10 When ye go, ye come in unto a people confident, and the land `is' large on both hands, for God hath given it into your hand, a place where there is no lack of anything which `is' in the land.'
And the five men go, and come in to Laish, and see the people which `is' in its midst, dwelling confidently, according to the custom of Zidonians, quiet and confident; and there is none putting to shame in the land in `any' thing, possessing restraint, and they `are' far off from the Zidonians, and have no word with `any' man.
And they have taken that which Micah had made, and the priest whom he had, and come in against Laish, against a people quiet and confident, and smite them by the mouth of the sword, and the city have burnt with fire,
and I go down to deliver it out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to cause it to go up out of the land, unto a land good and broad, unto a land flowing with milk and honey -- unto the place of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
as the sons of Esau who are dwelling in Seir, and the Moabites who are dwelling in Ar, have done to me -- till that I pass over the Jordan, unto the land which Jehovah our God is giving to us.
`And now, Israel, hearken unto the statutes, and unto the judgments which I am teaching you to do, so that ye live, and have gone in, and possessed the land which Jehovah God of your fathers is giving to you.
`For Jehovah thy God is bringing thee in unto a good land, a land of brooks of waters, of fountains, and of depths coming out in valley and in mountain: a land of wheat, and barley, and vine, and fig, and pomegranate; a land of oil olive and honey; a land in which without scarcity thou dost eat bread, thou dost not lack anything in it; a land whose stones `are' iron, and out of its mountains thou dost dig brass;
but the land whither ye are passing over to possess it, `is' a land of hills and valleys; of the rain of the heavens it drinketh water; a land which Jehovah thy God is searching; continually `are' the eyes of Jehovah thy God upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the latter end of the year.
and it cometh to pass, at the seventh time, the priests have blown with the trumpets, and Joshua saith unto the people, `Shout ye, for Jehovah hath given to you the city;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Judges 18
Commentary on Judges 18 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 18
How idolatry crept into the family of Micah we read in the preceding chapter, how it was translated thence into the tribe of Dan we have an account in this chapter, and how it gained a settlement in a city of note; for how great a matter does a little fire kindle! The tribe of Dan had their lot assigned them last of all the tribes, and, it happening to be too strait for them, a considerable city in the utmost corner of Canaan northward was added to it. "Let them get it, and take it;' it was called Laish or Leshem, Jos. 19:47. Now here we are told,
Jdg 18:1-6
Here is,
Jdg 18:7-13
Here is,
Jdg 18:14-26
The Danites had sent out their spies to find out a country for them, and they sped well in their search; but here, now that they came to the place (for till this brought it to their mind it does not appear that they had mentioned it to their brethren), they oblige them with a further discovery-they can tell them where there are gods: "Here, in these houses, there are an ephod, and teraphim, and a great many fine things for devotion, such as we have not the like in our country; now therefore consider what you have to do, v. 14. We consulted them, and had a good answer from them; they are worth having, nay, they are worth stealing (that is, having upon the worst terms), and, if we can but make ourselves masters of these gods, we may the better hope to prosper, and make ourselves masters of Laish.' So far they were in the right, that it was desirable to have God's presence with them, but wretchedly mistaken when they took these images (which were fitter to be used in a puppet-play than in acts of devotion) for tokens of God's presence. They thought an oracle would be pretty company for them in their enterprise, and instead of a council of war to consult upon every emergency; and, the place they were going to settle in being so far from Shiloh, they thought they had more need of a house of gods among themselves than Micah had that lived so near to it. They might have made as good an ephod and teraphim themselves as these were, and such as would have served their purpose every whit as well; but the reputation which they found them in possession of (though they had had that reputation but a while) amused them into a strange veneration for this house of gods, which they would soon have dropped if they had had so much sense as to enquire into its origin, and examine whether there were any thing divine in its institution. Being determined to take these gods along with them, we are here told how they stole the images, cajoled the priest, and frightened Micah from attempting to rescue them.
Jdg 18:27-31
Here is,