Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).^[7]

Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint (originally was made in the last few centuries BCE) include Codex Vaticanus (B; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^B; 4th century) and Codex Alexandrinus (A; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^A; 5th century).^{[8][lower-alpha 1]}

Double Introduction and Double Conclusion

Chapters 17 to 21 contain the "Double Conclusion" of the Book of Judges and form a type of inclusio together with their counterpart, the "Double Introduction", in chapters 1 to 3:6 as in the following structure of the whole book:^[6]

A. Foreign wars of subjugation with the ḥērem being applied (1:1–2:5)

B. Difficulties with foreign religious idols (2:6–3:6)

Main part: the "cycles" section(3:7–16:31)

B'. Difficulties with domestic religious idols (17:1–18:31)

A'. Domestic wars with the ḥērem being applied (19:1–21:25)

There are similar parallels between the double introduction and the double conclusion as the following:^[10]

The entire double conclusion is connected by the four-time repetition of a unique statement: twice in full at the beginning and the end of the double conclusion and twice in the center of the section as follows:^[11][12]

A. In those days there was no king…

Every man did what right in his own eyes (17:6)

B. In those days there was no king… (18:1)

B'. In those days there was no king… (19:1)

A'. In those days there was no king…

Every man did what right in his own eyes (21:25)

It also contains internal links:^[13]

Conclusion 1 (17:1–18:31): A Levite in Judah moving to the hill country of Ephraim and then on to Dan.

Conclusion 2 (19:1–21:25): A Levite in Ephraim looking for his concubine in Bethlehem in Judah.

Both sections end with a reference to Shiloh.^[13]

The Bethlehem Trilogy

Three sections of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) — Judges 17–18, Judges 19–21, Ruth 1–4 — form a trilogy with a link to the city Bethlehem of Judah and characterized by the repetitive unique statement:^[14]

"In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes"

(Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25; cf. Ruth 1:1)

as in the following chart:^[15]

The founding story of Dan

Chapters 17–18 record a Danite founding narrative that gives insight into Israelite early religious lives, and the ideology of war as background to the establishment of Dan as a city.^[5] Reading the entire section in the light of Deuteronomy 12:1–13:1, there are several thematic elements and concerns in common, although Judges 17:1–18:31 usually portrays them antithetically.^[16]

Verse 1

In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel.^[17]

• "Unto that day": the Danites first tried to settle on the low land (Shephelah) between the coast and the Judaean hills (Judges 1:34), but they were pushed back into the hills, so they had to dwell between Zorah and Eshtaol in the west of Judah territory as stated in this chapter and in the story of Samson.^[18] The migration to the sources of the Jordan River in the North as recorded in this chapter (cf. Joshua 19:47) apparently was completed at the time of Deborah as implied in Judges 5:17, so the present narrative happened in an early period of the Judges.^[18]

Verse 12

Then they went up and encamped in Kirjath Jearim in Judah. (Therefore they call that place Mahaneh Dan to this day. There it is, west of Kirjath Jearim.)^[19]

• "Kiriath Jearim": meaning "Town of Forests", a town about 8 miles (13 km) northwest of Jerusalem, now "Tell el-Azhar" or "Kiryat-el-enab".^[20]
• "Mahaneh Dan": literally, "Camp of Dan"^[21] This cannot be the same as "Mahaneh Dan" between Zorah and Eshtaol in Judges 13:25, because the two places are located about 7 miles (11 km) from each other, which was the distance traveled for one day.^[22]

Verse 30

The superscripted נַ‎ in Judges 18:30 on the name "Manasseh" in the Aleppo Codex

And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.^[24]

• "Jonathan": the name of the "young Levite" in chapters 17 and 18 is only revealed here as a complete surprise, as the scandal of Dan's idolatry now also brings dishonor on the revered name of the priest's ancestors.^[25]
• "Manasseh": This name is written in Masoretic Text with a "raised nun" between letters mem and shin of mšh ("Moses") to be read as mnšh ("Manasseh"), likely not to be mentioned "Moses" as written to avoid publicly dishonoring Moses' name,^[26] as also admitted by Jewish rabbis.^[27] Vulgate and some Septuagint manuscripts have the name "Moses" here, whereas other Septuagint manuscripts have "Manasses".^[28][29][30] If this is the case, the hereditary priesthood of Dan is said to belong to the line of Moses rather than the line of Aaron.^[31] Jonathan could be Moses' actual grandson, since he is contemporary with Phinehas (Judges 20:28).^[29]
• "The captivity of the land": is identified with the deportation of Dan's population to Assyria by Tiglath-pileser III in 734 BCE (2 Kings 15:29).^[26] This follows a different timeline to verse 31 that Micah's Idol remained in that place until the fall of Shiloh in the 11th century BCE (at the time of Eli and Samuel), which would eventually be replaced by a golden calf in the beginning of Jeroboam's reign (c. 930 BCE).^[26]