Bible Strands
Judges 18:11
So six hundred Danites departed from Zorah and Eshtaol, armed with weapons of war.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the Danite tribe’s military mobilization as they leave their ancestral towns of Zorah and Eshtaol to execute the invasion promised in Judges 18:10.
The words — The verb וַיִּסְעוּ (va.yisse'u) literally means "and they set out," marking the transition from preparation to movement. The numerical phrase שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת (shesh me'ot) specifies "six hundred," quantifying the armed contingent.
The thread — This departure establishes the force that later stands at the gate of Laish in Judges 18:16, and their subsequent campsite at Kiriath-jearim becomes known as Mahaneh-dan in Judges 18:12.
Why it lands — The text records a calculated military exodus without endorsing the action, requiring the reader to observe how a tribe acts on a claimed divine promise through armed conquest rather than covenant obedience.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war.
Cross-references
- Judges 18:16 The six hundred Danites stood at the entrance of the gate, armed with their weapons of war.