Chapter 18 of Shoftim is a direct continuation of the chapter before it, and its subject is the story of the tribe of Dan's migration to the north of the land, the conquest of the city of Layish, and the theft of the idol, the ephod, and the terafim from Michah's house. The chapter opens and closes on the very same point: when there is no king in Israel, there is no one to stop the lawlessness, and from this all the deeds recounted below unfold.
בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם אֵין מֶלֶךְ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל וּבַיָּמִים הָהֵם שֵׁבֶט הַדָּנִי מְבַקֶּשׁ־לוֹ נַחֲלָה לָשֶׁבֶת כִּי לֹא־נָפְלָה לּוֹ עַד־הַיּוֹם הַהוּא בְּתוֹךְ־שִׁבְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּנַחֲלָה׃ - In those days there was no king in Israel, and in those days the tribe of Dan was seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell in, for until that day no inheritance had fallen to it among the tribes of Israel.
The prophet comes here to describe for us the root: everything that will be told further on stems from one thing - that there was no king in Israel, and therefore the tribe of Dan was searching for an inheritance on its own. And why did the tribe of Dan need to search for an inheritance? On this the verse says: "for until that day no inheritance had fallen to it." We must remember that not all the tribes received their inheritance in the days of Yehoshua. Yehoshua did not complete the conquest and did not complete the division, and there were parts of the land that were not conquered. You see that David conquered Yevus, which is Yerushalayim - a sign that Yevus was not conquered in the days of Yehoshua. And Chazal write that Yehoshua understood that as long as he had not finished the conquest he would live, and therefore he did not hurry, unlike Moshe Rabbeinu, as we discussed when we learned Sefer Yehoshua. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Is that how you think? On the contrary, your days will be shortened. And he passed away at the age of one hundred and ten, ten years before his time, instead of at one hundred and twenty like his teacher.
But Dan's inheritance suffered not only from the deficiency of not being conquered. The Malbim says: Dan's inheritance had two deficiencies. First, it was outside the border of Israel, as it is written in Yehoshua, "and the border of the children of Dan went out from them." And since it was outside the boundary, they could not dispossess the Canaanite, for the Canaanite went back and conquered the inheritance from them and dwelt in it. And this is the meaning of the verse "for until that day no inheritance had fallen to it among the tribes of Israel" - its inheritance was outside the tribes of Israel, and consequently it was difficult for it to conquer a place that was outside the area where all the other tribes dwelt.
וַיִּשְׁלְחוּ בְנֵי־דָן מִמִּשְׁפַּחְתָּם חֲמִשָּׁה אֲנָשִׁים מִקְצוֹתָם אֲנָשִׁים בְּנֵי־חַיִל מִצׇּרְעָה וּמֵאֶשְׁתָּאֹל לְרַגֵּל אֶת־הָאָרֶץ וּלְחׇקְרָהּ וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֲלֵהֶם לְכוּ חִקְרוּ אֶת־הָאָרֶץ וַיָּבֹאוּ הַר־אֶפְרַיִם עַד־בֵּית מִיכָה וַיָּלִינוּ שָׁם׃ - And the children of Dan sent from their family five men from their ends, men of valor, from Tzorah and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to explore it, and they said to them: Go, explore the land. And they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Michah, and they lodged there.
There were five families in the tribe of Dan, and they sent one man from each family. "From their ends" - the meaning is from the officers among them, from the choicest among them. So too Moshe Rabbeinu sent the princes of the congregation to spy out the land, and the reason for this: each tribe said, I want a good place chosen for me, and for that you need someone who understands these matters. You send the prince, a great man, so that he will choose a good place for us. And so too here - they send expert men, from among the officers and the choicest. Whenever you are seeking an inheritance, you send the select ones.
They set out from Tzorah and from Eshtaol, which are in the inheritance of Yehudah, since there the children of Dan dwell, as it were, on rent, as strangers, and it is not their inheritance. They say: We want an inheritance for ourselves, let us go and search for a place to dwell. And along the way they reach the house of Michah and lodge there.
And why on earth do they lodge at Michah's house? We have already explained that Michah had a very lofty merit on account of which he was not cast off from Heaven, and he remained alive even though he committed a very grave sin - he made a house of idolatry, and they would offer incense there to idolatry, and the smoke of Michah's house would mingle with the smoke of the fire of the altar and the smoke of the ketoret. And it is written there that the ministering angels wanted to push him away, and the Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: Leave him be, for his bread is available to wayfarers. He had a soup kitchen and hospitality. From here Chazal say: See how great a bite of food is, that it has the power to protect the wicked. Even though he was a great wicked man, since he had a soup kitchen, a place where people come and lodge and eat and drink - this had the power to protect him. And therefore "they lodged there."
