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Judges 18:2

in Judges 18

So the Danites sent out five men from their clans, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. “Go and explore the land,” they told them. The men entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their whole number, men of valor, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land. And they came to the hill-country of Ephraim, unto the house of Micah, and lodged there.

KJV

And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there.

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This verse in Judges 18

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Five men - men of valor - The Hebrew word חיל chayil has been applied to personal prowess, to mental energy, and to earthly possessions. They sent those in whose courage, judgment, and prudence, they could safely confide.

This site's exposition

the tribe of the Danites was looking for territory

on Judges 18:1-2

Here, as at 19:1, the book says “there was no king in Israel” without the clause about everyone doing what was right in his own eyes. Dan already had an allotment at Joshua 19:40-46, but the Amorites forced it into the hills at Judges 1:34. The five men go out “from Zorah and Eshtaol”, Samson's country at 13:2 and 16:31.

This site's exposition

men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol

The Danites sent five men of valor, and Clarke notes that the Hebrew word for valor covers courage, judgment and wealth. Henry lists what the men were sent to learn, whether the land was good and whether its people could be taken. Their route passed Micah's house.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

), that they might know the character of the country, whether it was an inheritance worth going so far for, and the posture of the people, whether the making of themselves masters of it was a thing practicable, what force was necessary in order thereunto, and which was the best way of making an attack upon it.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

And the children of Dan sent of their family five men,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

Recognizing his priest as one of their former acquaintances, or perhaps by his provincial dialect, they eagerly enlisted his services in ascertaining the result of their present expedition. His answer, though apparently promising, was delusive, and really as ambiguous as those of the heathen oracles.
This identity of locality with the scene of Samson’s birth and death indicates that both narratives are drawn from the same source, probably the annals of the tribe of Dan.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

As there had not fallen to their lot. A suitable inheritance for them in the conquered territory, as it is said in Yehoshua, "The boundry of Bnei Don extended from them." 1 Yehoshua,:47. See Rashi there. 2 When the apportioning of the land among the tribes was completed.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Judges 18:1:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

30 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיִּשְׁלְח֣וּand they sent

    vaiyishlechuH7971 →845 times

  • בְנֵי־[the] descendants of

    venei-H1121 →4930 times

  • דָ֣ן׀Dan

    danH1835 →70 times

  • מִֽמִּשְׁפַּחְתָּ֡םfrom tribe their

    mimishpachtamH4940 →303 times

  • חֲמִשָּׁ֣הfive

    chamishahH2568 →343 times

  • אֲנָשִׁ֣יםmen

    ʾanashimH582 →566 times

  • מִקְצוֹתָם֩from ends their

    miktzotamH7098 →

  • אֲנָשִׁ֨יםmen

    ʾanashimH582 →566 times

  • בְּנֵי־sons of

    benei-H1121 →4930 times

  • חַ֜יִלstrength

    chayilH2428 →246 times

  • מִצָּרְעָ֣הfrom Zorah

    mitzareahH6881 →10 times

  • וּמֵֽאֶשְׁתָּאֹ֗לand from Eshtaol

    umeeshtaolH847 →7 times

  • לְרַגֵּ֤לto spy out

    leragelH7270 →25 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הָאָ֙רֶץ֙the land

    haaretzH776 →2504 times

  • וּלְחָקְרָ֔הּand to explore it

    ulechakerahH2713 →

  • וַיֹּאמְר֣וּand they said

    vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times

  • אֲלֵהֶ֔םto them

    ʾalehemH413 →5510 times

  • לְכ֖וּgo

    lekhuH1980 →1546 times

  • חִקְר֣וּexplore

    chikruH2713 →

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הָאָ֑רֶץthe land

    haaretzH776 →2504 times

  • וַיָּבֹ֤אוּand they went

    vaiyavouH935 →2568 times

  • הַר־[the] hill country of

    har-H2022 →546 times

  • אֶפְרַ֙יִם֙Ephraim

    ʾefrayimH669 →180 times

  • עַד־to

    ʾad-H5704 →1261 times

  • בֵּ֣ית[the] house of

    beitH1004 →2046 times

  • מִיכָ֔הMicah

    mikhahH4318 →33 times

  • וַיָּלִ֖ינוּand they spent [the] night

    vaiyalinuH3885 →84 times

  • שָֽׁם׃there

    shamH8033 →834 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Judges 13:25And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him at Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.5 worksJoshua 2:1Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim, saying, “Go, inspect the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.4 worksJudges 18:11So six hundred Danites departed from Zorah and Eshtaol, armed with weapons of war.3 worksJudges 18:8When the men returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers asked them, “What did you find?”3 worksNumbers 13:17When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he told them, “Go up through the Negev and into the hill country.3 worksJudges 18:17And the five men who had gone to spy out the land went inside and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten idol, while the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred armed men.3 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Judges 17:1Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim3 worksGenesis 42:9Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said, “You are spies! You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”2 worksJudges 19:18The Levite replied, “We are traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote hill country of Ephraim, where I am from. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and now I am going to the house of the LORD; but no one has taken me into his home,2 worksJudges 16:31Then Samson’s brothers and his father’s family came down, carried him back, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. And he had judged Israel twenty years.2 worksLuke 14:31Or what king on his way to war with another king will not first sit down and consider whether he can engage with ten thousand men the one coming against him with twenty thousand?2 worksJudges 13:2Now there was a man from Zorah named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, whose wife was barren and had no children.2 worksJoshua 19:41The territory of their inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh,2 worksProverbs 20:18Set plans by consultation, and wage war under sound guidance.2 worksJudges 19:1Now in those days, when there was no king in Israel, a Levite who lived in the remote hill country of Ephraim took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.2 worksJoshua 17:15–18Joshua answered them, “If you have so many people that the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go to the forest and clear for yourself an area in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim.”2 works1 Chronicles 19:3the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun, “Just because David has sent you comforters, do you really believe he is showing respect for your father? Have not his servants come to you to explore the land, spy it out, and overthrow it?”2 worksJudges 1:23They sent spies to Bethel (formerly known as Luz),2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Joshua 2:1

    Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim, saying, “Go, inspect the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 11:31

      By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies in peace, did not perish with those who were disobedient.

    • James 2:25

      In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute justified by her actions when she welcomed the spies and sent them off on another route?

    • Matthew 1:5

      Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse,

    • Numbers 13:17–21

      When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he told them, “Go up through the Negev and into the hill country.

    • Numbers 25:1

      While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab,

  • Through

    Judges 13:25

    And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him at Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

    it leads to

    • Judges 3:10

      The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he became Israel’s judge and went out to war. And the LORD delivered Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram into the hand of Othniel, who prevailed against…

  • Through

    Numbers 13:17

    When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he told them, “Go up through the Negev and into the hill country.

    it leads to

    • Judges 1:9

      Afterward, the men of Judah marched down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, in the Negev, and in the foothills.

    • Genesis 12:9

      And Abram journeyed on toward the Negev.

About Judges

Jael, Deborah and Barak, Salomon de Bray, 1635. Public domain.
Jael, Deborah and Barak, Salomon de Bray, 1635. Public domain.
Judges: the study guide →Read Judges 18 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Judges 18 →