Charles Ellicott Commentary Judges 18:2

"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." — Judges 18:2 (ASV)

From their coasts. —Literally, their ends (Genesis 19:4; 1 Kings 12:31). Some explain it to mean “from their whole number.”

Men of valour. —Literally, sons of force (Judges 21:10).

To spy out the land. —As in Joshua 2:1.

They came to mount Ephraim. —It would have been an easier journey to pass along the Shephelah, but that was mainly in the hands of the original inhabitants.

To the house of Micah. —There is no necessity for the supposition that they did not actually lodge in the house, or, at any rate, in the khan which doubtless formed part of the settlement. The centre of a new and gorgeous worship was sure to have places around it where those could lodge who came to consult the pesel-ephod , just as even the ordinary synagogues had lodgings for wayfarers.