Textual question:
The old Chinese translation of 19:47 was incorrect
47 但人的地界，越過原得的地界，因為但人上去攻取利善，用刀擊殺城中的人，得了那城，住在其中，以他們先祖但的名，將利善改名為但。
See the new Chinese translation 聖經新譯本:
47 但人未能控制他們的境界，因此他們就上去攻打利善，奪取那城，用刀擊殺了城中的人；他們佔領利善，就住在城中，以他們祖先但的名字，把利善改名為但。
Observation and Interpretation:
(1) Leshem 利善, the city mentioned in 19:47 was in up north. Not in the allotted portion of Dan.
(NAC) the Danites... abandoned their allotted territory and migrated elsewhere. They traveled to the far north of Canaan and took a city called Leshem, renaming it Dan. This became an important city as a marker of the northern extreme of the land, included in the phrase “from Dan to Beersheba” (e.g., Judg 20:1; 1 Sam 3:20; 1 Kgs 4:25). It was one of the cities where Jeroboam I erected a golden calf (1 Kgs 12:29–30).
By the time of the Judges, the Danites were still not claiming their land.
Judges 18:1 In those days Israel had no king. And in those days the Danite tribe was looking for a place to settle because at that time they did not yet have a place to call their own among the tribes of Israel.
(BKC) So God provided for the needs of each tribe, though in some cases parts of their inheritances were still in the hands of the enemy. The Israelites were to possess the land by faith, trusting God to enable them to defeat their foes...Israel was to claim her tribal inheritances by faith. Failure to do so would be to live in poverty and weakness, conditions which God did not desire for His people.
Application: Dan was one of the largest tribes in Israel (Numbers 2:25), which means, they were not lack of military strength. Their poverty and weakness was due to lack of faith. Of course, it was not easy to fight for the land even with the Promise of God. Did they give up because it was too hard? Maybe. Are we like the Danites? We know the promise of God, but it was too hard and we give up and we end up living in weakness.
Application: Dan was one of the largest tribes in Israel (Numbers 2:25), which means, they were not lack of military strength. Their poverty and weakness was due to lack of faith. Of course, it was not easy to fight for the land even with the Promise of God. Did they give up because it was too hard? Maybe. Are we like the Danites? We know the promise of God, but it was too hard and we give up and we end up living in weakness.
(2) More details about the refugee city for those who committed manslaughter were given in 20:1-6, including the initial screen by the city gate elders and the protection they provided for those who escaped there.
v.4 ...They should then bring him into the city, give him a place to stay, and let him live there.
(BKC) Israel’s benefit of sanctuary reminds believers of Psalm 46:1, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble,” and of Romans 8:1, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews may have had the Old Testament cities of refuge in mind when he wrote that believers may have great encouragement because they “have fled to take hold of the hope offered to” them (Heb. 6:18). The cities of refuge, then, seem to typify Christ to whom sinners, pursued by the avenging Law which decrees judgment and death, may flee for refuge. Paul’s frequent expression “in Christ” speaks of the safety and security possessed by every believer.
Application: If I were one of those who committed the manslaughter, how would I feel when I was accepted to be the refugee city? I was chased by those who wanted my life and now I finally found a restful place. God gave me undeserved grace and I can rest now. Are we thankful? Are we extending this kind of grace to other "undeserving" people in our lives?
Audrey
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