Judges 18:19

Brenton's Septuagint

And they said to him, Be silent, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be the priest of the house of one man, or to be the priest of a tribe and house for a family of Israel?

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
They told him, “Be quiet. Keep your mouth shut. Come with us and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest for the house of one person or for you to be a priest for a tribe and family in Israel?”

Hebrew Names Version
They said to him, Hold your shalom, lay your hand on your mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a Kohen: is it better for you to be Kohen to the house of one man, or to be Kohen to a tribe and a family in Yisra'el?

King James Version
And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: 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?

Lexham English Bible
And they said to him, "Keep quiet! Put your hand on your mouth and come with us and be for us a father and a priest. Is it better being a priest for a house of one man or being a priest for a tribe and clan in Israel?"

English Standard Version
And they said to him, "Keep quiet; put your hand on your mouth and come with us and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?"

New Century Version
They answered, "Be quiet! Don't say a word. Come with us and be our father and priest. Is it better for you to be a priest for one man's house or for a tribe and family group in Israel?"

New English Translation
They said to him, "Shut up! Put your hand over your mouth and come with us! You can be our adviser and priest. Wouldn't it be better to be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for just one man's family?"

Amplified Bible
They said to him, "Keep quiet, put your hand over your mouth and come with us, and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or to be a priest to a tribe and family in Israel?"

New American Standard Bible
And they said to him, "Be silent, put your hand over your mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?"

Geneva Bible (1587)
And they answered him, Holde thy peace: lay thine hande vpon thy mouth, and come with vs to be our father and Priest. Whether is it better that thou shouldest be a Priest vnto ye house of one man, or that thou shouldest be a Priest vnto a tribe and to a familie in Israel?

Legacy Standard Bible
These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, not having the Spirit.

Contemporary English Version
"Quiet!" the men said. "Keep your mouth shut and listen. Why don't you come with us and be our priest, so you can tell us what God wants us to do? You could stay here and be a priest for one man's family, but wouldn't you rather be the priest for a clan or even a whole tribe of Israel?"

Complete Jewish Bible
They replied, "Be quiet, keep your mouth shut, and come with us. Be a father and a cohen for us. Which is better? To be a cohen in the house of one man or to be cohen to a whole tribe and family in Isra'el?"

Darby Translation
And they said to him, Hold thy peace, lay thy hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for thee to be a priest for the house of one man, or to be priest for a tribe and a family in Israel?

Easy-to-Read Version
The five men answered, "Be quiet! Don't say a word. Come with us. Be our father and our priest. You must choose. Is it better for you to be a priest for just one man or for a whole tribe of Israelites with many family groups?"

George Lamsa Translation
And they said to him, Hold your peace, stop talking, and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Which is better for you, to be a priest for one mans household, or to be a priest to a family and a tribe of Israel?

Good News Translation
They told him, "Keep quiet. Don't say a word. Come with us and be our priest and adviser. Wouldn't you rather be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for the family of one man?"

Literal Translation
And they said to him, Be quiet! Lay your hand on your mouth, and go with us, and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest for one man's house, or for you to be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
They answered him: Holde thy peace, and laye thine hande vpon thy mouth, and go with vs, yt thou mayest be oure father & prest. Is it better for the to be prest in one mans house, then amonge a whole trybe & kynred in Israel?

American Standard Version
And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thy hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be priest unto the house of one man, or to be priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel?

Bible in Basic English
And they said to him, Be quiet; say nothing, and come with us and be our father and priest; is it better for you to be priest to one man's house or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
They aunswered hym: Holde thy peace, lay thine hande vpon thy mouth, and come with vs, to be our father and priest: Is it better for thee to be a priest vnto the house of one man, then to be a priest vnto a tribe or kynred in Israel?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And they said unto him: 'Hold thy peace, lay thy hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest; is it better for thee to be priest unto the house of one man, or to be priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel?'

King James Version (1611)
And they said vnto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand vpon thy mouth, and goe with vs, and bee to vs a father and a Priest: Is it better for thee to bee a Priest vnto the house of one man, or that thou be a Priest vnto a tribe and a family in Israel?

English Revised Version
And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be priest unto the house of one man, or to be priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel?

Berean Standard Bible
"Be quiet," they told him. "Put your hand over your mouth and come with us and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest for the house of one person or a priest for a tribe and family in Israel?"

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
To whom thei answeriden, Be thou stille, and putte the fyngur on thi mouth, and come with vs, that we haue thee fadir and preest. What is betere to thee, that thou be preest in the hows of o man, whether in o lynage and meynee in Israel?

Young's Literal Translation
and they say to him, `Keep silent, lay thy hand on thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us for a father and for a priest: is it better thy being a priest to the house of one man, or thy being priest to a tribe and to a family in Israel?'

Update Bible Version
And they said to him, Hold your peace, lay your hand on your mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?

Webster's Bible Translation
And they said to him, Hold thy peace, lay thy hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: [Is it] better for thee to be a priest to the house of one man, or that thou shouldst be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?

