Judges 18:28 · Bible study
Judges 18:28 Commentary: No Deliverer for Laish
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Why did Laish have no deliverer? Explore the spiritual implications of isolation and divine silence in the era of the judges.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The Danites conquered Laish because the city was isolated and had no protector, symbolizing spiritual vulnerability in a time of apostasy.
- Key words: 'deliverer' (H5337, to rescue), 'Sidon' (distant Phoenician city), 'valley' (Huleh lowland), 'built' (rebuilt after destruction).
- Main debate: Is the absence of a deliverer purely geographical, or does it point to divine abandonment during Israel's idolatry?
- Theological theme: Human security apart from God is fragile; the silence of God during Israel's apostasy.
- Best use: Preaching on false security, the consequences of isolation, or the need for divine deliverance.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
There was no one to deliver them, because the city was far from Sidon and had no alliance with anyone; it was in a valley near Beth-rehob. And the Danites rebuilt the city and lived there.
WEB World English Bible 2000
There was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone else; and it was in the valley that lies by Beth Rehob. They built the city and lived in it.
KJV King James Version 1769
And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by Beth–rehob. And they built a city, and dwelt therein.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by Beth-rehob. And they built the city, and dwelt therein.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
and there is no deliverer, for it is far off from Zidon, and they have no word with any man, and it is in the valley which is by Beth-Rehob; and they build the city, and dwell in it,
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And there was no deliverer, for it was far from Zidon, and they had nothing to do with [any] man; and it [lay] in the valley that is by Beth-rehob. And they built the city and dwelt therein.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
There being no man at all who brought them any succour, because they dwelt far from Sidon, and had no society or business with any man. And the city was in the land of Rohob: and they rebuilt it, and dwelt therein,
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y no hubo quien los defendiese, porque estaban lejos de Sidón, y no tenían comercio con nadie. Y la ciudad estaba en el valle que hay en Beth-rehob. Luego reedificaron la ciudad, y habitaron en ella.
E não houve quem os defendesse, porque estavam longe de Sidom, e não tinham comércio com ninguém. E a cidade estava no vale que há em Bete-Reobe. Logo reedificaram a cidade, e habitaram nela.
Personne ne la délivra, car elle était éloignée de Sidon, et ses habitants n’ avaient pas de liaison avec d’autres hommes: elle était dans la vallée qui s’étend vers Beth-Rehob. Les fils de Dan rebâtirent la ville, et y habitèrent;
Und war niemand, der sie errettete; denn sie lag fern von Sidon, und sie hatten mit den Leuten nichts zu schaffen; und sie lag im Grunde, welcher an Beth- Rehob liegt. Da bauten sie die Stadt und wohnten darin
En er was niemand, die hen verloste; want zij was verre van Sidon, en zij hadden niets met enigen mens te doen; en zij lag in het dal, dat bij Beth-Rechob is. Daarna herbouwden zij de stad, en woonden daarin.
E non ci fu alcuno che la liberasse, perch’era lontana da Sidon, e i suoi abitanti non avean relazioni con altra gente. Essa era nella valle che si estende verso Beth-Rehob.
A nie był, kto by ich ratował; albowiem byli daleko od Sydonu, i nie mieli żadnej sprawy z nikim, a to miasto leżało w dolinie, która jest w Betrohob, które znowu pobudowawszy mieszkali w niem.
Некому было помочь, потому что он был отдален от Сидона и ни с кем не имел дела. [Город сей] находился в долине, что близ Беф-Рехова. И построили снова город и поселились в нем,
並無人 搭救；因為 離西頓 遠，他們 又與 別人 沒有 來往。城 在平原，那平原靠近伯‧利合。但人又在那裡修 城 居住，
And they had no saviour, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with Aram; and it was in the valley which is the property of Beth-rehob. And building up the town again they took it for their living-place.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Judges 18:28
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that the verse provides the immediate reason for Laish's conquest: the city was geographically isolated from Sidon, its presumed protector, and had formed no alliances with other peoples. Adam Clarke notes that the Sidonians were too far to send help. John Gill adds that the Danites moved so quickly there was no time to call for aid. The Cambridge Bible points out that the isolation included a lack of treaties with neighboring states, leaving Laish vulnerable. But the phrase “no deliverer” carries a weight beyond strategy. In the Old Testament, that wording often signals God's withdrawal of rescue (Psalm 7:2; 50:22). Thomas Scott and Matthew Henry see here a spiritual commentary: an age when “there was no king in Israel” and every tribe did what was right in its own eyes (Judges 17:6). The Danites stole idols, hired a corrupt priest, and attacked a peaceful city, all without divine commission. The narrator's emphasis on the absence of a deliverer therefore suggests that God had not sent one, because Israel itself had turned away.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: The verse provides the concrete reason why Laish was conquered—it had no protector or allies—and continues the narrative of the Danites' settlement.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Reason for no deliverer | Laish was geographically far from Sidon and had no alliances, so no one could help when attacked. | Some see this as a simple human vulnerability; others argue that the wording 'no deliverer' echoes OT passages where God withholds rescue, suggesting divine abandonment in an age of idolatry. |