הֵמָּה עִם־בֵּית מִיכָה וְהֵמָּה הִכִּירוּ אֶת־קוֹל הַנַּעַר הַלֵּוִי וַיָּסוּרוּ שָׁם וַיֹּאמְרוּ לוֹ מִי־הֱבִיאֲךָ הֲלֹם וּמָה־אַתָּה עֹשֶׂה בָּזֶה וּמַה־לְּךָ פֹה׃ - As they were near the house of Michah, they recognized the voice of the young Levi, and they turned aside there and said to him: Who brought you here? And what are you doing in this place? And what do you have here?
First of all, they recognized the voice of the young Levi. They heard him chanting to the idol, singing and composing melodies for the idol, and the voice sounded familiar to them from the synagogue. They asked: Who is this? They were told: This is the young Levi. And then, "they turned aside there."
What is the meaning of this threefold question? Rashi explains by way of derash: "Who brought you here (halom)" - they said to him, are you not from the seed of Moshe Rabbeinu, of whom it was said, "Do not draw near here (halom)"? For you are from the same "halom." "And what are you doing in this place (zeh)" - are you not from the seed of Moshe, of whom it was said, "What is that (zeh) in your hand"? "And what do you have here (poh)" - are you not from the seed of Moshe, of whom it was said, "Who placed a mouth (peh) for man"? All the expressions said regarding Moshe are cast in his face.
The Malbim explains the three questions according to the plain meaning of the words: "Who brought you here" - who brought you from your home to this place, why on earth did you leave your home to come here? "And what are you doing in this place" - and after you arrived, what is this business, what is your role, why do you remain here? "And what do you have here" - why is it worthwhile for you, what reward do you receive, why is it worth your while to be here?
וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם כָּזֹה וְכָזֶה עָשָׂה לִי מִיכָה וַיִּשְׂכְּרֵנִי וָאֱהִי־לוֹ לְכֹהֵן׃ - And he said to them: Thus and so did Michah do for me, and he hired me, and I became a priest for him.
And corresponding to the three questions came three answers, in the same order. To "Who brought you here" he answered: "Thus and so did Michah do for me" - he recounted the entire course of events, how he arrived at the house of Michah, and how Michah persuaded him and enticed him to become a priest for him for the idol. The Malbim says: "thus and so" is a description of many matters that one does not wish to detail, that is, the prophet did not see a need to write out all the particulars. To "What do you have here," meaning what reward do you receive, he answered: "and he hired me" - what are you talking about, he gives me a most respectable salary, double rate. And corresponding to "What are you doing in this place," what is your role, he answered: "and I became a priest for him" - I am here his priest, managing the idol worship.
וַיֹּאמְרוּ לוֹ שְׁאַל־נָא בֵאלֹהִים וְנֵדְעָה הֲתַצְלִחַ דַּרְכֵּנוּ אֲשֶׁר אֲנַחְנוּ הֹלְכִים עָלֶיהָ׃ - And they said to him: Inquire, please, of God, that we may know whether our way on which we are going will succeed.
וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶם הַכֹּהֵן לְכוּ לְשָׁלוֹם נֹכַח יְהֹוָה דַּרְכְּכֶם אֲשֶׁר תֵּלְכוּ־בָהּ׃ - And the priest said to them: Go in peace; before Hashem is your way on which you go.
Rashi says: every "Elohim" written in connection with Michah is secular. That is, "Inquire, please, of God" means inquire, please, of the idol. And the priest answers them, "before Hashem is your way" - Hashem will watch over you that all will be well. Again you see here a mixture: Elohim, the idol, and alongside it the name Y-H-V-H. He is essentially telling them: you will succeed on your way, and over this way Hashem will watch over you. For through the way of idol worship, as it were, they understood that Hashem establishes a connection with them.
