon,} over the word [Môsheh "] Moses, thus [Menashsheh ,] as it is found in the Hebrew Bibles; which, by means of the points, they have changed into Manasseh. until. the land.Houbigant contends, that, instead of {haäretz,} "the land," we should read {haäron,} "the ark;" for the [Vâv,] {wav,} and [Nûwn, {noon final,} might easily be mistaken for [Tsâdêy,] {tzadday final;} which is the only difference between the two words. This conjecture is the more likely, as the next verse tells us, that Micah's graven image continued at Dan "all the time that the house of God was at Shiloh;" which was till the ark was taken by the Philistines.

Judges 18:30

set up.

Ex 20:4; Le 26:1; De 17:2-7; 27:15; 31:16,29; Jos 19:40-48

Ps 78:58-61God had graciously performed his promise, in putting these Danites in possession of that which fell to their lot, obliging them thereby to be faithful to him who had been so to them; they inherited the labour of the people, that they might observe his statues. Ps 105:44, 45. But the first thing they do after they are settled is to break his laws, by setting up the graven image, attributing their success to that idol, which, if God had not been infinitely patient, would have been their ruin. Thus a prosperous idolater goes on to offend, imputing this his power unto his God. Instead of Manasseh, some would read Moses; as it is found in some MSS., in the Vulgate and in the concessions of the most intelligent Jews. But Bp. Patrick takes this to be an idle conceit of the Rabbins, and supposes this Jonathan to be of some other family of the Levites. Yet Kimchi acknowledges, that the Jews, deeply concerned for the honour of their lawgiver, to whom they thought it would be a great dishonour to have a grandson who was an idolater, suspended the letter, [Nûwn,] {noon,} over the word [Môsheh "] Moses, thus [Menashsheh ,] as it is found in the Hebrew Bibles; which, by means of the points, they have changed into Manasseh.

until.

13:1; 1Sa 4:2,3,10,11; Ps 78:60-62

the land.Houbigant contends, that, instead of {haäretz,} "the land," we should read {haäron,} "the ark;" for the [Vâv,] {wav,} and [Nûwn, {noon final,} might easily be mistaken for [Tsâdêy,] {tzadday final;} which is the only difference between the two words. This conjecture is the more likely, as the next verse tells us, that Micah's graven image continued at Dan "all the time that the house of God was at Shiloh;" which was till the ark was taken by the Philistines.

1 Samuel 5:1-2

1 The Philistines having brought the ark into Ashdod, set it in the house of Dagon.

3 Dagon is smitten down and cut in pieces, and they of Ashdod smitten with emerods.

8 So God deals with them of Gath, when it was brought thither;

10 and so with them of Ekron, when it was brought thither.

took.

4:11,17,18,22; Ps 78:61

Eben-ezer.

4:1; 7:12

Ashdod.Ashdod, called Azotus by the Greeks, was one of the five satrapies of the Philistines, and a place of great strength and consequence. It was situated near the Mediterranean, between Askelon and Jamnia, thirty-four miles north of Gaza, according to Diodorus Siculus, and the Antonine and Jerusalem Itineraries. It is now called Shdood; and Dr. Richardson says they neither saw nor heard of any ruins there. "The ground," he observes, "around Ashdod is beautifully undulating, but not half stocked with cattle. The site of the town is on the summit of a grassy hill; and, if we are to believe historians, was anciently as strong as it was beautiful."

Jos 11:22; Ac 8:40

Azotus.

of Dagon.

Jud 16:23; 1Ch 10:10; Da 5:2,23; Hab 1:11,16