| Moral status of Laish | The city was peaceful and unsuspecting, living in the manner of the Sidonians (v.7). | Some commentators view Laish as innocent victims of a predatory raid; others see them as part of the Canaanite culture God had judged, and thus their fall as a form of judgment. |
| Danites' actions | They killed the inhabitants, burned the city, and later rebuilt it, naming it Dan. | Was this a legitimate conquest of land not yet assigned (since Dan had no inheritance), or a sinful, self-serving attack that included stealing idols and hiring a renegade priest? |
| Textual reading of 'anyone' | The Masoretic Text reads ''adam'' (anyone, mankind). | The Cambridge Bible suggests a possible reading ''Aram'' (Syrians), which would identify the missing allies more specifically. This change is not widely adopted but affects interpretation of Laish's political ties. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Laish (later renamed Dan) was a Canaanite city in the upper Jordan Valley, at the southwest foot of Mount Hermon. The “valley that lies by Beth Rehob” refers to the Huleh lowland, a fertile basin through which one of the Jordan's headwaters flows. Beth Rehob is mentioned in Numbers 13:21 as the northern limit of the land spied out by Moses' scouts and in 2 Samuel 10:6 as a Syrian state. This placed Laish at the edge of the Promised Land, far from any Hebrew settlement and distant from the Phoenician city of Sidon, its nominal overlord.
The Danites had not yet secured their allotted inheritance (Judges 18:1). They came north nearly a hundred miles, sent spies, and found Laish living “quiet and secure” (v.7), in the manner of the Sidonians but without Sidon's protection. The city had no military alliances, no watchman, and no ally close enough to respond. When the six hundred Danite warriors arrived, there was no one to sound an alarm or ride for help. The attack was swift and total: the inhabitants were killed, the city burned, and later rebuilt by the conquerors.
The historical context matters because it shows a moment of complete human vulnerability. Laish trusted in its own isolation and prosperity. But that same isolation, which once felt like safety, became the reason no rescue came. The narrator is not neutral; he is showing how a people who lived apart from God-ordained structures of justice (no king, no covenant alliances) became prey to a tribe that had abandoned Israel's worship.
Textual Notes
The supplied sources note no significant manuscript variants for this verse. The Cambridge Bible mentions a textual possibility: reading Aram instead of adam in the phrase “had no dealings with anyone else,” which would refer to the Syrians rather than generic people. This proposal remains conjectural and is not reflected in the standard critical editions. The rest of the verse is textually stable across the major traditions.
Reception History
In church history, this verse has been used to illustrate the vulnerability of those who trust in human security rather than in God. Early monastic writers saw in Laish a warning against complacency and isolation from the body of believers. During the Reformation, the story of the Danites, stealing idols and killing a peaceful city, was read as a caution against religious syncretism and self-willed worship. Modern commentators, like Keil and Delitzsch, focus on the geographical and sociological explanations, while acknowledging the spiritual overtones. The verse remains a staple in sermons on the dangers of false security and the necessity of divine deliverance.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Isolation invites vulnerability. Laish was far from Sidon and had no allies. The very things that made it feel safe, distance and disconnection, became the reasons it fell. Applications: do we isolate ourselves from accountability, thinking we do not need others?
- False security leads to disaster. The city was “quiet and secure” (v.7) but utterly unprepared. Like the rich fool of Luke 12, Laish had no margin for crisis. The lesson is not to reject peace but to ground security in the Lord, not in circumstances.
- The silence of God in an age of rebellion. “There was no deliverer.” In Judges God often raised judges to save Israel. But here, no deliverer came, because Israel had turned to idols. The Danites acted without God's direction, and Laish had no covenant claim on Him. The verse asks us: In which direction does our trust face?
Five-point outline
- The geography of trust: Laish trusted distance and isolation.
- The risk of being alone: no one to sound an alarm.
- The illusion of safety: prosperity without a protector.
- The tragedy of no deliverer: divine permission vs. divine intervention.
- Rebuilding after judgment: the Danites rebuilt the city, but on a foundation of idolatry (v.30-31).
Illustration hooks
- A remote farmhouse with no neighbors and no cell signal. When a storm hits, there is no one to help. Isolation felt like freedom until it turned fatal.
- A community that has no police force and no emergency services. Everyone relies on everyone else, but if no one is in alliance, one raid can end them.
- A person who prides themselves on needing no one, not even God. That independence may look like strength until real trouble comes and there is no deliverer.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Why does God sometimes seem silent when disaster comes?
- Was Laish being judged for its pagan ways, or is this just how the world works when no one is in charge?
