Judges 18:16-31

16 While the six hundred men of the Danites, armed with their weapons of war, stood by the entrance of the gate, 17 the five men who had gone to spy out the land proceeded to enter and take the idol of cast metal, the ephod, and the teraphim. The priest was standing by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men armed with weapons of war. 18 When the men went into Micah’s house and took the idol of cast metal, the ephod, and the teraphim, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” 19 They said to him, “Keep quiet! Put your hand over your mouth, and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one person, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?” 20 Then the priest accepted the offer. He took the ephod, the teraphim, and the idol, and went along with the people.

21 So they resumed their journey, putting the little ones, the livestock, and the goods in front of them. 22 When they were some distance from the home of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house were called out, and they overtook the Danites. 23 They shouted to the Danites, who turned around and said to Micah, “What is the matter that you come with such a company?” 24 He replied, “You take my gods that I made, and the priest, and go away, and what have I left? How then can you ask me, ‘What is the matter?’ “ 25 And the Danites said to him, “You had better not let your voice be heard among us or else hot-tempered fellows will attack you, and you will lose your life and the lives of your household.” 26 Then the Danites went their way. When Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his home.

The Danites Settle in Laish

27 The Danites, having taken what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him, came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, put them to the sword, and burned down the city. 28 There was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with Aram. It was in the valley that belongs to Beth-rehob. They rebuilt the city, and lived in it. 29 They named the city Dan, after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel; but the name of the city was formerly Laish. 30 Then the Danites set up the idol for themselves. Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the time the land went into captivity. 31 So they maintained as their own Micah’s idol that he had made, as long as the house of God was at Shiloh. (Judges 18:16-31, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from August 23, 2006 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 17, Year Two):

At the close of yesterday’s reading, the Danite warriors have learned of Micah’s treasures, “the idol of cast metal, the ephod, and the teraphim” (Judg. 18:17, cf. v. 14). While the six hundred armed men stand guard at the gate (v. 16), the five original scouts steal these treasures (v. 17a). When Micah’s priest observes all of this, and asks about it (vv. 17b, 18), he is told, “Keep quiet! Put your hand over your mouth, and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one person, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?” (v. 19). “Then the priest accepted the offer (Nh2Koh1 bl2 bF2yy09v1, wayyîtav lēv hakkōhēn)” (v. 20a NRSV, literally “was good, bOF, tôv, at heart, bl2, lēv”; “the priest was delighted” NJPS 1985, 1999). According to Yairah Amit, “the narrator probes the Levite’s thoughts to represent him as one who prefers his own interest–to be a priest for an entire tribe–over ethics and loyalty” (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, p. 549 on Judg. 18:20).

As the Danites resume their journey, “the little ones, the livestock, and the goods [are] in front of them” for protection (v. 21), anticipating the approach of Micah’s neighbors from the rear (v. 22). These “shouted to the Danites, who turned around and said to Micah, ‘What is the matter that you come with such a company?’ ” (v. 23). “The Danites’ questions were sarcastic,” says Amit, “as they knew the real reason” (ibid., on v. 23). Micah spells out his complaint, “You take my gods that I made, and the priest, and go away, and what have I left?” (v. 24), but when threatened (v. 25), he realizes that his cause is lost. He saw “that they were too strong for him, [and] he turned and went back to his home” (v. 26).

The Danites come to “Laish, to a people quiet and unexpecting,” and do what Israelites have done to other cities; they “put them to the sword, and burned down the city” (v. 27). “There was no deliverer (lyc.m1, matstsîl),” says the narrator, because of the distance from Sidon and their lack of “dealings with Aram” (v. 28). So Laish is renamed “Dan” (v. 29), and the people set up the “idol” taken from Micah (v. 30) and maintain it as their own “as long as the house of God was at Shiloh” (v. 31). “Here the Levite’s identity is revealed,” says Amit, “being a grandson of Moses, the third generation from the exodus. The name Moses is obscured and turned into Manasseh (an evil Judean king) by means of a hanging letter ‘nun’ to clear Moses from his grandson’s misdeeds. (According to Exod. 2:22, Gershom is Moses’ son.)” (ibid., on v. 30). The descendants of this Jonathan “were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the time the land went into captivity” (v. 30), apparently with reference “to 732 BCE, when Galilee was exiled by Assyria (2 Kings 15:29), or the exile of the Northern Kingdom in 722” (Amit, op. cit., on v. 30). K. Lawson Younger sees here “a Deuteronomistic indictment against the shrine at Dan that became an important center of worship for the Northern Kingdom (1 Kings 12:29)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001 on Judg. 18:31).

