Bible Strands
Judges 18:16
The six hundred Danites stood at the entrance of the gate, armed with their weapons of war.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator reports the six hundred Danites positioned at the city gate while the five spies enter Micah’s house to seize idols. This moment captures the tactical staging of the invasion immediately before the theft is executed.
The words — The participle חֲגוּרִים (chagurim) literally means "girded," indicating weapons strapped directly to the body for immediate use. The verb נִצָּבִים (nitzavim) denotes a fixed, stationary standing position rather than active movement.
The thread — This deployment directly recalls the departure of the same six hundred men from Zorah and Eshtaol in Judges 18:11, marking their journey as a continuous military operation. The gate location also parallels the priest’s position in Judges 18:17, showing coordinated control over the entry point.
Why it lands — The text records how a religiously compromised community executes a coordinated raid without divine direction. It requires the reader to note that spiritual abandonment enables organized violence.
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 the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate.
Cross-references
- Judges 18:11 So six hundred Danites departed from Zorah and Eshtaol, armed with weapons of war.