Judges 18:13

Jdg 18:13 And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came unto the house of Micah.

Ver. 13. And came unto the house of Micah.] Whom the five spies ill requited for his former hospitality and courtesy: Perraro grati reperiuntur, saith Cicero. A thankful man is a rare bird. Ungrateful persons are but like a mouse in a satchel or a snake in one’s bosom, who do ill repay their hosts for their lodging. Xerxes dealt barbarously with the sons of Pythias, who gave free quarter to that whole huge army of his. See Jdg 18:2.

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.

(13) Unto the house of Micah.—Probably the precincts of the new sanctuary gave their name to a sort of village—Beth-Micah.

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

And they passed thence unto Mount Ephraim,.... Steering their coast still northward; this, according to Bunting (b), was eight miles from Kirjathjearim, or Mahanehdan, in which Micah's house was, for as yet they were not come to it, see Jdg 18:15.

(b) Ibid. (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.

CHAPTER XVIII.

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).

i.e. To the town in which his house was, for they were not yet entered into it.

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

To the house - That is, to the town in which his house was, for they were not yet entered into it.

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

From this point they went across to the mountains of Ephraim, and came to Micah's house, i.e., to a place near it.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

The Priest of Micah Taken to Laish

v. 13. And they passed thence unto Mount Ephraim, along the way taken by the spies, and came unto the house of Micah.

v. 14. Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, giving in advance the information which the members of their tribe would presently ask for, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image, a carved and chased idol with its molten pedestal? Now, therefore, consider what ye have to do, the suggestion of the spies being that the Danites should not overlook this opportunity to provide themselves with a worship of their own.

v. 15. And they, acting upon the hint received, turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man, the Levite, where this private sanctuary was, fully equipped with everything needed in such an institution, even unto the house of Micah, and saluted him, they greeted the priest most kindly.

v. 16. And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate, at the entrance to the enclosure, near the sanctuary.

v. 17. And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, being familiar with the location of everything from their previous visit, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image, all the equipment of the sanctuary, the objects used in worship by Micah; and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war. This strange behavior of the priest in permitting the robbery of the sanctuary for whose care he was hired is now explained, for this paragraph is here entered, although the event took place before the Levite deserted his post.

v. 18. And these went into Micah’s house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, it was then that he had tried to interfere, What do ye?

v. 19. And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, be absolutely quiet; lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest, the position which he had occupied in the house of Micah, Jdg 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? That was the argument which had appealed to the Levite’s ambitious and avaricious heart and caused him to turn his back when the five spies plundered Micah’s sanctuary.

v. 20. And the priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people, where he was safe.

v. 21. So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage, all their most valuable possessions, before them, to have them safe in case they should be attacked by Micah and his men.

v. 22. And when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses near to Micah’s house, both those belonging to his own establishment and those of the village which arose near the sanctuary, were gathered together and overtook the children of Dan.

v. 23. And they cried unto the children of Dan, hailed them, bidding them stop. And they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee that thou comest with such a company? They feigned ignorance of any happening concerning Micah.

v. 24. And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away; and what have I more? He no longer tries to deceive himself and others that it was really Jehovah’s worship which he was carrying on in his house, but calls his sin by the right name, confessing his idolatry. And what is this that ye say unto me, What aileth thee?

v. 25. And the children of Dan said unto him, depending upon their superior power and holding that might makes right, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows, men bitter of soul, of a fierce disposition, run upon thee, and thou lose thy life with the lives of thy household, any rash act on his part would cause not only his own death, but that of his entire family.

v. 26. And the children of Dan, having bullied Micah into silence, went their way; and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his house. He was a sadder and a wiser man, who, strictly speaking, had no redress, as he had sinned against Jehovah and could not appeal to the Lord of Israel for revenge.

v. 27. And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure, v. 7; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, in a sudden attack, and burned the city with fire.

v. 28. And there was no deliverer, as the spies had rightly reported, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by Beth-rehob, extending to that city, along the valley of the upper Jordan. And they built a city and dwelt therein.

v. 29. And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan, their father, their progenitor, who was born unto Israel; howbeit the name of the city was Laish, or Leshem, Jos 19:47-48, at the first.

v. 30. And the children of Dan set up the graven image, for idolatrous purposes; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, rather, the descendant of Moses, for that, apparently, was the name of the idolatrous priest, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land, namely, when the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant and became masters of the entire country, 1Sa 4:21-22.

v. 31. And they set them up Micah’s graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh. Mark: Idolatry in every form, false doctrine, quickly and easily finds adherents and is hard to eradicate when once established. He that is guilty of introducing false doctrine not only deceives himself, but also gives occasion to others to fall. The harm usually extends to many generations and destroys many souls.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Laish

Translate the name of this town the same as you did in Judges 18:7.

in these houses there are an ephod, ... metal figure? Decide ... will do

The five men asked this question to suggest and encourage the men that they should steal the idols. This can be written as a statement, and the implied information may be given in a parenthetical phrase. AT: "these houses contain an ephod, ... metal figure. (They were suggesting that the men steal these things.) Decide ... will do" (See: Rhetorical Question and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

in these houses there are

"in one of these house there is" or "among these houses is"

translationWords

Ephraim

house

ephod

household

false god

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.