Judges 18:1-6 - Israel had no king

18:1,2

The story of Micah now morphs into a wider tale involving the tribe of Dan. This tribe had been the slowest at gaining their allotted territory. They had originally failed to take the land allocated to them (Josh 19:40-47; Judges 1:34-36). The chapter begins with yet another reminder that “in those days Israel had no king”.  The Danites were “seeking a place of their own”. They sent spies into the land they intended to take, somewhat reminiscent of Moses sending out spies.

18:3-6

The spies went out and ended up near Micah’s house. Somehow they knew the young Levite who Micah had hired, recognising him by his voice. They asked him what he was doing here. The Levite explains that he had been hired by Micah as a priest. So the Danite spies asked him to “inquire of God whether our journey will be successful”. The Levite replies “Go in peace. Your journey has the Lord’s favour” (NIV). This puts a rather favourable gloss on his words, the ESV has “The journey on which you go is under the eye of God”. This puts a more ambiguous slant on things.