translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: JDG

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “an inheritance.”


text: Heb “because there had not fallen to them by that day in the midst of the tribes of Israel an inheritance.”


text: Heb “The Danites sent from their tribe five men, from their borders.”


text: Heb “men, sons of strength.”


text: Heb “They came to the Ephraimite hill country, to Micah’s house, and spent the night there.”


text: Or “When they were near.”


text: Heb “voice.” This probably means that “his speech was Judahite [i.e., southern] like their own, not Israelite [i.e., northern]” (R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 263).


text: Heb “turned aside.”


text: Heb “What [is there] to you here?”


text: Heb “He said to them, ‘Such and such Micah has done for me.’” Though the statement is introduced and presented, at least in part, as a direct quotation (note especially “for me”), the phrase “such and such” appears to be the narrator’s condensed version of what the Levite really said.


text: Heb “Ask God.”


text: Heb “so we can know if our way on which we are going will be successful.”


text: Heb “in peace.”


text: Heb “In front of the LORD is your way in which you are going.”


text: Or “went.”


text: Heb “who were in its midst.”


text: Heb “according to the custom of the Sidonians.”


text: Heb “and there was no one humiliating anything in the land, one taking possession [by] force.”


label: NET textual note

text: Heb “and a thing there was not to them with men.” Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX and Symmachus read “Syria” here rather than the MT’s “men.” This reading presupposes a Hebrew Vorlage אֲרָם (’ aram , “Aram,” i.e., Arameans) rather than the MT reading אָדָם (’ adam ). This reading is possibly to be preferred over the MT.


text: Heb “They came to their brothers.”


text: Heb “brothers.”


text: Heb “What you?”


text: Heb “Arise, and let us go up against them.”


text: Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX adds “we entered and walked around in the land as far as Laish and.”


text: Heb “But you are inactive.”


text: Or “be lazy.”


text: Heb “to go”; “to enter”; “to possess.”


text: Heb “When you enter.”


text: Heb “you will come to.”


text: Heb “broad of hands,” an idiom meaning “wide on both sides.”


text: Heb “a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.”


text: Heb “They journeyed from there, from the tribe of the Danites, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, six hundred men, equipped with weapons of war.”


text: Or “Mahaneh Dan”; the Hebrew term “Mahaneh” means “camp [of].” Many English versions retain the transliterated Hebrew expression, but cf. CEV “Dan’s Camp.”


text: Heb “behind.”


text: Codex Alexandrinus (A) of the LXX lacks the phrase “of Laish.”


text: Heb “turned aside.”


text: Heb “Micah’s house.”


text: Heb “they asked him concerning peace.”


text: Heb “And the six hundred men, equipped with the weapons of war…from the sons of Dan.”


text: Heb “went up, went in there, took.”


text: Heb “six hundred men, equipped with the weapons of war.”


text: Heb “These went into Micah’s house and took.”


text: See the note on the word “adviser” in 17:10 .


text: Heb “Is it better for you to be priest for the house of one man or for you to be priest for a tribe, for a clan in Israel?”


text: Heb “and went into the midst of the people.”


text: Heb “They turned and went and put the children, the cattle, and the possessions in front of them.”


text: Heb “the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house.”


text: Heb “they”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “What is this you say to me, ‘What to you?’”


text: Heb “bitter in spirit.” This phrase is used in 2 Sam 17:8 of David and his warriors, who are compared to a bear robbed of her cubs.


text: Heb “and you will gather up your life and the life of your house.”


text: Heb “saw.”


text: Heb “they were stronger than he.”


text: The Hebrew adds “with fire.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.


text: Heb “it.” The Hebrew pronoun is feminine singular here, referring to the “city” (a grammatically feminine singular noun) mentioned in v. 27 .


text: For location see Map1-A1 ; JP3-F3 ; JP4-F3 .


text: Heb “and a thing there was not to them with men.”


text: Heb “They”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who had been born to Israel.”


text: Heb “erected for themselves.”


text: Heb “son.”


text: Several ancient textual witnesses, including some LXX mss and the Vulgate, support the reading “Moses” ( מֹשֶׁה , mosheh ) here. Many Hebrew mss have a nun ( נ ) suspended above the name between the first two letters ( מנשׁה ), suggesting the name Manasseh ( מְנַשֶּׁה , mÿnasheh ). This is probably a scribal attempt to protect Moses’ reputation. For discussion, see G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 401-2.


text: Heb “sons.”


text: Heb “they set up for themselves.”


text: Heb “the carved image that Micah had made.”


text: Heb “the house of God.”