John Gill Commentary Judges 18

In those days there was no king in Israel
No supreme magistrate, no judge, for it was before the time of the judges, after the death of Joshua and before Othniel the first judge; this is observed before, (Judges 17:6) and here repeated to account for the evil things done by the Danites, their consulting Micah's oracle, taking away his priest and his gods, and setting up his graven image in Dan, by which means idolatry was spread in Israel, and brought on their servitude to Chushanrishathaim, from which Othniel the first judge was their deliverer:

and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance
to dwell in ;
that is, a family of them, as in the next verse, not the whole tribe; for as a family is sometimes put for a tribe, (Joshua 7:17) so a tribe for a family, (Judges 20:12)

for unto that day [all their] inheritance had not fallen to them among
the tribes of Israel :
we rightly supply the words "all their"; for otherwise an inheritance had fallen to them by lot, as the other tribes. (Joshua 19:40) , but that was not only too little for them, (Joshua 19:47) but all that was allotted to them did not come into their possession, but a part remained unsubdued; and some they had possession of they could not keep, either through the superior strength of the Amorites, or their own sloth and cowardice, or for want of the help of their brethren; see (Judges 1:34Judges 1:35) .

And the children of Dan sent of their family five men
According to Abarbinel one out of a family, as Moses sent one out of a tribe to spy the land; and so there must be five families concerned in this affair:

from their coasts, men of valour from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy
out the land, and to search it ;
these men were sent from the borders of the tribe, the extreme parts of it, as the word may signify, where perhaps they were the most pressed and overcrowded: Zorah and Eshtaol are particularly mentioned, and were the first cities in their lot, and were the coast of their inheritance, (See Gill on Joshua 19:41)

some take the phrase rendered "from their coasts" to signify persons of extreme meanness, men of the lowest class among them; but the above mentioned writers interpret it to a quite contrary sense, by "Katzinim", princes, such as Moses sent to spy the land; and this better agrees with the next clause, "men of valour": and the word used signifies not only magnanimity and fortitude of mind, but wealth and riches;

and these were sent not to spy the land of Canaan, but such places as fell to this tribe, but were possessed by the Canaanites; and their errand was to observe in what condition they were, and whether fit for their purpose, and easy to obtain, and how they might get the possession of any of them:

and they said unto them, search the land ;
and see if some convenient place cannot be found out to enlarge their inheritance, and give them more room and liberty for their families, now pent up, and a pasturage for their flocks and herds:

who when they came to Mount Ephraim ;
which lay upon the borders of them:

to the house of Micah, they lodged there ;
that is, when they were come near to the house of Micah, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it, they took up their lodging in the neighbourhood of it, perhaps at a public house or inn; for the sense is not, that they lodged in Micah's house, for after this we read of their turning into it, as in the next verse. According to Bunting ^F18 , this place was twenty four miles from Zorah and Eshtaol, from whence these men came.

FOOTNOTES:

• F18:
  F18 Travels of the Patriarchs p. 112.

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. Abarbinel conjectures, that he was singing to Micah's idol, or multiplying his prayers before him:

and they turned in thither ;
into Micah's house, and into the apartment where the young man was;

and said unto him, who brought thee hither ?
they knew he was of Bethlehemjudah; they inquire therefore how he came there, who sent for him, and by what means he was brought to that place:

and what makest thou in this place ?
they knew he was a Levite, and that such an one had no business to minister but at the tabernacle, and therefore they inquire what was his employment here: and what hast thou here? to support himself with, what he had for his maintenance, or how he lived.

And he said unto them, thus and thus deals Micah with me ,
&c.] Told them the whole story, how he came to the door of Micah's house, how he inquired of him who he was, and from where he came, and where he was going, and then invited him into his house to stay with him:

and has hired me ;
by the year, for ten shekels of silver, a suit of clothes, and meat and drink, and by this means he got a livelihood, and was supported:

and I am his priest ;
and that was his business to offer sacrifice for his family, and to consult his oracle for him, and for whomsoever should apply.

And they said unto him, ask counsel, we pray thee, of God They did not reprove him for assuming the priestly office, when they knew he was a Levite, such was the corruption of those times, and the great depravity and declensions they were fallen into; nor even for the idolatry he was guilty of, but encourage him in it, and thought they had got a fine opportunity, which they readily laid hold on, to have counsel asked for them of God, about the success of the errand they were sent about.

To this they were led at sight of the ephod, which was like that in the tabernacle, and of the teraphim, images which, according to a notion that prevailed, when consulted, foretold future things; whether by God they meant the true God, who they thought would give an answer by these, or Micah's gods, is not certain; according to the Targum of Jonathan, they meant the true God, which paraphrases it, ``ask of the Word of the Lord:''

that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous or no ; whether they should find out a proper place to dwell in, and be able to get possession of it.