Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 18:12

And they went up, and pitched in Kirjath-jearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan unto this day: behold, [it is] behind Kirjath-jearim.

12. Kiriath-jrim ] i.e. city of woods; cf. Jos 9:17 P and 1Sa 6:21; 1Sa 7:1 f. Eusebius ( Onom. 109, 27. 271, 40) places it 9 Roman miles from Jerusalem on the road to Lydda; hence it is generally identified with irjat el-‘enab, which is just this distance. The site would fit in well with the present narrative, making the first encampment a short day’s march from the Danite seats. The identification cannot be regarded as certain; but there is more to be said for irjat el-‘enab than for ‘Erma, a ruined site to the S.W., which some prefer. ‘Erma has nothing whatever to do with jearim. The camp of Dan is said to have been behind, i.e. west of Kiriath-jearim; contrast Jdg 13:25, where it is placed between Zorah and Eshtaol. Local tradition may well have preserved the memory of this first halting-place in an expedition which involved a lasting effect upon the life of the district.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Kurjath-jearim – City of forests, otherwise called Kirjath-Baal (marginal reference.), identified by Robinson with the modern Kurit-el-Enab, on the road from Jaffa to Jerusalem and by Conder with Soba.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 12. Mahaneh-dan] “The camp of Dan;” so called from the circumstance of this armament encamping there. See Jdg 13:25, which affords some proof that this transaction was previous to the days of Samson.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Kirjath-jearim, called Kirjath-baal, Jos 15:60; a city lying in the northern parts of Judah, in the road to Laish; yet not in the city, but in the fields belonging to it, as the following words evince.

Behind Kirjath-jearim, i.e. westward from it, as the western sea is called the hindermost sea, Deu 11:24; and as, on the contrary, the east is called Keedem, which signifies the forepart.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

And they went up and pitched in Kirjathjearim in Judah,…. Of which place see Jos 15:9. According to Bunting a it was sixteen miles from Zorah and Eshtaol, and this was their first day’s march:

wherefore they called the name of that place Mahanehdan unto this day; which signifies the camp of Dan, or of the Danites; so it was called in the times of Samson, Jud 13:25 and is a proof that this expedition was before his time; and it was so called, it seems, in the time of Samuel, the writer of this book:

behold, it is behind Kirjathjearim; to the west of it; for though they are said to pitch in that place, the meaning is, that they pitched near it, in the fields adjacent to it, which were the most proper and convenient for a camp.

a Ut supra. (Travels of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 112.)

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(12) In Kirjath-jearim.Jos. 9:17. The name means city of forests. The modern name is city of grapes (Kuriet el Enab). It is nine miles from Jerusalem, on the Jaffa road. Its original names were Baalah and Kirjath-Baal (Jos. 15:9; Jos. 15:60). It was here that the ark remained for twenty years when sent back by the Philistines (1Sa. 6:20-21; 1Sa. 7:2). We found it in the fields of the wood (Psa. 132:6).

Mahaneh dani.e., the camp of Dan (Jdg. 13:25). They must have probably encamped here for some little time, as we can hardly suppose that the place would have received the name permanently from the bivouac of one night.

Behindi.e., to the west of. So the hinder sea is the western or Mediterranean Sea (Deu. 9:24; Zec. 14:8). The site of Mahaneh-dan cannot be identified with certainty, as the position of Eshtaol is unknown.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

12. Kirjath-jearim Identified by Dr. Robinson with the modern Kuriet el-Enab, which lies about ten miles northeast of Zorah and five northwest of Jerusalem. See on Jos 9:17. They pitched in Kirjath does not mean that they encamped within the city of this name, but, as the context shows, in the open country behind the city.

Called that place The place where they encamped, not the city Kirjath-jearim.

Mahaneh-dan That is, the camp of Dan. It probably lay some distance west or southwest of the city of Kirjath, and hence is said to be behind it. Compare note on Jdg 13:25.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘ And they went up and pitched in Kiriath-jearim in Judah, which is why they called the name of that place Mahaneh-dan to this day. Behold, it is behind Kiriath-jearim.’

We came across this place in the story of Samson (see Jdg 13:25) as the place where the Spirit first stirred up Samson, possibly as a result of remembering this great trek of his forefathers. Mahaneh-dan means ‘the camp of Dan’. It was near Kiriath-jearim (city of forests) on the Judah/Benjaminite border.

Interestingly Kiriath-jearim is where the Ark of the Covenant would rest when it was recovered from the Philistines, after its capture at the Battle of Aphek (1 Samuel 4). It was there for twenty years. From Kiriath-jearim the Danites went out to establish a rival Sanctuary, and there Yahweh would re-establish the Ark of the Covenant.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Though they seemed to be in earnest in their intended conquest of Laish, yet we see how slow they moved, that even a second day’s march only brought them as far as the house of Micah.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Jdg 18:12 And they went up, and pitched in Kirjathjearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahanehdan unto this day: behold, [it is] behind Kirjathjearim.

Ver. 12. Called that place Mahanehdan. ] That is, The camp of Dan. See Jdg 13:25 . Here dwelt Samson’s parents, and here were his Specimina et tyrocinia edita.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)