- If I feel isolated and unprotected, how can I know whether I am trusting in the right place?
Leading a Discussion
This short verse is a small window into a much larger spiritual crisis. Laish had every human reason to feel safe: distance, quiet, prosperity. Yet it fell without anyone to defend it. The narrator wants us to see that security apart from God is always an illusion. In the book of Judges, the absence of a deliverer is never just bad luck; it is the result of a broken relationship with the Lord. As you discuss these questions, let the text search your own life.
Discussion questions
- Observation: What reasons does the verse give for why Laish had no deliverer? List each one.
- Observation: In the surrounding verses (Judges 18:1-7, 24-31), what do the Danites do with idols and the priesthood? How does that frame the attack on Laish?
- Interpretation: The phrase “there was no deliverer” appears also in Psalm 7:2 and 50:22. What does that wording imply about God's role in this story?
- Interpretation: Some scholars suggest the Hebrew word translated “anyone” might be read as “Aram” (Syria). How would that change the meaning of the verse? Does it matter which reading we choose?
- Application: Where do you or your community place your trust for safety, money, location, relationships, or government? What would it look like to shift that trust toward God?
- Application: If you were Laish in this story, what would you have done differently? How does that apply to your life today?
- Hope: For Christians, Jesus is the Deliverer who came even when no one else could. How does this story point toward the greater rescue we have in Christ?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Numbers 13:21 | So they went up, and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, to the entrance of Hamath. |
| Joshua 11:8 | Yahweh delivered them into the hand of Israel, and they struck them, and chased them to great Sidon, and to Misrephoth Maim, and to the valley of Mizpah eastward. They struck them until they left them no one remaining. |
| Judges 18:1 | In those days there was no king in Israel. In those days the tribe of the Danites sought an inheritance to dwell in; for to that day, their inheritance had not fallen to them among the tribes of Israel. |
| Judges 18:7 | Then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw the people who were there, how they lived in safety, in the way of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was no one in the land possessing authority, that might put them to shame in anything, and they were far from the Sidonians, and had no dealings with anyone else. |
| II Samuel 10:6 | When the children of Ammon saw that they had become odious to David, the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth Rehob and the Syrians of Zobah, twenty thousand footmen, and the king of Maacah with one thousand men, and the men of Tob twelve thousand men. |
| II Samuel 14:6 | Your servant had two sons; and they both fought together in the field, and there was no one to part them, but the one struck the other and killed him. |
| Psalms 7:2 | lest they tear apart my soul like a lion, ripping it in pieces, while there is no one to deliver. |
| Psalms 50:22 | “Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you into pieces, and there be no one to deliver. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke points out that the Israelites had no deliverer because the Sidonians, their expected source of help, were too far away to reach them in time. The absence of rescue was not due to God's neglect but to the practical distance of their allies.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes notes that the phrase "a city" in the original is more accurately "the city," specifically identifying it as Laish, which the Danites rebuilt after burning it down and later renamed Dan.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentator stresses that Laish's isolation was both political and geographical — too distant from any suzerain power for aid, and lacking alliances with the Syrians (reading "Aram" for "adam"). The valley mentioned is the Jordan depression at Hermon's southwest foot, placing Laish in vulnerable remoteness.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
Laish was vulnerable because it had no allies or trading partners, being isolated from the powerful city of Sidon. This isolation meant no one came to their aid when attacked. The Danites then rebuilt the captured city and settled there.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill highlights that Laish's vulnerability came from its isolation: the city was far from its protector, Sidon, and had no alliances with anyone else. This left them without warning or defense when the Danites attacked suddenly. After the conquest, the Danites rebuilt Laish as their own city.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
Jfb notes that the city of Dan was built at the northern edge of Israel, which explains the common phrase "from Dan to Beer-sheba." At that same location, the tribe also set up idolatry, marking a tragic spiritual decline for the nation.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch notes that Laish was vulnerable because it had no deliverer in its isolated condition. They identify the city's location in the valley toward Beth-rehob, in the upper Huleh lowland by the Leddan spring, and confirm that the site is Tell el Kadi, later rebuilt and renamed Dan.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange stresses that the Danites were not unbelieving but superstitious, wanting a deity they could steal and control. Their theft of Micah's sanctuary and priest shows a religion driven by self-interest, not repentance, and the priest's willingness to betray his benefactor for a better position reveals hollow, hireling leadership.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry observes that the Danites conquered Laish easily because the people were careless and off their guard. He draws a spiritual parallel: Satan likewise gains advantage when believers grow secure and drop their watchfulness. For Henry, the tragedy of Laish warns that constant vigilance, not ease, protects the soul.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley rejects Matthew Henry's claim that the goodness of God's promised land will intensify the punishment of those who perish. He argues that this reasoning fails under predestination: if some are not elected, they never had a genuine offer, and if all the elect are saved, the grant was never free to the others.