וַיֵּלְכוּ חֲמֵשֶׁת הָאֲנָשִׁים וַיָּבֹאוּ לָיְשָׁה וַיִּרְאוּ אֶת־הָעָם אֲשֶׁר־בְּקִרְבָּהּ יוֹשֶׁבֶת־לָבֶטַח כְּמִשְׁפַּט צִדֹנִים שֹׁקֵט וּבֹטֵחַ וְאֵין־מַכְלִים דָּבָר בָּאָרֶץ יוֹרֵשׁ עֶצֶר וּרְחוֹקִים הֵמָּה מִצִּידֹנִים וְדָבָר אֵין־לָהֶם עִם־אָדָם׃ - And the five men went and came to Layish, and they saw the people that were within it dwelling in security, after the manner of the Tzidonim, quiet and secure, and there was no one in the land putting them to shame in any matter, holding power, and they were far from the Tzidonim, and had no dealings with any man.
At first glance this pasuk seems very jumbled: "dwelling securely after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure, and there was no one in the land possessing authority who could put them to shame" - what is inserted here in the middle? "and they were far from the Sidonians" - it said "after the manner of the Sidonians," so what does "they were far from the Sidonians" mean? "and they had no dealings with anyone" - what is its point?
The Malbim explains: everything they now see are the reasons why there is nothing to fear from this nation. In simple terms: they look at a nation and say, we have here everything we need to take them easily, just by walking in. We will come, conquer, drive them out and settle here. And now the pasuk begins to explain why they had no worry about entering into war with them: because these people are not men of war and they have no helpers or supporters.
A nation raises an army for four reasons, and were it not for these, a country would have no need to invest billions in an army. The first reason: if the way of that nation is to conquer lands and sustain itself from plunder. So it was in their times, like the pirates at sea who lived off robbing ships, and so there were nations that conquered and sustained themselves this way. And even among Israel we saw this: they came and said, your people Israel need sustenance, and David told them in Masechet Berachot "stretch out your hands with a raiding band," meaning go make a raid on the nation beside you and bring food. If a nation sustains itself from conquering lands, it must have an army. And here the pasuk tells you "after the manner of the Sidonians" - the Sidonians were owners of livestock and men of commerce, merchants, and they did not sustain themselves from plundered spoils. That is one reason they had no need of an army.
The second reason: a nation needs an army because it fears an enemy from without who will come and plunder it. About this the pasuk tells you "quiet and secure" - there is no nation coming to harass them, they are quiet and secure. That is another reason they had no need of an army.
The third reason: sometimes there is war within the country itself, and the king needs an army to establish his rule - if rebels rise up, if there are forces acting within the country, he needs to root them out. About this it says "and there was no one in the land who could put them to shame" - they all live in peace, not even one shames his fellow.
The fourth reason: if there is a king whose sons inherit his rule, he needs a force and an army to hold onto the kingship, so that the heir will be the one to continue reigning, and in such a situation a quarrel could break out. About this the pasuk says "possessing authority." And the Malbim is precise about the wording of the pasuk: "and there was no one in the land possessing authority" - the "no one" carries over with it, meaning: and they had no heir possessing authority. This is a rule in the grammar of the Holy Tongue, that a word carries another along with it. Just as we say in Aleinu LeShabeach: "who has not made our portion like theirs, nor our lot like all their multitude" - this was the wording accepted for generations among the Sephardim, and the "who has not" refers also to "our lot like all their multitude." The version "and not our lot like all their multitude" is a corruption, a new addition that was inserted into the siddurim. And so too here: the "no one" refers also to one possessing authority - they had no need of an army to establish an heir's rule.
And if you should say, perhaps they have nearby nations who could help them? About this it says "and they were far from the Sidonians." And perhaps they have a connection with other nations, who though far off would come to help? About this it says "and they had no dealings with anyone" - they had no covenant with any other nation. There is no better gold mine than this: a people you can come and conquer, and that is that.
וַיָּבֹאוּ אֶל־אֲחֵיהֶם צׇרְעָה וְאֶשְׁתָּאֹל וַיֹּאמְרוּ לָהֶם אֲחֵיהֶם מָה אַתֶּם׃ - And they came to their brothers at Tzorah and Eshtaol, and their brothers said to them, "What have you to say?"
"What have you to say" - what do you report back?
וַיֹּאמְרוּ קוּמָה וְנַעֲלֶה עֲלֵיהֶם כִּי רָאִינוּ אֶת־הָאָרֶץ וְהִנֵּה טוֹבָה מְאֹד וְאַתֶּם מַחְשִׁים אַל־תֵּעָצְלוּ לָלֶכֶת לָבֹא לָרֶשֶׁת אֶת־הָאָרֶץ׃ - And they said, "Arise, and let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And you are keeping silent? Do not be slow to go, to come and take possession of the land."
