Judges 18:12

Jdg 18:12 And they went up, and pitched in Kirjathjearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahanehdan unto this day: behold, [it is] behind Kirjathjearim.

Ver. 12. Called that place Mahanehdan.] That is, The camp of Dan. See Jdg 13:25. Here dwelt Samson’s parents, and here were his Specimina et tyrocinia edita.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jdg 18:12-14. Mahaneh-dan — That is, the camp of Dan. They came unto the house of Micah — That is, to the town in which his house was, for they had not yet entered into it. Then answered the five men — That is, they spake; the word answering being often used in Scripture of the first speaker. There is in these houses — That is, in one of these houses. Consider what ye have to do — Whether it be not expedient to take them for your further use. Perhaps the remembrance of the ark being carried before their ancestors in former times, in all their expeditions, as a mark of God’s presence being among them, might incline them to the foolish and impious thought of taking with them Micah’s ephod and teraphim.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Or, the tents of Dan.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 12. Mahaneh-dan] "The camp of Dan;" so called from the circumstance of this armament encamping there. See Jdg 13:25, which affords some proof that this transaction was previous to the days of Samson.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(12) In Kirjath-jearim.—Jos_9:17. The name means “city of forests.” The modern name is “city of grapes” (Kuriet el Enab). It is nine miles from Jerusalem, on the Jaffa road. Its original names were Baalah and Kirjath-Baal (Jos_15:9; Jos_15:60). It was here that the ark remained for twenty years when sent back by the Philistines (1Sa_6:20-21; 1Sa_7:2). “We found it in the fields of the wood” (Psa_132:6).

Mahaneh – dan—i.e., the camp of Dan (Jdg_13:25). They must have probably encamped here for some little time, as we can hardly suppose that the place would have received the name permanently from the bivouac of one night.

Behind—i.e., to the west of. So “the hinder sea” is the western or Mediterranean Sea (Deu_9:24; Zec_14:8). The site of Mahaneh-dan cannot be identified with certainty, as the position of Eshtaol is unknown.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. Kiriath-jĕârim] i.e. city of woods; cf. Jos_9:17 P and 1Sa_6:21; 1Sa_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 with the present narrative, making the first encampment a short day’s march from the Danite seats. The identification cannot be regarded as certain; but there is more to be said for Ḳirjat el-‘enab than for ‘Erma, a ruined site to the S.W., which some prefer. ‘Erma has nothing whatever to do with jearim. The camp of Dan is said to have been behind, i.e. west of Kiriath-jearim; contrast Jdg_13:25, where it is placed between Zorah and Eshtaol. Local tradition may well have preserved the memory of this first halting-place in an expedition which involved a lasting effect upon the life of the district.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And they went up and pitched in Kirjathjearim in Judah,.... Of which place see Jos 15:9. According to Bunting (a) it was sixteen miles from Zorah and Eshtaol, and this was their first day's march:

wherefore they called the name of that place Mahanehdan unto this day; which signifies the camp of Dan, or of the Danites; so it was called in the times of Samson, Jdg 13:25 and is a proof that this expedition was before his time; and it was so called, it seems, in the time of Samuel, the writer of this book:

behold, it is behind Kirjathjearim; to the west of it; for though they are said to pitch in that place, the meaning is, that they pitched near it, in the fields adjacent to it, which were the most proper and convenient for a camp.

(a) Ut supra. (Travels of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 112.)

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Kurjath-jearim - “City of forests,” otherwise called “Kirjath-Baal” (marginal reference.), identified by Robinson with the modern “Kurit-el-Enab,” on the road from Jaffa to Jerusalem and by Conder with Soba.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Behind, on the west. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Kirjath-jearim, called Kirjath-baal, Jos 15:60; a city lying in the northern parts of Judah, in the road to Laish; yet not in the city, but in the fields belonging to it, as the following words evince.

Behind Kirjath-jearim, i.e. westward from it, as the western sea is called the hindermost sea, Deu 11:24; and as, on the contrary, the east is called Keedem, which signifies the forepart.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. Kirjath-jearim — Identified by Dr. Robinson with the modern Kuriet el-Enab, which lies about ten miles northeast of Zorah and five northwest of Jerusalem. See on Jos_9:17. They pitched in Kirjath does not mean that they encamped within the city of this name, but, as the context shows, in the open country behind the city.

Called that place — The place where they encamped, not the city Kirjath-jearim.

Mahaneh-dan — That is, the camp of Dan. It probably lay some distance west or southwest of the city of Kirjath, and hence is said to be behind it. Compare note on Jdg_13:25.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Kirjath-jearim (city of forests), otherwise called Kirjath-Baal and Baalah, in the hill country of Judah. (Jos_15:60) It, lay on the border of Benjamin. (Jos_18:14, Jos_18:15) Its modern representative in all probability is Kurit-el-enab, nine miles from Jerusalem, on the road to Joppa. The district is still very woody. Mahaneh-dan, i.e. the camp of Dan. (see Jud_1:13:25) Behind, i.e. to the west of. The exact site of Mahaneh-dan has not been identified with certainty. Mr. Williams was shown a site called Beit-Mahanem in the Wady Ismail which answers well in position, but it has not been noticed by any other traveller ("Dictionary of Bible").

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mahaneh-dan - That is, the camp of Daniel.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.