They went up and encamped in Kiriath Jearim, in Judah. Therefore they called that place Mahaneh Dan, to this day. Behold, it is behind Kiriath Jearim.
Parallel translations
- KJV And they went up, and pitched in Kirjathjearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahanehdan unto this day: behold, it is behind Kirjathjearim.
- BSB They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. That is why the place west of Kiriath-jearim is called Mahaneh-dan to this day.
- NKJV Then they went up and encamped in Kirjath Jearim in Judah. (Therefore they call that place Mahaneh Dan to this day. There it is, west of Kirjath Jearim.)
- NASB They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. Therefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan to this day; behold, it is west of Kiriath-jearim.
- NLT They camped at a place west of Kiriath-jearim in Judah, which is called Mahaneh-dan to this day.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Danites camp near Kiriath Jearim in Judah, naming the site Mahaneh Dan. The place name preserves the memory of their journey.
Overview
Mahaneh Dan means 'camp of Dan,' a marker of their westward and northward trek. Such etiological notes ('to this day') anchor the events in Israel's remembered geography. The detail underscores the historical reality of the account while tracing a tribe wandering far from its allotted home.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Judg 13:25Yahweh’s Spirit began to move him in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
- Josh 15:60Kiriath Baal (also called Kiriath Jearim), and Rabbah; two cities with their villages.
- 1 Chr 13:5–6So David assembled all Israel together, from the Shihor the brook of Egypt even to the entrance of Hamath, to bring God’s ark from Kiriath Jearim.
- 2 Chr 1:4But David had brought God’s ark up from Kiriath Jearim to the place that David had prepared for it; for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem.
- 1 Sam 7:1The men of Kiriath Jearim came, and took Yahweh’s ark, and brought it into Abinadab’s house on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep Yahweh’s ark.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 18:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.