“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.”
In those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking for itself a territory to dwell in; for up to that time no territory among the tribes of Israel had fallen to them as a possession (בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם אֵין־מֶלֶךְ בְּיִשְׁרָאֵל וּבַיָּמִים הָהֵם שֵׁבֶט הַדָּנִים הָיוּ לָהֶם אֶת־נַחְלָתָם מִפַּחַד הָאֱמוֹרִים) — the narrative shifts from Micah to the tribe of Dan, whose territory remained unoccupied. Unlike the other tribal allocations described in Joshua, Dan's assigned territory was not successfully conquered and retained. The Danites' predicament is geographical and political: the Amorites (and implicitly the Philistines) have prevented them from establishing themselves in their allotted territory. Their response is to seek new territory, a form of tribal relocation that will set in motion the theft of Micah's shrine and priest.
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
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