And they said to him: ''Keep quiet; put your hand on 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 priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?'' (וַיֹּאמְרוּ לוֹ הַחֲרֵשׁ אֶת־פִּיךָ וַיְדְךָ עִמָּנוּ וְלֵךְ עִמָּנוּ וִהְיֶה־לָּנוּ לְאָב וּלְכֹהֵן הַטּוֹב הִוּא הֲיִהְיוֹת־לְךָ כֹּהֵן לְבַיִת אִישׁ אֶחָד אִם־הִוּא לִהְיוֹת כֹּהֵן לַשִּׁבְטָה וּלְמִשְׁפַּחָה בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל) — the Danites' proposition is seductive: they offer the Levite a more prestigious position as priest to an entire tribe rather than merely to one household. They use the same language Micah used: ``be to us a father and a priest'' (לְאָב וּלְכֹהֵן). Their rhetorical question is powerful: ``Is it better for you to be a priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe?'' (הַטּוֹב הִוּא הֲיִהְיוֹת־לְךָ כֹּהֵן לְבַיִת אִישׁ אֶחָד אִם־הִוּא לִהְיוֹת כֹּהֵן לַשִּׁבְטָה). The question appeals to the Levite's ambition and self-interest: with the Danites, he can serve a more prestigious and populous constituency. The Danites frame theft as recruitment, making the Levite an active participant in the removal of the shrine's sacred objects.

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