Judges 18:19

And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel?

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
said	וַיֹּאמְרוּ֩ vai.yo.me.Ru	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
peace	הַחֲרֵ֜שׁ ha.cha.Resh	H2790	to scratch · verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
lay	שִֽׂים sim-	H7760	to put (used in a great variety of applications · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
hand	יָדְךָ֤ ya.de.Kha	H3027	a hand (the open one (indicating power · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
mouth	פִּ֙יךָ֙ pi.kha	H6310	the mouth (as the means of blowing) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
go	יָלַךְ yâlak	H3212	to walk (literally or figuratively)
us	וֶֽהְיֵה veh.yeh-	H1961	to exist · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
father	לְאָ֣ב le.'Av	H1	father · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
priest	וּלְכֹהֵ֑ן u.le.kho.Hen	H3548	literally one officiating · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
better	הֲט֣וֹב ha.Tov	H2896	good (as an adjective) in the widest sense · interrogative particle + adjective, masculine singular absolute
priest	כֹהֵ֗ן kho.Hen	H3548	literally one officiating · noun, common masculine singular absolute
house	לְבֵית֙ le.Veit	H1004	a house (in the greatest variation of applications · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
one	אֶחָ֔ד 'e.Chad	H259	properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
man	אִ֣ישׁ 'ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
priest	כֹהֵ֔ן kho.Hen	H3548	literally one officiating · noun, common masculine singular absolute
tribe	לְשֵׁ֥בֶט le.She.vet	H7626	a scion · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
family	וּלְמִשְׁפָּחָ֖ה u.le.mish.pa.Chah	H4940	a family · conjunction + preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Israel	בְּיִשְׂרָאֵֽל be.Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · preposition + proper noun, a place name

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Judges 17:10 And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a…
Job 21:5 Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth.
Job 29:9 The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.
Proverbs 30:32 If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth.
Micah 7:16 The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf.
2 Kings 6:21 And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?
2 Kings 8:8-9 And the king said unto Hazael, Take a present in thine hand, and go, meet the man of God, and enquire of the LORD by him, saying, Shall I re…
2 Kings 13:14 Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and sai…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 18:14-26

The Danites had sent out their spies to find out a country for them, and they sped well in their search; but here, now that they came to the place (for till this brought it to their mind it does not appear that they had mentioned it to their brethren), they oblige them with a further discovery - they can tell them where there are gods: "Here, in these houses, there are an ephod, and teraphim, and a great many fine things for devotion, such as we have not the like in our country; now therefore consider what you have to do, Jdg 18:14. We consulted them, and had a good answer from them; they are worth having, nay, they are worth stealing (that is, having upon the worst terms), and, if we can bu…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 18:11

there went from thence of the family of the Danites . . . six hundred men--This was the collective number of the men who were equipped with arms to carry out this expeditionary enterprise, without including the families and furniture of the emigrants (Jdg 18:21). Their journey led them through the territory of Judah, and their first halting place was "behind," that is, on the west of Kirjath-jearim, on a spot called afterwards "the camp of Dan." Prosecuting the northern route, they skirted the base of the Ephraimite hills. On approaching the neighborhood of Micah's residence, the spies having given information that a private sanctuary was kept there, the priest of which had rendered them imp…

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John Gill on Judges 18:19

And they said unto him, hold thy peace,.... Be silent, make no disturbance, be quiet and easy: lay thy hand upon thy mouth; as a token of silence; so the Egyptians used to paint Harpocrates, the god of silence, with his fingers pressing his lips: and go with us; for they wanted him as well as his gods, not knowing well how to make use of them without him: and be to us a father and a priest; to direct them, instruct them, perform acts of devotion for them, and ask counsel on their account; it seems as if it was common in those days to call a priest a father, see Judges 17:10. is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family…

Dictionary and topics

Dan — A judge. (1.) The fifth son of Jacob. His mother was Bilhah, Rachel’s maid (Gen. 30:6, “God hath judged me”, Heb. dananni). The blessing pronounced on him by his father was, “Dan shall judge his…
Father — A name applied (1) to any ancestor (Deut. 1:11; 1 Kings 15:11; Matt. 3:9; 23:30, etc.); and (2) as a title of respect to a chief, ruler, or elder, etc. (Judg. 17:10; 18:19; 1 Sam. 10:12; 2 Kings…
Micah — A shortened form of Micaiah, who is like Jehovah? (1.) A man of Mount Ephraim, whose history so far is introduced in Judg. 17, apparently for the purpose of leading to an account of the settlement of…
Teraphim — Givers of prosperity, idols in human shape, large or small, analogous to the images of ancestors which were revered by the Romans. In order to deceive the guards sent by Saul to seize David, Michal…
Dan, The Tribe Of · A part of: Plundered Michah of his idols and his ephod — A part of: Plundered Michah of his idols and his ephod
Dishonesty · .Mi — .Mi
Jonathan · idolatry; joins the Danites — idolatry; joins the Danites
Teraphim · Used by Mi — Used by Mi
Theft And Thieves · .The spies of Laish — .The spies of Laish

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Judges 18:19

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 18:14-26

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 18:11

John Gill on Judges 18:19

Dictionary and topics

Judges 18:19

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 18:14-26

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 18:11

John Gill on Judges 18:19

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 18:17-19

Rashi on Judges 18:9