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Judges 18:3

in Judges 18

And while they were near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; so they went over and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite; and they turned aside thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what doest thou in this place? and what hast thou here?

KJV

When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here?

This verse in Judges 18

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
When they were by the house of Micah,.... At their inn, which might be next to it, or as they were passing by it: they knew the voice of the young man the Levite; who had been in their country, and they had been in his company and conversation, and they knew the tone of his voice when they heard it; a particular brogue he might have.

This site's exposition

they recognized the voice of the young Levite

on Judges 18:3-6

They know the Levite by his speech, which Gill takes for an accent. Barnes reads the Hebrew as hearing a voice and turning toward it. They ask him to “inquire of God”, as Israel does at 1:1 and 20:18 by the way Numbers 27:21 appoints, but at a private shrine.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

It does not follow that they had known him before, and recognized his voice, though it may be so. But the Hebrew equally bears the sense that they heard the voice of the Levite; and, attracted by it, went into the chapel Jdg 18:18 where Jonathan was. They were probably just starting on their journey, but were still within the court or precincts of Micah’s house. Micah had evidently not told them of his house of God, and his Levite. Their questions indicate surprise.

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.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

They knew the voice of the young man - They knew, by his dialect or mode of pronunciation, that he was not an Ephraimite. We have already seen (Jdg 12:6 (note)) that the Ephraimites could not pronounce certain letters.

The words behind it

24 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.

  • הֵ֚מָּהthey

    hemahH1992 →553 times

  • עִם־[were] near

    ʾim-H5973 →1050 times

  • בֵּ֣ית[the] house of

    beitH1004 →2046 times

  • מִיכָ֔הMicah

    mikhahH4318 →33 times

  • וְהֵ֣מָּהand they

    vehemahH1992 →553 times

  • הִכִּ֔ירוּthey recognized

    hikiruH5234 →

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • ק֥וֹל[the] voice of

    kolH6963 →506 times

  • הַנַּ֖עַרthe young man

    hanaarH5288 →239 times

  • הַלֵּוִ֑יthe Levite

    haleviH3881 →291 times

  • וַיָּס֣וּרוּand they turned aside

    vaiyasuruH5493 →299 times

  • שָׁ֗םthere

    shamH8033 →834 times

  • וַיֹּ֤אמְרוּand they said

    vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times

  • לוֹ֙to <the> him

    lo

  • מִֽי־who?

    mi-H4310 →423 times

  • הֱבִיאֲךָ֣did he bring you

    heviakhaH935 →2568 times

  • הֲלֹ֔םhere

    halomH1988 →

  • וּמָֽה־and what?

    umah-H4100 →752 times

  • אַתָּ֥ה[are] you

    ʾatahH859 →1094 times

  • עֹשֶׂ֛הdoing

    ʾosehH6213 →2628 times

  • בָּזֶ֖הin this [place]

    bazehH2088 →1180 times

  • וּמַה־and what?

    umah-H4100 →752 times

  • לְּךָ֥[belongs] to <the> you

    lekha

  • פֹֽה׃here

    fohH6311 →82 times

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

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

    Isaiah 22:16

    What are you doing here, and who authorized you to carve out a tomb for yourself here—to chisel your tomb in the height and cut your resting place in the rock?

    it leads to

    • Matthew 27:60

      and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut into the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance to the tomb and went away.

    • 2 Samuel 18:18

      During his lifetime, Absalom had set up for himself a pillar in the King’s Valley, for he had said, “I have no son to preserve the memory of my name.” So he gave the…

    • 2 Chronicles 16:14

      And he was buried in the tomb that he had cut out for himself in the City of David. They laid him on a bier that was full of spices and various blended perfumes;…

    • Job 3:14

      with kings and counselors of the earth, who built for themselves cities now in ruins,

  • Through

    Matthew 26:73

    After a little while, those standing nearby came up to Peter. “Surely you are one of them,” they said, “for your accent gives you away.”

    it leads to

    • Judges 12:6

      they told him, “Please say Shibboleth.” If he said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce it correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. So at that time 42,000…

    • John 18:26–27

      One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Didn’t I see you with Him in the garden?”

  • Through

    Judges 12:6

    they told him, “Please say Shibboleth.” If he said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce it correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. So at that time 42,000…

    it leads to

    • Ecclesiastes 10:12

      The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool consume him.

    • Matthew 12:25

      Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.

Where this verse is studied

About Judges

Jael, Deborah and Barak, Salomon de Bray, 1635. Public domain.
Jael, Deborah and Barak, Salomon de Bray, 1635. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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) and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament.