What happensPermalink
A group of men from the tribe of Dan encounter Micah, take his graven images and his Levite, and conquer a town called Laish, which they rename Dan. They establish Micah’s home-grown cultic worship throughout the entire city.
Why it mattersPermalink
The disobedience grows from a single family to an entire tribe. The Levite is from Moses’s lineage, showing how far Israel has fallen. This arrangement in Laish/Dan lasts for centuries (until the Assyrian invasion).
Key versePermalink
And the people of Dan set up the carved image for themselves, and Jonathan the son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.