Mahaneh-dan That is, the camp of Dan. They came unto the house of Micah That is, to the town in which his house was, for they had not yet entered into it. Then answered the five men That is, they spake; the word answering being often used in Scripture of the first speaker. There is in these houses That is, in one of these houses. Consider what ye have to do Whether it be not expedient to take them for your further use. Perhaps the remembrance of the ark being carried before their ancestors in former times, in all their expeditions, as a mark of God's presence being among them, might incline them to the foolish and impious thought of taking with them Micah's ephod and teraphim.
Related Commentaries of Judges 18:12
Judges 18:12-14
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.
13 And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came unto the house of Micah.
14 Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do.