Verse 11:[1] And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed (Heb. girded[2]) with weapons of war.
Of the family; by which it again appears, that the tribe, verse 1, is put for family.
Verse 12:[3] And they went up, and pitched in (Josh. 15:60) Kirjath-jearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place (Judg. 13:25[4]) Mahaneh-dan unto this day: behold, it is behind Kirjath-jearim.
[They camped in Kirjath-jearim[5]] Here, clearly in is put in the place of before, or near. For they were not camping in the city itself, but by it, as follows. Thus, in Joshua 10:10, in Gibeon,[6] that is, near Gibeon (Drusius, Bochart’s Sacred Catalogue of Animals 1:2:50:590).
Kirjath-jearim, called Kirjath-baal, Joshua 15:60; a city lying in the northern parts of Judah, in the road to Laish; yet not in the city, but in the fields belonging to it, as the following words evince.
[Behind the back of Kirjath-jearim, אַחֲרֵ֖י קִרְיַ֥ת יְעָרִֽים׃] After, or, on the back of, Kirjath-jearim (thus all interpreters). [But Junius and Tremellius, to the west of it:] as in Joshua 8:2.[7] For, אֲחוֹר/behind is west, as קֶדֶם/before is east. Seeing that the one that faces the East has the West behind him: whence it is called the hinder sea, that is, the western, Deuteronomy 11:24[8] (Drusius).
Behind Kirjath-jearim, that is, westward from it, as the western sea is called the hindermost sea, Deuteronomy 11:24; and as, on the contrary, the east is called קֶדֶם/Kedem, which signifies the forepart.
Verse 13:[9] And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came unto (Judg. 18:2) the house of Micah.
Unto the house of Micah: that is, To the town in which his house was, for they were not yet entered into it.
[1] Hebrew: וַיִּסְע֤וּ מִשָּׁם֙ מִמִּשְׁפַּ֣חַת הַדָּנִ֔י מִצָּרְעָ֖ה וּמֵאֶשְׁתָּאֹ֑ל שֵֽׁשׁ־מֵא֣וֹת אִ֔ישׁ חָג֖וּר כְּלֵ֥י מִלְחָמָֽה׃
[2] Hebrew: חָגוּר.
[3] Hebrew: וַֽיַּעֲל֗וּ וַֽיַּחֲנ֛וּ בְּקִרְיַ֥ת יְעָרִ֖ים בִּֽיהוּדָ֑ה עַל־כֵּ֡ן קָרְאוּ֩ לַמָּק֙וֹם הַה֜וּא מַחֲנֵה־דָ֗ן עַ֚ד הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֔ה הִנֵּ֕ה אַחֲרֵ֖י קִרְיַ֥ת יְעָרִֽים׃
[4] Judges 13:25: “And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan (בְּמַחֲנֵה־דָן, in Mahaneh-dan) between Zorah and Eshtaol.”
[5] Hebrew: וַֽיַּחֲנ֛וּ בְּקִרְיַ֥ת יְעָרִ֖ים.
[6] Joshua 10:10: “And the Lord discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon (בְּגִבְעוֹן), and chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah.”
[7] Joshua 8:2: “And thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto Jericho and her king: only the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye take for a prey unto yourselves: lay thee an ambush for the city behind it (מֵאַחֲרֶיהָ).”
[8] Deuteronomy 11:24: “Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea (הַיָּ֣ם הָֽאַחֲר֔וֹן) shall your coast be.”
[9] Hebrew: וַיַּעַבְר֥וּ מִשָּׁ֖ם הַר־אֶפְרָ֑יִם וַיָּבֹ֖אוּ עַד־בֵּ֥ית מִיכָֽה׃
In the Danites, we behold our own faces. They were so slow to obey in righteousness (to complete the conquest in their territory), and so swift to do evil.
Matthew Henry: 'The Danites' expedition against Laish. This particular family of them, to whose lot that city fell, now at length make towards it, Judges 18:11-13. The military men were but 600 in all, not a hundredth part of that tribe, for when they entered Canaan the Danites were above 64,000, Numbers 26:43. It was strange that none of their brethren of their own tribe, much less of any other, came in to their assistance; but it was long after Israel came to Canaan before there appeared among them any thing of a public spirit, or concern for a common interest, which was the reason why they seldom united in a common head, and this kept them low and inconsiderable…
Hebrew Highlights: It is a good time to deepen our familiarity with the terms of relative geography, so important in the reading and understanding of the Historical Books.