Meaning: there is no need to send more spies, one can go at once, the land is very good. And if you should say, perhaps there will be war? They tell them "do not be slow to go, to come and take possession of the land" - there is no need to fight, you come and take possession, you come and take.
כְּבֹאֲכֶם תָּבֹאוּ אֶל־עַם בֹּטֵחַ וְהָאָרֶץ רַחֲבַת יָדַיִם כִּי־נְתָנָהּ אֱלֹהִים בְּיֶדְכֶם מָקוֹם אֲשֶׁר אֵין־שָׁם מַחְסוֹר כׇּל־דָּבָר אֲשֶׁר בָּאָרֶץ׃ - When you arrive, you will come to a people at ease, and the land is spacious, for God has given it into your hand, a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth.
"A people at ease" - a people that does not expect war, and is therefore calm and unconcerned, unorganized, without weapons and without defense. And should you say: everything is wonderful, no one will fight us, but perhaps the land itself is inferior, easy to conquer but I do not want such a land? To this they answer: know that here too there is the advantage of the land's quality. First, "spacious," and second, "there is no lack of anything that is on the earth" - everything a person needs: water, fertile soil, everything. There is no lack of anything. And if so, there is nothing to do but start moving.
וַיִּסְעוּ מִשָּׁם מִמִּשְׁפַּחַת הַדָּנִי מִצׇּרְעָה וּמֵאֶשְׁתָּאֹל שֵׁשׁ־מֵאוֹת אִישׁ חָגוּר כְּלֵי מִלְחָמָה׃ - And there set out from there, from the family of the Danites, from Tzorah and from Eshtaol, six hundred men girded with weapons of war.
Right away they closed up their houses, left the place, and that was it - we are going to conquer the place.
וַיַּעֲלוּ וַיַּחֲנוּ בְּקִרְיַת יְעָרִים בִּיהוּדָה עַל־כֵּן קָרְאוּ לַמָּקוֹם הַהוּא מַחֲנֵה־דָן עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה הִנֵּה אַחֲרֵי קִרְיַת יְעָרִים׃ - And they went up and encamped at Kiryat Yearim in Yehudah; therefore they called that place Machaneh Dan to this day; behold, it is behind Kiryat Yearim.
וַיַּעֲבְרוּ מִשָּׁם הַר־אֶפְרָיִם וַיָּבֹאוּ עַד־בֵּית מִיכָה׃ - And they passed on from there to the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Michah.
וַיַּעֲנוּ חֲמֵשֶׁת הָאֲנָשִׁים הַהֹלְכִים לְרַגֵּל אֶת־הָאָרֶץ לַיִשׁ וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֶל־אֲחֵיהֶם הַיְדַעְתֶּם כִּי יֵשׁ בַּבָּתִּים הָאֵלֶּה אֵפוֹד וּתְרָפִים וּפֶסֶל וּמַסֵּכָה וְעַתָּה דְּעוּ מַה־תַּעֲשׂוּ׃ - And the five men who had gone to spy out the land of Layish spoke up and said to their brethren: Do you know that there is in these houses an ephod and terafim and a graven image and a molten image? Now consider what you should do.
That is: you know that there are there an ephod and terafim and a graven image and a molten image, and it is possible to consult them and ask them about the continuation of our journey. Let us consult with the graven image and the terafim and see what we should do and how to proceed further.
וַיָּסוּרוּ שָׁמָּה וַיָּבֹאוּ אֶל־בֵּית־הַנַּעַר הַלֵּוִי בֵּית מִיכָה וַיִּשְׁאֲלוּ־לוֹ לְשָׁלוֹם׃ - And they turned aside there and came to the house of the young Levite, the house of Michah, and inquired after his welfare.
וְשֵׁשׁ־מֵאוֹת אִישׁ חֲגוּרִים כְּלֵי מִלְחַמְתָּם נִצָּבִים פֶּתַח הַשָּׁעַר אֲשֶׁר מִבְּנֵי־דָן׃ - And the six hundred men girded with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood at the entrance of the gate.
Now all six hundred men come to the house of Michah. For the moment the aim is to consult with the idol and the Levite, to see what is best to do. And they were already standing in wait, and you will soon understand what the plan was.
