seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Judges 18:22 When they had gone some distance from Micah’s house, the men who lived near Micah were called together and overtook the Danites. 23 As they shouted after them, the Danites turned and said to Micah, “What’s the matter with you that you called out your men to fight?”
24 He replied, “You took the gods I made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you ask, ‘What’s the matter with you?’”
25 The Danites answered, “Don’t argue with us, or some of the men may get angry and attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.” 26 So the Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him, turned around and went back home.
27 Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a people at peace and secure. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city. 28 There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob.
The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. 29 They named it Dan after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city used to be called Laish. 30 There the Danites set up for themselves the idol, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses,[d] and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land. 31 They continued to use the idol Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh.
24 He replied, “You took the gods I made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you ask, ‘What’s the matter with you?’”
25 The Danites answered, “Don’t argue with us, or some of the men may get angry and attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.” 26 So the Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him, turned around and went back home.
27 Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a people at peace and secure. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city. 28 There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob.
The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. 29 They named it Dan after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city used to be called Laish. 30 There the Danites set up for themselves the idol, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses,[d] and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land. 31 They continued to use the idol Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh.
d. Judges 18:30 Many Hebrew manuscripts, some Septuagint manuscripts and Vulgate; many other Hebrew manuscripts and some other Septuagint manuscripts Manasseh
I got this from Enduring Word.
This event and these words illustrate the general lawlessness in Israel during this long period of the Judges. The children of Dan stole Micah’s idol simply under the principle of “might makes right.”
They were too strong for both Micah and his gods. One should never have a god that needs protection.
They were too strong for both Micah and his gods. One should never have a god that needs protection.
I got the coverage of the massacre at Laish from the easy English site.
The people from Dan’s tribe soon destroyed Laish. And they soon destroyed its peaceful inhabitants. These were very separate from other people. So they could not get anybody to help them. They had trusted in the fact that they were far away from anyone else. This meant also that they could not get any help. The people from Dan’s tribe named the town Dan. They made their own place where they could praise God together with Jonathan the priest. Because of this, the town had an important position. Later, for that reason, king Jeroboam the First made it one place where people praised God in the northern kingdom. People made a male cow for him from gold. It may have been a copy of Micah’s image.
There's a lot of hubbub in the commentaries about verse 30. It says that Jonathan and his sons were there until captivity. There's a lot of discussion about which captivity the author is talking about.... I guess I'll see when I get there....
