# Micah’s shrine and Dan’s migration Conquest & Judges · Draft · BSB Content revision: 955711d93e2ac1bf · No editorial review date recorded [Citation / readable page](https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/reference/events/micah-and-dan/) [Open interactive map](https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/?event=micah-and-dan) [Markdown](https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/reference/events/micah-and-dan/index.md) [JSON](https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/reference/events/micah-and-dan/index.json) Date: During the settlement era · Exact placement among judges uncertain Micah establishes a shrine in Ephraim and hires a Levite. Danite scouts and then an armed company take his images and priest, attack the quiet settlement of Laish, and rename it Dan. Their shrine continues while the house of God is at Shiloh. These closing chapters look back within the settlement era, not necessarily after Samson. Judges 18:30 names Jonathan, a descendant of Moses in the BSB; textual traditions differ over that name. Joshua 19:47 also recalls Dan’s northern capture. The exact date relative to the other judges is not fixed. ## Primary Scripture [Judges 17:1–18:31 (BSB)](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges%2017%3A1%E2%80%9318%3A31&version=BSB) 17:1 Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim 17:2 said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have the silver here with me; I took it.” Then his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD!” 17:3 And when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I wholly dedicate the silver to the LORD for my son’s benefit, to make a graven image and a molten idol. Therefore I will now return it to you.” 17:4 So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into a graven image and a molten idol. And they were placed in the house of Micah. 17:5 Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest. 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. 17:7 And there was a young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah who had been residing within the clan of Judah. 17:8 This man left the city of Bethlehem in Judah to settle where he could find a place. And as he traveled, he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim. 17:9 “Where are you from?” Micah asked him. “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” he replied, “and I am on my way to settle wherever I can find a place.” 17:10 “Stay with me,” Micah said to him, “and be my father and priest, and I will give you ten shekels of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your provisions.” So the Levite went in 17:11 and agreed to stay with him, and the young man became like a son to Micah. 17:12 Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house. 17:13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest.” 18:1 In those days there was no king in Israel, and the tribe of the Danites was looking for territory to occupy. For up to that time they had not come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 18:2 So the Danites sent out five men from their clans, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. “Go and explore the land,” they told them. The men entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night. 18:3 And while they were near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; so they went over and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?” 18:4 “Micah has done this and that for me,” he replied, “and he has hired me to be his priest.” 18:5 Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God to determine whether we will have a successful journey.” 18:6 And the priest told them, “Go in peace. The LORD is watching over your journey.” 18:7 So the five men departed and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living securely, like the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting. There was nothing lacking in the land and no oppressive ruler. And they were far away from the Sidonians and had no alliance with anyone. 18:8 When the men returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers asked them, “What did you find?” 18:9 They answered, “Come on, let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and it is very good. Why would you fail to act? Do not hesitate to go there and take possession of the land! 18:10 When you enter, you will come to an unsuspecting people and a spacious land, for God has delivered it into your hand. It is a place where nothing on earth is lacking.” 18:11 So six hundred Danites departed from Zorah and Eshtaol, armed with weapons of war. 18:12 They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. That is why the place west of Kiriath-jearim is called Mahaneh-dan to this day. 18:13 And from there they traveled to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah’s house. 18:14 Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish said to their brothers, “Did you know that one of these houses has an ephod, household gods, a graven image, and a molten idol? Now think about what you should do.” 18:15 So they turned aside there and went to the home of the young Levite, the house of Micah, and greeted him. 18:16 The six hundred Danites stood at the entrance of the gate, armed with their weapons of war. 18:17 And the five men who had gone to spy out the land went inside and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten idol, while the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred armed men. 18:18 When they entered Micah’s house and took the graven image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molten idol, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” 18:19 “Be quiet,” they told him. “Put your hand over your mouth and come with us and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest for the house of one person or a priest for a tribe and family in Israel?” 18:20 So the priest was glad and took the ephod, the household idols, and the graven image, and went with the people. 18:21 Putting their small children, their livestock, and their possessions in front of them, they turned and departed. 18:22 After they were some distance from Micah’s house, the men in the houses near Micah’s house mobilized and overtook the Danites. 18:23 When they called out after them, the Danites turned to face them and said to Micah, “What is the matter with you that you have called out such a company?” 18:24 He replied, “You took the gods I had made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’” 18:25 The Danites said to him, “Do not raise your voice against us, or angry men will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.” 18:26 So the Danites went on their way, and Micah turned to go back home, because he saw that they were too strong for him. 18:27 After they had taken Micah’s idols and his priest, they went to Laish, to a quiet and unsuspecting people, and they struck them with their swords and burned down the city. 18:28 There was no one to deliver them, because the city was far from Sidon and had no alliance with anyone; it was in a valley near Beth-rehob. And the Danites rebuilt the city and lived there. 18:29 They named it Dan, after their forefather Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city was formerly named Laish. 18:30 The Danites set up idols for themselves, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. 18:31 So they set up for themselves Micah’s graven image, and it was there the whole time the house of God was in Shiloh. ## Related Scripture [Deuteronomy 12:8–14 · teaching](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2012%3A8%E2%80%9314&version=BSB) Moses warns against doing whatever seems right and directs worship to the chosen place. [Joshua 19:47 · parallel](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua%2019%3A47&version=BSB) The allotment account also describes Dan capturing and renaming Leshem. ## Location evidence Tel Dan identifies the northern destination, formerly Laish. The line from Zorah is schematic and omits Micah’s unlocated house and intermediate camps; it is not the movement of all Israel. Event map marker: Identified site; \[longitude, latitude\] = \[35.652, 33.249\]. This is a teaching marker, not an exact event venue. Dan: Identified site. Coordinates \[longitude, latitude\]: \[35.652, 33.249\]. Classification source: editorial. [OpenBible · Dan](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/a513646/dan) Zorah: Identified site. Coordinates \[longitude, latitude\]: \[34.985289, 31.773992\]. Classification source: editorial. [OpenBible · Zorah](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/a08174b/zorah) Hill country of Ephraim: Approximate region. Coordinates \[longitude, latitude\]: \[35.22, 32.08\]. Classification source: editorial. Illustrative regional extent: \[\[35.05,31.9\],\[35.4,32.25\]\]; not a measured confidence interval. [Biblical setting · Judges 17:1](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges%2017:1&version=BSB) [OpenBible · possible locations / region](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/ac0d1a5/mount-ephraim) [OpenBible · Dan](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/a513646/dan) ## For the class How do Micah and the Danites confuse religious objects and success with faithfulness? ## Interpretation and reuse Narrative order is a reading arrangement, not a proven chronology. Dates retain their stated uncertainty. An identified locality does not establish the exact venue or prove an event. Region extents and routes are illustrative, not surveyed boundaries or ancient roads. Draft material has not completed editorial review. Record source: editorial (content/authored/conquest-judges.json) Place coordinates from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data, CC BY 4.0. Teaching stops, summaries and regional extents are original editorial content of this atlas. Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. https://berean.bible/licensing.htm [Use this atlas with AI / data documentation](https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/reference/ai/)