וַיַּעֲלוּ חֲמֵשֶׁת הָאֲנָשִׁים הַהֹלְכִים לְרַגֵּל אֶת־הָאָרֶץ בָּאוּ שָׁמָּה לָקְחוּ אֶת־הַפֶּסֶל וְאֶת־הָאֵפוֹד וְאֶת־הַתְּרָפִים וְאֶת־הַמַּסֵּכָה וְהַכֹּהֵן נִצָּב פֶּתַח הַשַּׁעַר וְשֵׁשׁ־מֵאוֹת הָאִישׁ הֶחָגוּר כְּלֵי הַמִּלְחָמָה׃ - And the five men who went to spy out the land went up, came there, and took the graven image, the ephod, the terafim, and the molten image, while the priest stood at the entrance of the gate together with the six hundred men girded with weapons of war.
These men arrive at the house of idolatry, which was adjacent to the Levite's house, and the Levite is the priest, who had become a priest for idol worship. He was at the entrance of the gate, and meanwhile they entered from the back and took the graven image and the molten image.
Let me tell you a parable. Once there was a man from whom the tax authority demanded fifty thousand shekels. He had a printing press that prints money, so he printed and brought them fifty thousand shekels. They saw what an obedient fellow, and afterward they told him: an assessment of one hundred thousand shekels. He printed and brought them one hundred thousand shekels. At the third stage they told him three hundred thousand shekels. He got fed up with the whole business, took the machine, and told them: what am I, your employee? Print it yourselves. And this is exactly the principle here. The men of Dan said to themselves: what, do we have to come to the priest, the Levite, every time to ask and consult? Let us take him along with the graven image and the molten image, take everything, and this way he will be attached to us, and whatever we need will be with us.
וְאֵלֶּה בָּאוּ בֵּית מִיכָה וַיִּקְחוּ אֶת־פֶּסֶל הָאֵפוֹד וְאֶת־הַתְּרָפִים וְאֶת־הַמַּסֵּכָה וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵיהֶם הַכֹּהֵן מָה אַתֶּם עֹשִׂים׃ - And these came to the house of Michah and took the graven image of the ephod, the terafim, and the molten image, and the priest said to them: What are you doing?
The priest senses that something is happening inside - after all, he had been with them at the entrance of the gate - and he returns inside to the house and asks: What are you doing? Why are you taking the graven image and the molten image?
וַיֹּאמְרוּ לוֹ הַחֲרֵשׁ שִׂים־יָדְךָ עַל־פִּיךָ וְלֵךְ עִמָּנוּ וֶהְיֵה־לָנוּ לְאָב וּלְכֹהֵן הֲטוֹב הֱיוֹתְךָ כֹהֵן לְבֵית אִישׁ אֶחָד אוֹ הֱיוֹתְךָ כֹהֵן לְשֵׁבֶט וּלְמִשְׁפָּחָה בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - And they said to him: Be silent, put your hand over your mouth, and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or to be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?
They said to him: it is better for you to keep quiet, for your own good be silent. And what is good for you: to be a priest for the house of one man, only for the house of Michah, or to be a priest for a tribe and a family in Israel? Do you know how we are upgrading your standing? Until now you were a junior priest, and now you become the priest of an entire tribe.
וַיִּיטַב לֵב הַכֹּהֵן וַיִּקַּח אֶת־הָאֵפוֹד וְאֶת־הַתְּרָפִים וְאֶת־הַפָּסֶל וַיָּבֹא בְּקֶרֶב הָעָם׃ - And the heart of the priest was glad, and he took the ephod, the terafim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people.
This priest, as we will see further on, was no small opportunist. He was always looking out for what was good for him in the deal, and he cared about no one: a politician, what pays off for me, what is worthwhile for me. "And the heart of the priest was glad" - delighted. Does he have any sentiment for Michah? What does he care about Michah? He immediately takes the whole business, packs up the equipment, and joins the tribe of Dan.
וַיִּפְנוּ וַיֵּלֵכוּ וַיָּשִׂימוּ אֶת־הַטַּף וְאֶת־הַמִּקְנֶה וְאֶת־הַכְּבוּדָּה לִפְנֵיהֶם׃ - And they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the valuables before them.
"Kevudah" refers to the silver and gold and possessions. From this pasuk we learn how confident they were that they would conquer the city, for they take with them the little ones and the valuables and everything they had, and place it all before them, because they are not afraid that anyone will come and attack them. Some explain that they specifically placed them in front because they feared that Michah would organize a group of people and pursue them, and if he pursued, he would come from behind them. Therefore they placed all the little ones and the valuables in front, so that when he came to attack we would turn to face him and defend ourselves. And why is it called "kevudah"? The Metzudat Tzion says: because the valuables are heavy (machbidah) upon a person, and on account of this his walking is heavy, he moves slowly, and therefore it is called kevudah.