Acts 8:14-25

14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. 15 The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit 16 (for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). 17 Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me also this power so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God’s gift with money! 21 You have no part or share in this, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the chains of wickedness.” 24 Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may happen to me.”

25 Now after Peter and John had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, proclaiming the good news to many villages of the Samaritan. (Acts 8:14-25, NRSV)

On July 4, 2007 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to June 29, Year One), comments were repeated with editing and supplement from August 23, 2006 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 17, Year Two), when comments were repeated from June 29, 2005 (Wednesday of the week of the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, Year One). The combined comments are repeated again here:

The apostles at Jerusalem have “ heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God” and they send “Peter and John to them” (Acts 8:14), which puts the blessing of the apostles on Philip’s work, the first significant development noted by Luke in the expansion of the new Christian movement beyond Jerusalem into “all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (1:8). When Peter and John arrive in Samaria, they pray for the Samaritan believers who have accepted Philip’s preaching “that they might receive the Holy Spirit” (8:15), for, as Luke explains, “for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus” (v. 16). So “Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit” (v. 17).

If you are looking for a “proof text” for two works of grace, there it is! But why stop with two? Among American Friends with contacts in the “holiness tradition” of the Methodists, there was much agreement. But the Friend was likely to ask not “What experiences have you had? but rather to ask, “How is it with you now, friend?”

In Samaria, Simon recognized value in the experiences of the believers, but he sought the apostles’ gift for the wrong reasons, “he offered them money” (v. 18). He explains his request, “Give me also this power so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit” (v. 19). Peter’s response is immediate and sharp. “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God’s gift with money! (v. 20). Peter offers Simon a spiritual diagnosis, “You have no part or share in this, for your heart is not right before God” (v. 21), and directs him to repent: “Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you” (v. 22). Peter further describes Simon’s condition. “For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the chains of wickedness” (v. 23). It was enough to cause Simon deep concern. “Pray for me to the Lord,” he asks of Peter, “that nothing of what you have said may happen to me” (v. 24). “Ironically,” says Beverly Roberts Gaventa, “the one earlier called the power of God (v. 10) now must seek Peter’s intercession” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Acts 8:24).

Whether Simon truly repented, we are not told. Ancient Christians associated Simon with some of the later heresies.

The enigmatic character of Simon Magus fascinated later Christians. Irenaeus identifies him as the founder of the ‘Simonian’ Gnostics (Adv. haer. 1.23). For Luke, however, the issue is not heresy but the illegitimate appropriation of divine power, and money (as so often) is a symptom of a deeper corruption. (Loveday Alexander, The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001, p. 1038, on Acts 8:14-25)

In later centuries the practice of paying money for holy orders or church offices or positions was called “simony,” based on the request here of Simon Magus (Encyclopaedia Britannica, s.v. simony, online reference at http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9067868/simony, accessed again August 19, 2998). June 30, 2007). But the use of the term has broadened.

Simony is usually defined ‘a deliberate intention of buying or selling for a temporal price such things as are spiritual of [or?] annexed unto spirituals’. While this definition only speaks of purchase and sale, any exchange of spiritual for temporal things is simoniacal. Nor is the giving of the temporal as the price of the spiritual required for the existence of simony; according to a proposition condemned by Innocent XI (Denzinger-Bannwart, no. 1195) it suffices that the determining motive of the action of one party be the obtaining of compensation from the other. (The Catholic Encyclopedia online, s.v. simony, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14001a.htm (accessed June 30, 2007)

The reading closes with the information that, “after Peter and John had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, proclaiming the good news to many villages of the Samaritans” (v. 25).

