ABSTRACT
“The great value of the Book of Judges,” remarks Professor G. P. Moore in his Polychrome Judges, “lies in the faithful and vivid pictures which it gives us of this troubled and turbulent time in which historical Israel was making.” He adds, “Hardly any narrative in the Old Testament throws more light on the social and religious life of the ancient Israelites than the story of Micah's idol and the migration of the Danites (cc. xvii., xviii.).” 1 Piepenbring, in his history of the people of Israel, has a chapter on “The Moral Life,” 2 in which he, with scarcely a remark, retells this story and the story that follows, “The Outrage of Gibeah.” The character of these stories and their great fulness of detail seems enough to warrant at this point a special study of them, that their sociological data may be looked at directly. Such study need not prevent our making other use of them as our consideration of various subjects may naturally suggest. There is the more occasion for such study from the fact that in the case of the first story late redactors have worked over the material and have in so doing made numerous additions; and also because in the case of the second story, similar, though more considerable, changes have been made. Only the simpler and original form of these stories specially interests us. Upon the original form of these two and one other story we shall dwell briefly. Whatever their chronological order, now, of course, impossible to determine, we will take them in their biblical order, beginning with the story of Micah's idol and the migration of the clan of Dan.