הֵמָּה הִרְחִיקוּ מִבֵּית מִיכָה וְהָאֲנָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר בַּבָּתִּים אֲשֶׁר עִם־בֵּית מִיכָה נִזְעֲקוּ וַיַּדְבִּיקוּ אֶת־בְּנֵי־דָן׃ - When they had gone some distance from the house of Michah, the men who were in the houses near Michah's house were called together and overtook the sons of Dan.
Everyone begins to gather in order to pursue the sons of Dan. And as we said, Michah was not alone, for he would host guests, and so there was a group of people with him, especially since there was a house of idolatry there, and there were many people around.
וַיִּקְרְאוּ אֶל־בְּנֵי־דָן וַיַּסֵּבּוּ פְּנֵיהֶם וַיֹּאמְרוּ לְמִיכָה מַה־לְּךָ כִּי נִזְעָקְתָּ׃ - They called out to the sons of Dan, who turned their faces and said to Michah: What is the matter with you, that you have called out a company?
The sons of Dan give themselves the audacity to ask Michah: What is the matter with you, that you have called out a company? Why are you making a commotion?
וַיֹּאמֶר אֶת־אֱלֹהַי אֲשֶׁר־עָשִׂיתִי לְקַחְתֶּם וְאֶת־הַכֹּהֵן וַתֵּלְכוּ וּמַה־לִּי עוֹד וּמַה־זֶּה תֹּאמְרוּ אֵלַי מַה־לָּךְ׃ - He said: You have taken my god that I made, and the priest, and gone off, and what more do I have? So how can you say to me, What is the matter with you?
Michah answers: What kind of question is this? "You have taken my god that I made" - this god is mine, I made it. And if you had taken only the idol, it would not have been a problem, we would have made another idol, in the same workshop where we produced the first one we would turn out another. But you took the priest too. So how can you ask me "what is the matter with you"? It is over for me, I can close up shop and go home.
וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו בְּנֵי־דָן אַל־תַּשְׁמַע קוֹלְךָ עִמָּנוּ פֶּן־יִפְגְּעוּ בָכֶם אֲנָשִׁים מָרֵי נֶפֶשׁ וְאָסַפְתָּה נַפְשְׁךָ וְנֶפֶשׁ בֵּיתֶךָ׃ - The sons of Dan said to him: Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest men of bitter spirit fall upon you, and you lose your life and the lives of your household.
The sons of Dan behave here exactly like the mafia. They tell him: it is better for you to keep quiet if you value your life. Why? We have some hot-tempered men among us, and if you provoke them they are liable to burst out, and we are no longer responsible. "Men of bitter spirit" - angry men, in the language of the Metzudat David.
וַיֵּלְכוּ בְנֵי־דָן לְדַרְכָּם וַיַּרְא מִיכָה כִּי־חֲזָקִים הֵמָּה מִמֶּנּוּ וַיִּפֶן וַיָּשׇׁב אֶל־בֵּיתוֹ׃ - The sons of Dan went on their way, and when Michah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.
Michah was not foolish. He understood that there was no point, and that it was better to stay alive and give up his god, and go look for some other business.
וְהֵמָּה לָקְחוּ אֵת אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂה מִיכָה וְאֶת־הַכֹּהֵן אֲשֶׁר הָיָה־לוֹ וַיָּבֹאוּ עַל־לַיִשׁ עַל־עַם שֹׁקֵט וּבֹטֵחַ וַיַּכּוּ אוֹתָם לְפִי־חָרֶב וְאֶת־הָעִיר שָׂרְפוּ בָאֵשׁ׃ - And they took what Michah had made, and the priest who had belonged to him, and they came upon Layish, upon a people quiet and secure, and struck them by the edge of the sword, and burned the city with fire.
Exactly as they had been told: a people quiet and secure, and they struck them by the edge of the sword. But there is a great question here, and the Radak, one of the great Rishonim, asks it: you want the city, you want to settle it, so why do you burn it with fire? And the Radak notes: pay attention that Yehoshua burned only Chatzor, because Chatzor was the head of the kingdom. In other words, one does not burn a city unless there is a truly justified reason. And if not, I want the city and want to settle it. In ancient times they always preferred to settle cities that had been inhabited before, because they have infrastructure: wells, roads, and the like. This is far easier than taking a desolate place and starting to turn it into a city.
