Charles Ellicott Commentary Judges 18:12

"And they went up, and encamped in Kiriath-jearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan, unto this day; behold, it is behind Kiriath-jearim." — Judges 18:12 (ASV)

In Kirjath-jearim. —Joshua 9:17. The name means “city of forests.” The modern name is “city of grapes” (Kuriet el Enab). It is nine miles from Jerusalem, on the Jaffa road.

Its original names were Baalah and Kirjath-Baal (Joshua 15:9; Joshua 15:60). It was here that the ark remained for twenty years when sent back by the Philistines (1 Samuel 6:20–21; 1 Samuel 7:2). We found it in the fields of the wood (Psalms 132:6).

Mahaneh-dan — i.e., the camp of Dan (Judges 13:25). They must have probably encamped here for some little time, as we can hardly suppose that the place would have received the name permanently from the bivouac of one night.

Behind — i.e., to the west of. So the hinder sea is the western or Mediterranean Sea (Deuteronomy 9:24; Zechariah 14:8). The site of Mahaneh-dan cannot be identified with certainty, as the position of Eshtaol is unknown.