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Sunday, September 1st, 2024
the Week of Proper 17 / Ordinary 22
the Week of Proper 17 / Ordinary 22
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Bible Commentaries
Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible Dummelow on the Bible
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliographical Information
Dummelow, John. "Commentary on Judges 18". "Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/dcb/judges-18.html. 1909.
Dummelow, John. "Commentary on Judges 18". "Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible". https://www.studylight.org/
Whole Bible (40)Old Testament (1)Individual Books (3)
Verses 1-31
The Danites go in Quest of an Inheritance. They rob Micah of his Images, capture and settle in Laish, and set up Idol-Worship there
1-10. The Danite Spies.
2. From their coasts] RV ’from their whole number.’ For Zorah and Eshtaol see on Judges 13:25.
3. They knew] They recognised him as a Levite from the prayers he was saying.
Makest] RV ’doest.’
6. Before the lord] i.e. under Jehovah’s care.
7. Laish] In Joshua 19:47 the name appears as Leshem. Later on it was called Dan, from its new inhabitants (cp. Judges 18:29, and chapter Judges 20:1). It lay near Lebanon and the sources of the Jordan in the extreme N. of Palestine, and was about 40 m. from Sidon, the famous commercial city on the sea-coast. The rest of the v. implies that the residents were a colony from Zidon. Put them to shame] The Hebrew here gives no intelligible sense. Business] RV ’dealings.’
With any man] LXX (in some Mss) reads ’with Syria’ whose capital, Damascus, was about as distant as Sidon.
10. Secure] as always in AV,’ free from care or apprehension.’
11-31. The Danite Expedition to Laish.
11. Six hundred men] cp. Judges 20:47 a very small number when compared with those given in Judges 20:15, Judges 20:17 or Judges 15:15; Judges 16:27. Yet it would seem that the larger part of the tribe went northwards. Appointed] RV ’girt.’
12. Mahanehdan] see on Judges 13:25 they then turn northwards.
16. The gate] of the village.
17. An amplification of Judges 18:15 farther repeated in Judges 18:18. Here and in Judges 18:18 ’graven image’ and ’molten image’ are understood as two distinct objects. In Judges 18:20, Judges 18:30-31 the ’molten image’ is left unmentioned.
19. See on Judges 17:10.
21. Carriage] RV ’goods’: cp. Acts 21:15 (what is carried: cp. the word ’luggage’). The armed men marched last, expecting pursuit.
28. See on Judges 18:7. The building of one city on the ruins of another was common, as excavations at Gezer and Lachish have made clear. Beth-rehob] unknown.
29. Israel] Jacob: see Genesis 35:10.
30. The possession of this image was evidently an important thing. Jonathan] This must refer to the young Levite, who has been hitherto unnamed, unless his name has dropped out of the text previously. Manasseh] RV ’Moses.’ This, the true text, was altered in later times, to save Moses from any connexion with such a priesthood as this. Captivity] Probably the depopulation of Northern Israel by Tiglath Pileser in 734 b.c.
31. In Shiloh] NE. of Bethel, where the ark was kept in the ’house of God’ (1 Samuel 1-4). The destruction of this ’house’ is mentioned in Jeremiah 7:12; Jeremiah 26:9. Possibly it was destroyed by the Philistines. In 1 Samuel 22:11 the priesthood settled formerly at Shiloh appears at Nob.