The Radak offers two resolutions. The first: one of the ways to conquer a city in their time was to terrify the inhabitants by burning the city with fire. When a person sees fire and fire and fire from all sorts of places, he starts to flee like mice fleeing a sinking ship, and they say: soon the whole city will burn down over us. And in their day, when everyone had a granary, this was very simple. They would shoot arrows with fire into the granary, and within a few minutes the whole city was a blazing fire. This was their way of conquering the city.
The second resolution: this city had much idolatry, and the city was full of idols, and therefore they burned it. But this is very difficult: you are against idolatry? After all, you yourselves took the priest along with the idol, and suddenly you are against idolatry? Rather, this is what we explained earlier: their idolatry they did not view as idolatry with power of its own, but as a force to draw down the spiritual influence of the Creator of the world. This is what is called a medium, an intermediary between us and the Creator of the world, that is how they understood it. But in Layish they worshiped idolatry in its plain sense, complete idolatry, and therefore they burned the city in order to eliminate all the idolatry that was there.
The Sages say: See what this is. "And they took what Michah had made," and at that very moment "they struck them by the edge of the sword" - they worship idols and yet they succeed. Is there any greater righteousness than this? You bring idolatry along with you and you succeed and conquer the city. So too Michah, when did he take the idol along with him? When they crossed the sea, and the sea split for them. The Sages say: this is what is stated, "To You, Hashem, belongs righteousness, and to us shame of face" - that despite all the wickedness we did before You, You still had mercy on us, and still granted us success.
וְאֵין מַצִּיל כִּי רְחוֹקָה־הִיא מִצִּידוֹן וְדָבָר אֵין־לָהֶם עִם־אָדָם וְהִיא בָּעֵמֶק אֲשֶׁר לְבֵית־רְחוֹב וַיִּבְנוּ אֶת־הָעִיר וַיֵּשְׁבוּ בָהּ׃ - And there was no rescuer, because it was far from Tzidon, and they had no dealings with anyone, and it was in the valley that belongs to Beit-Rechov; and they built the city and dwelt in it.
There was no one to rescue them, since they had no connection with any nation. Moreover, they dwelt in a valley, and a place that is in a valley is easy to conquer, for you come upon it from above.
וַיִּקְרְאוּ שֵׁם־הָעִיר דָּן בְּשֵׁם דָּן אֲבִיהֶם אֲשֶׁר יוּלַּד לְיִשְׂרָאֵל וְאוּלָם לַיִשׁ שֵׁם־הָעִיר לָרִאשֹׁנָה׃ - And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Yisrael; but Layish was the name of the city at first.
And why does it need to emphasize "who was born to Yisrael"? So that we should not think that they had a father or grandfather named Dan, and that the city was named after him. The verse tells you: no, rather it was after Dan the son of Yaakov, and therefore "who was born to Yisrael."
וַיָּקִימוּ לָהֶם בְּנֵי־דָן אֶת־הַפָּסֶל וִיהוֹנָתָן בֶּן־גֵּרְשֹׁם בֶּן־מְנַשֶּׁה הוּא וּבָנָיו הָיוּ כֹהֲנִים לְשֵׁבֶט הַדָּנִי עַד־יוֹם גְּלוֹת הָאָרֶץ׃ - And the children of Dan set up for themselves the graven image, and Yehonatan the son of Gershom, the son of Menasheh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the exile of the land.
וַיָּשִׂימוּ לָהֶם אֶת־פֶּסֶל מִיכָה אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה כׇּל־יְמֵי הֱיוֹת בֵּית־הָאֱלֹהִים בְּשִׁלֹה׃ - And they set up for themselves the graven image of Michah which he had made, all the days that the house of God was in Shiloh.
This is the only place where Rashi says that the word HaElohim written here is holy. They set up for themselves the idol all the days that the house of God was in Shiloh.
And what does "until the day of the exile of the land" mean? Chazal disagreed about this. Some say it means until the exile of the Aron in the days of Eli. For this incident took place at the beginning of the days of the Judges, and not in the period after Shimshon as we mentioned, and therefore it was until the days of the exile of the Aron in Eli's time, when Eli's sons died and Eli broke his neck. And since the Aron was exiled, until then Michah's idol existed. That is why it does not say "until the exile of Israel" but "until the exile of the land," and "the land" means the Aron, for the Aron was exiled and not Israel. And it adds: after Shmuel arose to be a judge, it was over, he cleared away all the idols from the land, and it is impossible that Michah's idol still existed. And there is another explanation, that the priests served until the exile of the land in its plain sense, referring to the exile of Sancheriv at the end of Melachim II, until all of Israel was exiled from the Land of Israel. And so says the Talmud Yerushalmi.
