1. Judges 18:7 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What does “quiet and unsuspecting” mean?

Judges 18:7 (ESV)

7 Then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw the people who were there, how they lived in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting, lacking nothing that is in the earth and possessing wealth, and how they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.

There is some ambiguity here in the expression. The term for quiet can also mean idle, lax. The term for unsuspecting can also mean carefree, complacent. So it is unclear whether the Laishites were quiet or lax, unsuspecting or careless. It is possible that the author has both senses in view.1