Judges 18:19

_AND THEY WENT UP, AND PITCHED IN KIRJATH-JE'ARIM, IN JUDAH: WHEREFORE THEY CALLED THAT PLACE MAHANEHDAN UNTO THIS DAY: BEHOLD, IT IS BEHIND KIRJATH-JE'ARIM._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

Verse Judges 18:19. _LAY THINE HAND UPON THY MOUTH_] This was the token of _silence_. The god of silence, _Harpocrates_, is represented on ancient statues with _his finger pressed on his lips_....

EXPOSITION JUDGES 18:1 IN THOSE DAYS, etc. See Judges 17:6. THE TRIBE OF THE DANITES SOUGHT THEM AN INHERITANCE, etc. This does not mean that the whole tribe of Dan were still seeking their inheritance. The bulk of the tribe, as we read in Joshua 19:40-6, did receive their inheritance by lot before the death of Joshua (Joshua 19:49) and Eleazar (Joshua 19:51). But as long as any part of the tribe was not settled, the tribe as such, in its unity, was still seeking a settlement. The land for

AND THEY SAID UNTO HIM, HOLD THY PEACE,.... Be silent, make no disturbance, be quiet and easy: LAY THY HAND UPON THY MOUTH; as a token of silence; so the Egyptians used to paint Harpocrates, the god of silence, with his fingers pressing his lips: AND GO WITH US; for they wanted him as well as his gods, not knowing well how to make use of them without him: AND BE TO US A FATHER AND A PRIEST; to direct them, instruct them, perform acts of devotion for them, and ask counsel on their account; it seems as if it was common in those days to call a priest a father, see Judges 17:10 IS IT BETTER FOR THEE TO BE A PRIEST UNTO THE HOUSE OF ONE MAN, OR THAT THOU BE A PRIEST UNTO A TRIBE AND A FAMILY IN ISRAEL? suggesting, that it must be much more honourable for him, and more to his advantage, to officiate as a pr

CHAPTER 18 THE DANITE IDOLATRY _ 1. The Danites seek an inheritance (Judges 18:1)_ 2. Their robbery (Judges 18:13) 3. Laish taken and idolatry consummated (Judges 18:27) The history of this chapter is closely linked with the preceding. The tribe of Dan had failed to take the God-given inheritance (Joshua 19:40). “The Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley” (Judges 1:34). Then in self-will, entirely disregarding the will of God, they sent out spies to

JUDGES 17-18. This section is the first of two supplements. It explains the origin of the famous shrine at Dan, and the _naî veté_ of its moral and religious ideas proves how ancient it is. In not a few places the text has evidently been tampered with by scribes, who took offence at practices which were from a later point of view irregular. The events in question must have occurred before the time of Deborah (Judges 5:17)....

LAY THINE HAND, &C. Put by Figure of speech _Metonymy_ (of Adjunct) for "be silent". BETTER. Man's priest soon gets promotion....

_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._...

AND THEY SAID UNTO HIM— _They,_ that is, the five men who had entered the house....

_Micah and the Danites Judges 18:1-31_ In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel. 2 And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valor, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there, 3 When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here? 4 And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest. 5 And they said un