Let us see what the Yerushalmi says in Masechet Berachot (folio 64b). The colleagues asked Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman: he was a priest for idolatry and yet lived a long life? Do the math, we are talking about hundreds of years, from after Yehoshua until the exile of the land, he lived six hundred, seven hundred years. How is this possible? He said to them: because he was stingy with his idolatry.
And how was he stingy with his idolatry? A person would come to sacrifice an ox as an olah or a kid to the idol, and would say to him: intercede on my behalf, that is, speak with the idol that it should accept this from me willingly. Yehonatan would say to him: what good does this do you? It does not see and does not hear, it does not eat and does not drink, it does not do good and does not do harm and does not speak. This is the idol's priest! The man asks him: and what shall we do? He said to him: go and bring one plate with fine flour, put ten eggs on it, prepare and arrange and set it up before me, and I will eat from everything you bring, and I will see to appeasing it on your behalf. And when the man would go, he would bring, thinking he was bringing it to the idol, and Yehonatan would sit and eat the entire distinguished meal of the idol.
One day an important man came and said to him: if it is of no use, what are you doing here? He said to him "for a living," in our words: livelihood. What can we do, one has to make a living from something.
When David the King arose, he sent and brought him. He said to him: grandson of that righteous man, Moshe Rabbeinu, are you serving idolatry? He said to him: this is the tradition I received from my grandfather's house, sell yourself to avodah zarah and do not become dependent on people. Look at this, he was pious, righteous! This is the halachah: what will you do, go and stretch out your hand for charity? Sell yourself to avodah zarah and do not stretch out your hand for charity. David said to him: God forbid, that is not what he said, rather sell yourself to work that is foreign (zarah) to you and do not become dependent on people. Not to idolatry, but simply, skin a carcass in the marketplace, and do not say I am a king, I am a great man. This is the meaning.
And see how wise David was. Since he saw that this man loved money, and that this is what spoke to him, what did he do? He appointed him treasurer over his treasuries. This man loves to deal with money, so he came and appointed him in charge of the funds, the minister of the treasury. And this is what is written: "and Shevuel the son of Gershom the son of Moshe was a leader," and "leader" means one appointed. "Shevuel" means that he returned to God with all his heart and all his strength, and was made a leader over the treasuries.
They raised a difficulty to Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman: but it is written "until the day of the exile of the land," which implies that in the end he was still a priest for idolatry. He said to them: when David died, Shlomo arose and changed his cabinet, that is, he made structural changes in the government, the minister of welfare was replaced with this one and that one, and he dismissed Shevuel, and he returned to his original corruption.
And to such an extent: that same prophet who dwelt in Beit El - the old prophet who told the prophet of Hashem who came to Yeravam and whose hand withered, as we will reach later, and to whom Hashem had said not to eat there and not to return by the way he had come, and this old prophet came and said to him: Hashem told me to tell you to come and eat here, and he brought him there and fed him and gave him to drink, and as a result the true prophet died, for transgressing the word of Hashem - that false prophet was a complete rasha. And Chazal ask: Who was he? They say: He was that very one. This was Yonatan ben Gershom ben Menashe, that is, ben Moshe.
The chapter opens with "there was no king in Israel," and from this everything else follows: the tribe of Dan, whose inheritance remained outside the border and which failed to drive out the Canaanite, sets out to seek an inheritance by its own strength. Five officers are sent, lodge at the house of Michah thanks to his readily available bread for wayfarers, meet the young Levi, and discover in Layish a people quiet and secure that has no need whatsoever for an army nor even an alliance with another nation - four reasons the Malbim listed for the need of an army, all of them lacking there. Six hundred men set out, steal the idol and the ephod on the way along with the opportunistic priest who preferred the standing of an entire tribe over the household of one man, threaten Michah like a mafia, conquer Layish and burn it. And Chazal are horrified by the combination: they worship idols and yet succeed - "to You, Hashem, is righteousness, and to us the shame of face." And finally, the figure of Yonatan ben Gershom teaches how far the power of love of money reaches: a priest who does not believe in that which he serves, whom King David tried to reform by appointing him treasurer, and who, once dismissed, returned to his original corruption.