Judges 18:5

Judges 18:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And they said to him, "Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether the journey on which we are setting out will succeed."
• New King James Version (NKJV)So they said to him, “Please inquire of God, that we may know whether the journey on which we go will be prosperous.”
• New Living Translation (NLT)Then they said, “Ask God whether or not our journey will be successful.”

Context of Judges 18:5

3When they were near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite; so they turned in there and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?” 4He told them what Micah had done for him, and said, “He has hired me and I am his priest.” Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God to learn whether our journey will be successful.” 6The priest answered them, “Go in peace. Your journey has the Lord’s approval.” 7So the five men left and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, at peace and secure. And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous. Also, they lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no relationship with anyone else.

Judges 18:5 word by word

וַיֹּ֥אמְרוּ ל֖וֹ שְׁאַל־נָ֣א בֵאלֹהִ֑ים וְנֵ֣דְעָ֔ה הֲתַצְלִ֣יחַ דַּרְכֵּ֔נוּ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲנַ֖חְנוּ הֹלְכִ֥ים עָלֶֽיהָ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And they saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• unto him, Ask counselשָׁאַלshâ'al shâ'êl · to askH7592
• we pray thee, of Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• that we may knowיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• whether our wayדֶּ֫רֶךְderek · way: journeyH1870
• which we goהָלַךְhâlak · to go: wentH1980
• shall be prosperousצָלֵחַtsâlach tsâlêach · to prosperH6743

Cross-references for Judges 18:5

• 1 Kings 22:5But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “First seek the counsel of the Lord.”
• 2 Kings 16:15King Ahaz then gave these orders to Uriah the priest: “On the large new altar, offer the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering and his grain offering, and the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. Splash against this altar the blood of all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar for seeking guidance.”
• Isaiah 30:1“Woe to the obstinate children,” declares the Lord, “to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin;
• Ezekiel 21:21For the king of Babylon will stop at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He will cast lots with arrows, he will consult his idols, he will examine the liver.
• Hosea 4:12My people consult a wooden idol, and a diviner’s rod speaks to them. A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God.
• Acts 8:10and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.”
• Judges 18:14Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laish said to their fellow Danites, “Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod, some household gods and an image overlaid with silver? Now you know what to do.”
• Judges 17:5Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household gods and installed one of his sons as his priest.

Commentaries on Judges 18:5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5Ask counsel - of God - As the Danites use the word אלהים Elohim here for God, we are necessarily led to believe that they meant the true God; especially as the Levite answers, Judges 18:6, Before the Lord (יהוה Yehovah ) is your way. Though the former word may be sometimes applied to idols, whom their votaries clothed with the attributes of God; yet the latter is never applied but to the true God alone. As the Danites succeeded according to the oracle…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5The sight of the ephod and teraphim suggested the notion of inquiring of God.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5-6The Lord had promised Dan land in the southwest, but they had not taken it (see Judges 1:34; Joshua 19:40–48). Now they sought God's blessing from a hired priest. This priest's "blessing," like Micah's mother's (Judges 17:2), sounded religious but had no basis in Israel's covenant with the Lord.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-261-6. In those days ... the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in--The Danites had a territory assigned them as well as the other tribes. But either through indolence, or a lack of energy, they did not acquire the full possession of their allotment, but suffered a considerable portion of it to be wrested out of their hands by the encroachments of their powerful neighbors, the Philistines. In consequence, being straitened for room, a considerable…Read the comment

Topics related to Judges 18:5

• Armies
• Jonathan
• Reconnoissance

In the dictionaries

• God
• Ask
• Magic
• Micah
• Quiet
• Teraphim
• Dan (1); Dan, Tribe of
• Dan (2)
• Intercession
• Israel, History of

Commentaries on Judges 18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• Darby Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary