Judges 18:7

_THEN THE FIVE MEN DEPARTED, AND CAME TO LAISH, AND SAW THE PEOPLE THAT WERE THEREIN, HOW THEY DWELT CARELESS, AFTER THE MANNER OF THE ZIDONIANS, QUIET AND SECURE; AND THERE WAS NO MAGISTRATE IN THE LAND, THAT MIGHT PUT THEM TO SHAME IN ANY THING; AND THEY WERE FAR FROM THE ZIDONIANS, AND HAD NO BUSINESS WITH ANY MAN._ The five men departed, and came to Laish - or Leshem (Joshua 19:47), supposed to have been populated by a colony of Zidonians. The place was very secluded, the soil rich in the abundance and variety of its produce, and the inhabitants, following the peaceful pursuits of agriculture, lived in their fertile and sequestered valley, according to the Zidonian style of ease and security, happy among themselves, and maintaining little or no communication with the rest of the world. The discovered of this northern paradise seemed, to the delight of the Danite spies,

Verse Judges 18:7. _AFTER THE MANNER OF THE ZIDONIANS_] Probably the people of _Laish_ or _Leshem_ were originally a colony of the _Sidonians_, who, it appears, were an opulent people; and, being in possession of a _strong city_, lived in a state of security, not being afraid of their neighbours. In this the Leshemites imitated them, though the sequel proves they had not the same reason for their confidence. _THEY_ WERE _FAR FROM THE ZIDONIANS_] Being, as above supposed, a _Sidonian colony_, they might naturally expect help from their countrymen; but, as they dwelt a considerable distance from Sidon, the Danites saw that they could strike the blow before the news of invasion could reach _Sidon_; and, consequently, before the people of Laish could receive any succours from that city. And had

LAISH - Afterward called “Dan” Judges 18:29. The exact site has not been identified, but it was the northern extremity of Israel, near the sources of the Jordan, and about four miles from Panium, or Caesarea-Philippi. It is thought to have stood where the village Tell-el-Kadi now stands. AFTER THE MANNER OF THE ZIDONIANS - The genius of the Zidonians being mechanical and commercial, not military, their colonists were apt to neglect fortifications and similar warlike precautions. In Solomon’s time the Zidonians were especially skillful in hewing timber 1Ki 5:6; 1 Chronicles 22:4, and it is highly probable, from their proximity to Lebanon, that such was the occupation of the men of Laish....

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 THE FIVE MEN DEPARTED,.... From Mount Ephraim, and Micah's house there: AND CAME TO LAISH; which, according to Bunting s, was one hundred and four miles from Mount Ephraim, and so many he makes it to be from Jerusalem; it lay at the furthest northern border of the land of Canaan, at the foot of Mount Lebanon, near the fountain of Jordan; it was four miles from Paneas, as Jerom says t, as you go to Tyre; it is the Caesarea Philippi of the New Testament, and the same that is called Leshem, Joshua 19:47, AND SAW THE PEOPLE THAT WERE THEREIN; went into the city, and made their observations on the inhabitants of it, their number, strength, and manner of living: HOW THEY DWELT CARELESS, AFTER THE MANNER OF THE ZIDONIANS, QUIET AND SECURE; the inhabitants of Zidon, whose customs they might imitate, whose laws they might use, and might b

LAISH called Leshem. (Joshua 19:47)....

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

THE DANITE SCOUTS AT THE HOUSE OF MICAH. This chapter is of great value as an illustration of the mode in which an Israelitish tribe found a settlement in the country. We are taken back almost to the time of the Conquest. On the difficulty which the Danites had in taking possession of the territory first allotted to them see Judges 1:34. Some of them determined to seek their fortune in fresh fields. Their five scouts passed the house of Micah on the way north. How they knew the Levite's voice we are not told. Either he was an old acquaintance, or the words mean that they heard a voice intoning, which they knew to be a Levite's. Seizing their opportunity, they bade him ask counsel of God for them, and obtained a gratifying response....

LAISH. Called Leshem. Joshua 19:47. QUIET AND SECURE. Probably arising from the enervating effects of malaria now endemic there. If so, it may be identified with _Tel-el-kadi_ in the feverridden district at the head of the Jordan. MAN. Hebrew. _'adam._ App-14....

_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 as -near the springs of the lesser Jordan" (_Ant._viii. 8, 4, cf. i. 10, 1; Judges 18:3; Judges 18:1