World English Bible
They said to him, Hold your peace, lay your hand on your mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?

New King James Version
And they said to him, "Be quiet, put your hand over your mouth, and come with us; be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest to the household of one man, or that you be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?"

New Living Translation
"Be quiet and come with us," they said. "Be a father and priest to all of us. Isn't it better to be a priest for an entire tribe and clan of Israel than for the household of just one man?"

New Life Bible
They said to him, "Be quiet. Put your hand over your mouth and come with us. Be a father and a religious leader to us. Is it better for you to be a religious leader to the house of one man, or to a family in Israel?"

New Revised Standard
They said to him, "Keep quiet! Put your hand over your mouth, and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one person, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And they said unto him - Hold thy peace, lay thy hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and become to us a father and a priest, - is it better that thou be priest to the house of one man, or that thou be priest to a tribe and to a family in Israel?

Douay-Rheims Bible
And they said to him: Hold thy peace, and put thy finger on thy mouth, and come with us, that we may have thee for a father, and a priest. Whether is better for thee, to be a priest in the house of one man, or in a tribe and family in Israel?

Revised Standard Version
And they said to him, "Keep quiet, put your hand upon your mouth, and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and family in Israel?"

THE MESSAGE
They said to him, "Hush! Don't make a sound. Come with us. Be our father and priest. Which is more important, that you be a priest to one man or that you become priest to a whole tribe and clan in Israel?"

New American Standard Bible (1995)
They said to him, "Be silent, put your hand over your mouth and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?"

Contextual Overview

¹⁴ And the five men who went to spy out the land of Laisa answered, and said to their brethren, Ye know that there is in this place an ephod, and theraphin, and a graven and a molten image; and now consider what ye shall do. ¹⁵ And they turned aside there, and went into the house of the young man, the Levite, even into the house of Michaias, and asked him how he was. ¹⁶ And the six hundred men of the sons of Dan who were girded with their weapons of war stood by the door of the gate. ¹⁷ And the five men who went to spy out the land went up, and entered into the house of Michaias, and the priest stood. ¹⁸ And they took the graven image, and the ephod, and the theraphin, and the molten image; and the priest said to them, What are ye doing? ¹⁹ And they said to him, Be silent, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be the priest of the house of one man, or to be the priest of a tribe and house for a family of Israel? ²⁰ And the heart of the priest was glad, and he took the ephod, and the theraphin, and the graven image, and the molten image, and went in the midst of the people. ²¹ So they turned and departed, and put their children and their property and their baggage before them. ²² They went some distance from the house of Michaias, and, behold, Michaias and the men in the houses near Michaias’ house, cried out, and overtook the children of Dan. ²³ And the children of Dan turned their face, and said to Michaias, What is the matter with thee that thou hast cried out?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

lay thine: This was the token of silence. These men were evidently very ignorant; and absurdly concluded that they should, by taking Micah's gods, secure the presence and favour of the God of Israel, in their expedition and settlement. They perhaps supposed the piety of their motives, and the goodness of their end, would justify the means. But it was a base robbery of Micah, aggravated by the Levite's ingratitude, and their menaces. Job 21:5, Job 29:9, Job 40:4, Job 40:5, Proverbs 30:32, Micah 7:16

a father: Judges 17:10, 2 Kings 6:21, 2 Kings 8:8, 2 Kings 8:9, 2 Kings 13:14, Matthew 23:9

Reciprocal: Matthew 26:15 - What 1 Timothy 6:10 - the love

Cross-References

Genesis 18:2
And he lifted up his eyes and beheld, and lo! three men stood before him; and having seen them he ran to meet them from the door of his tent, and did obeisance to the ground.

Genesis 18:4
Let water now be brought, and let them wash your feet, and do ye refresh yourselves under the tree.

Genesis 18:5
And I will bring bread, and ye shall eat, and after this ye shall depart on your journey, on account of which refreshment ye have turned aside to your servant. And he said, So do, as thou hast said.

Genesis 18:6
And Abraam hasted to the tent to Sarrha, and said to her, Hasten, and knead three measures of fine flour, and make cakes.

Genesis 18:7
And Abraam ran to the kine, and took a young calf, tender and good, and gave it to his servant, and he hasted to dress it.

Genesis 18:9
And he said to him, Where is Sarrha thy wife? And he answered and said, Behold! in the tent.

Genesis 18:10
And he said, I will return and come to thee according to this period seasonably, and Sarrha thy wife shall have a son; and Sarrha heard at the door of the tent, being behind him.

Genesis 18:19
For I know that he will order his sons, and his house after him, and they will keep the ways of the Lord, to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraam all things whatsoever he has spoken to him.

Genesis 18:20
And the Lord said, The cry of Sodom and Gomorrha has been increased towards me, and their sins are very great.

Genesis 18:21
I will therefore go down and see, if they completely correspond with the cry which comes to me, and if not, that I may know.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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 priest to a body of people, that might be called a tribe, or to a family consisting of various houses, than in the house of a private person; this they left him to consider and judge of.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

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.