Judges 18:1. _In those days … in Israel_ An excuse for the irregularity of Micah's proceedings as described in the foregoing verses. See Judges 17:6 _n._ and in those days … to dwell in At first the Danites tried to settle on the low land between the coast and the hills (Judges 1:34). Then they wer... [ Continue Reading ]
The repetitions in this verse (_of their family, of their whole number; five, men, men_of valour; to _search_it, _search_the land) point to a combination of the two narratives, of which the beginning can be traced in ch. 17.... [ Continue Reading ]
_When they were by the house of Micah_ repeats what has just been said in Judges 18:2; this verse must belong to the narrative of _the young man the Levite_Judges 17:7; Judges 17:11 b, Judges 17:12 a. Before he made his home with Micah, the young Levite lived, if not at Beth-lehem (his connexion wit... [ Continue Reading ]
_and he hath hired me_ points to Judges 17:10-11 a; so a continuation of that narrative.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ask counsel … of God_ i.e. by means of the ephod or sacred lot. To consult the divine will in this way was one of the special functions of the priesthood; see 1 Samuel 6:2; 1 Samuel 14:18 (RVm.), 1 Samuel 22:10; 1 Samuel 23:9-12 etc. So long as sacrificial acts were freely performed by laymen, the... [ Continue Reading ]
_before the Lord_ i.e. under His favourable regard. Cf. 1 Samuel 1:17; 1 Kings 22:6 for similar responses.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Laish_ In Joshua 19:47 Leshem. After the place was occupied by the Danites and re-named, it became the most northerly of Israelite settlements; cf. 2 Samuel 24:6; Jeremiah 4:15, and the expression -from Dan to Beer-sheba" Judges 20:1; 1 Samuel 3:20 etc. Josephus defines the situation of Laish-Dan a... [ Continue Reading ]
_What say ye?_ A verb is wanted, such as the EV. supplies; perhaps _what did ye find?_or _see?_would be better. Moore ingeniously, on the basis of the LXX, _what do ye bring back?_... [ Continue Reading ]
_._The reply of the spies is overcharged, and the sentences out of logical order, probably owing to the combination of the two narratives. Moore thus separates the two: (_a) Arise, and let us go up against them: for when ye come, ye shall come unto a people secure, and the land is large, for it is a... [ Continue Reading ]
_six hundred men_ Not the whole clan, but only the more enterprising members of it; the rest remained behind in the south. The armed men took their women and children with them (Judges 18:21); altogether the numbers must have reached a thousand.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Kiriath-jĕârim_ i.e. _city of woods_; cf. Joshua 9:17 P and 1 Samuel 6:21; 1 Samuel 7:1 f. Eusebius (_Onom_. 109, 27. 271, 40) places it 9 Roman miles from Jerusalem on the road to Lydda; hence it is generally identified with Ḳirjat el--enab, which is just this distance. The site would fit in well... [ Continue Reading ]
_the country of Laish_ The Hebr. can only be rendered _the country, Laish_. Obviously the last word is a marginal note, and it is omitted in some mss. of the LXX _in these houses_ Apparently Micah's establishment was almost a small village, cf. Judges 18:22. _and a molten image_ See on Judges 17:3... [ Continue Reading ]
The repetition of identical phrases leads us to suspect that the text has been encumbered by glosses. To some extent, also, the confusion may be due to the double narrative; note _the young Levite_in Judges 18:15 and _the priest_in Judges 18:17; but other criteria fail us, and any clear separation o... [ Continue Reading ]
_even unto the house of Micah_ A gloss inserted to identify the young Levite's house with that of Micah; see on Judges 17:7. LXX. Luc omits _the house of the young man the Levite_.... [ Continue Reading ]
The whole of this verse seems to be a mistaken repetition of Judges 18:17 b; both the grammar and the construction of the sentence are faulty. Budde, however, would transpose the verse to Judges 18:18 after _molten image_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and came in … molten image_ Again, the clumsy and irregular construction as well as the contents of the clause shew that it is not original; a doublet from Judges 18:18; lit. _they came in thither, they took_; the RV. inserts _and_twice. _and the priest … with the six hundred_ The text seems to say... [ Continue Reading ]
_these went into_ i.e. the spies; they knew their way about the house. _the graven image, the ephod_ The Hebr. has _the graven image of the ephod_; probably a scribal error; LXX _the graven image and the ephod_. The last word in the list is not in its usual place; clearly an addition.... [ Continue Reading ]
_lay thine hand upon thy mouth_ Cf. Micah 7:16; Job 21:5; Job 29:9 etc. _a father and a priest_ See Judges 17:10 _n._... [ Continue Reading ]
If there were _little ones_there must have been women to look after them. Budde would supply the omission, but unnecessarily. _the goods_ In the Hebr. a fem. sing., _the wealthy_, cf. Genesis 31:1 RVm., Isaiah 10:3 (translated _glory_). The LXX. cod. B takes the word in its primary sense -the _heav... [ Continue Reading ]
_the men that were in the houses_ The sense is much improved by following the LXX _behold Micaiah and the men that were_etc. We need some mention of Micah joining the pursuit (Judges 18:23).... [ Continue Reading ]
_my gods which I made_ Cf. Genesis 31:30 ff. E, a passage which shews several points of resemblance to the present. For _my gods_, Vulgate deos meos, we might render _my God_, offensive though the idea is to us; Micah was a worshipper of Jehovah, see on Judges 17:5. The LXX paraphrases -my graven im... [ Continue Reading ]
_angry fellows_ See marg.; _fierce-tempered_as in 2 Samuel 17:8; cf. also 1 Samuel 22:2. The rough humour and insolence of the robbers are admirably described. The writer hardly disguises his relish of the scene.... [ Continue Reading ]
_that which Micah had made_ Perhaps originally _the God which_… as in Judges 18:24. The form of the sentence suggests that the objectionable expression has been modified.... [ Continue Reading ]
See on Judges 18:7. The city was too far off from the suzerain power to obtain any help; and as no alliances had been made with the Syrians (again reading _Aram_for _adam_= -any man"), there were no friendly neighbours to come to the rescue. _the valley that lieth by Beth-rehob_ or _that belongeth... [ Continue Reading ]
_howbeit … at the first_ The same formula in Genesis 28:19 E; here evidently an editorial, later addition, together with _who was born unto Israel_.... [ Continue Reading ]
The object of the whole story has been to trace the origin of the famous sanctuary at Dan. In this and the next verse the setting up of Micah's image is told twice over, and a double note of time is given. The repetition suggests that we have here the two conclusions of the two narratives which have... [ Continue Reading ]
This verse is clearly not by the same hand as the foregoing. _the house of God … in Shiloh_ Not a tabernacle, or moveable tent, but a temple; see 1 Samuel 1:7; 1 Samuel 1:24; 1 Samuel 3:15. We are not told when the temple in Shiloh came to an end; was it when the ark fell into the hands of the Phili... [ Continue Reading ]