Judges 18:6
in Judges 18And the priest told them, “Go in peace. The LORD is watching over your journey.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before Jehovah is your way wherein ye go.
KJV
And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the Lord is your way wherein ye go.
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This verse in Judges 18
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThis 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.
This site's exposition
Go in peace
The priest says the LORD is watching over their way, and Barnes reads the words as a promise of favour, as in Ezra 8:21-22. Wesley says the priest either made the answer up to please the Danites or had it from the devil. It pleased them.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
9 And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land. 10 When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to a large land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
Before the Lord - That is, your design is under the eye of God; that is, under his care, protection and direction. This answer he either feigns to gratify their humour; or, did indeed receive from the devil, who transformed himself into an angel of light, and in God's name gave him answers, and those not sometimes very true, which God suffered for the trial of his people.
And the priest said to them, go in peace,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
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
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Before the Lord ... - i. e. He looks favorably upon it. (Compare Ezr 8:21-22.)
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֧אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לָהֶ֛ם | lahem | to <the> them | ||
| הַכֹּהֵ֖ן | hakohen | the priest | H3548 → | 750 times |
| לְכ֣וּ | lekhu | go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| לְשָׁל֑וֹם | leshalom | to peace | H7965 → | 236 times |
| נֹ֣כַח | nokhach | [is] before | H5227 → | 25 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| דַּרְכְּכֶ֖ם | darkekhem | way your | H1870 → | 707 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| תֵּֽלְכוּ־ | telekhu- | you go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| בָֽהּ׃ פ | vah | in <the> it |
וַיֹּ֧אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
לָהֶ֛םto <the> them
lahem
הַכֹּהֵ֖ןthe priest
hakohenH3548 →750 times
לְכ֣וּgo
lekhuH1980 →1546 times
לְשָׁל֑וֹםto peace
leshalomH7965 →236 times
נֹ֣כַח[is] before
nokhachH5227 →25 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
דַּרְכְּכֶ֖םway your
darkekhemH1870 →707 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
תֵּֽלְכוּ־you go
telekhu-H1980 →1546 times
בָֽהּ׃ פin <the> it
vah
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Deuteronomy 11:12It is a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning to the end of the year.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 24:6
I will keep My eyes on them for good and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them.
- Psalms 33:18
Surely the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His loving devotion
- 1 Kings 9:3
And the LORD said to him: “I have heard your prayer and petition before Me. I have consecrated this temple you have built by putting My Name there forever; My eyes and My heart…
- Psalms 34:15
The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their cry.
- Ezra 5:5
But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, so that they were not stopped until a report was sent to Darius and written instructions about this matter were returned.
- Jeremiah 24:6
Through
1 Thessalonians 3:11Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you.
it leads to
- Proverbs 3:5–6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
- Proverbs 3:5–6
Through
Jeremiah 23:32“Indeed,” declares the LORD, “I am against those who prophesy false dreams and retell them to lead My people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent them or commanded them,…
it leads to
- Zephaniah 3:4
Her prophets are reckless, faithless men. Her priests profane the sanctuary; they do violence to the law.
- Lamentations 2:14
The visions of your prophets were empty and deceptive; they did not expose your guilt to ward off your captivity. The burdens they envisioned for you were empty and misleading.
- Zephaniah 3:4
Where this verse is studied
About Judges
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.