John 6:1-15

Feeding the Five Thousand (Mt 14.13-21; Mk 6.30-44; Lk 9.10-17)

6:1 After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. 2 A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. 3 Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. 5 When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” 10 Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”

15 When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself. (John 6:1-15, NRSV)

On February 1, 2008 (Friday in the week of the Third Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two), comments were based on comments from March 7, 2005 (Monday in the week of the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year One), which were repeated on January 2, 2006 (Monday in the week of the First Sunday after Christmas, references listed for Jan. 2.), on January 27, 2006 (Friday in the week of the Third Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two), on August 23, 2006 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 17, Year Two), and again on March 19, 2007 (Monday in the week of the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year One). The revised comments are repeated again here.

The Feeding of the Five Thousand is the one miracle, apart from the resurrection of Jesus himself, that is reported in all four Gospels. For comments on presentation of this miracle in Mark and in parallel accounts, see the comments for January 25, 2007, and the related (linked) table, the Feeding of the Five Thousand.

John locates the feeding of the 5000 on “the other side of the See of Galilee” (Jn. 6:1), which implies a significant journey, since Jesus was in Jerusalem throughout chapter five–though since John is being selective about what he reports (20:30), a continuous chronology or sequence is not to be assumed. John is the only evangelist to describe the location as on a mountain. “Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples” (Jn. 6:3). He also is the only evangelist to report that the Passover “was near” (v. 4), which puts the time in the spring, as is implied by the “green grass” in other Gospels (Mk. 6:39; cf. Mt. 14:19). It is also only in John’s Gospel that we learn the source of the “five barley loaves and two fish”: “There is a boy here,” says Andrew, “who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” (Jn. 6:9). In Mark, Jesus asks, “How many loaves have you? Go and see” (Mk. 6:38a). Mark then reports that “When they had found out, they said ‘Five, and two fish’” (v. 38b; cf. Mt. 14:16-17; Lk. 9:13). Mark reports that “all ate and were filled” (Mk. 6:42; cf. Mt. 14:20a; Lk. 9:17a), but John expands on the crowd’s satisfaction. “Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost’” (Jn. 6:11-12). The concluding report of the people’s response to “the sign” (Jn. 6:14), and their desire to “make him king” (v. 15) is also unique to John’s report. It may perhaps relate to Mark’s report of the crowd’s catching up with Jesus and many miracles (Mk. 6:53-56; cf. Mt. 14:34-36; Jn. 6:22-25). This report about the people’s response and their desire to make him king anticipates the climax and conclusion of the Galilean ministry according to John in chapter six–and so, in a sense, represent John’s editorial structuring. But the details of time, place, the boy, the crowd’s satisfaction, strike one as details remembered by the beloved disciple. John Marsh suggests that “the nearness of the Passover is mentioned for theological rather than historical reasons” (St John, Westminster Pelican Commentaries, 1968, p. 285, on Jn. 6:4), but of the other details unique to John, Marsh mentions only the “barley” (on v. 9).

The reference to “Passover” is significant (6:4), not only because this is the only major Jewish Festival for which John does not place Jesus in Jerusalem–later Jesus will be crucified on “the day of Preparation” when the Passover lambs are being slaughtered (19:31)–but because, as a grassy place (6:10) on a mountainside (v. 3), a “deserted place,” according to Mark (Mk. 6:31, 35), the location was a reminder of the Israelites’ experience in the wilderness when, under Moses’ leadership, they were fed manna (cf. vv. 31-32). Jesus will discuss the manna (vv. 32-33), but he himself is “the true bread from heaven” (v. 32). “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (v. 35). The miracle of feeding satisfied the people (v. 12), but they, as others before them in John, misunderstand. They first say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world” (v. 14; cf. Deut. 18:15-18), but then decide “to come and take him by force to make him king” (v. 15). This misunderstanding anticipates “the deep misunderstanding of the multiplication and indeed of the whole bread of life discourse that [follows]” (Raymond E. Brown, John I-XII, Anchor Bible, 29A, 1966, on Jn. 6:1-15).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net