Keraia
Judges 18

Judges 18:1

The Danites Settle in Laish · Judges 18:1–13
Read Judges 18

Translations

Modern
In those days there was no king in Israel, and the tribe of the Danites was looking for territory to occupy. For up to that time they had not come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.
Traditional
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.
Literal
In those days there was no king in Israel, and in those days the tribe of the Danite was seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell in, for it had not fallen to them until that day in the midst of the tribes of Israel by inheritance.
Latin
In diebus illis non erat rex in Israël, et tribus Dan quærebat possessionem sibi, ut habitaret in ea: usque ad illum enim diem inter ceteras tribus sortem non acceperat.

Original

Hebrew
English
In those days there was no king in Israel, and the tribe of the Danites was looking for territory to occupy. For up to that time they had not come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.

Notes

Judges 18:1–31

The migration of the Danites (compare Joshua 19:40–48) shows the tribe's failure to follow God's covenant and reflects Israel's decline. Micah's personal heresy (Judges 17:4–5) grew into the apostasy of the entire tribe (18:30–31). The initial covenant failure (Judges 17:19–36) led to social breakdown during the time of Jephthah and Samson (Judges 11–16). Eventually, law and order gave way to banditry and pillaging (Judges 18:27–28).

Judges 17:1–21:25

These two epilogues (Judges 17–18 and 19–21) show that inspired but unstructured leadership cannot last. As society moved toward chaos and civil war, the phrase, In those days there was no king in Israel appears four times. The phrase, everyone did what was right in his own eyes is added twice (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). The era of inspired leadership declined and ended in disorder. Something important was missing.

Theme notes and profiles

Social Chaos in Judges

People

Israel: Patriarch, son of Isaac, father of twelve tribes

Places

Dan: Israelite tribe; city in northern Israel; originally called Laish/Leshem

Glossary

Allotment of the Land Eshtaol Idols, Idolatry Jeroboam Joshua, Book of Judges, Book of King Micah (Person) Priests and Levites Travel Tribe of Dan Zorah, Zorathite

Topics

Christian Minister: Jonathan Dan: A City of the Tribe of Dan: Idolatry Established At Extraordinary Judges: Not Without Intermission Jonathan: A Levite of Bethlehem, Who Becomes a Priest for Micah Micah: An Ephraimite: His Robbery and Idolatry the Tribe of Dan: A Part of Sent to Seek New Settlements Tribe of Dan: Idolatry of Zorah: Representatives of the Tribe of Dan Sent From, to Spy out the Land with a View to Its Conquest