dan Summary and Overview

a judge. (1.) The fifth son of Jacob. His mother was Bilhah, Rachel's maid (Gen. 30:6, "God hath judged me", Heb. dananni). The blessing pronounced on him by his father was, "Dan shall judge his people" (49:16), probably in allusion to the judgeship of Samson, who was of the tribe of Dan. The tribe of Dan had their place in the march through the wilderness on the north side of the tabernacle (Num. 2:25, 31; 10:25). It was the last of the tribes to receive a portion in the Land of Promise. Its position and extent are described in Josh. 19:40-48. The territory of Dan extended from the west of that of Ephraim and Benjamin to the sea. It was a small territory, but was very fertile. It included in it, among others, the cities of Lydda, Ekron, and Joppa, which formed its northern boundary. But this district was too limited. "Squeezed into the narrow strip between the mountains and the sea, its energies were great beyond its numbers." Being pressed by the Amorites and the Philistines, whom they were unable to conquer, they longed for a wider space. They accordingly sent out five spies from two of their towns, who went north to the sources of the Jordan, and brought back a favourable report regarding that region. "Arise," they said, "be not slothful to go, and to possess the land," for it is "a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth" (Judg. 18:10). On receiving this report, 600 Danites girded on their weapons of war, and taking with them their wives and their children, marched to the foot of Hermon, and fought against Leshem, and took it from the Sidonians, and dwelt therein, and changed the name of the conquered town to Dan (Josh. 19:47). This new city of Dan became to them a new home, and was wont to be spoken of as the northern limit of Israel, the length of which came to be denoted by the expression "from Dan to Beersheba", i.e., about 144 miles. "But like Lot under a similar temptation, they seem to have succumbed to the evil influences around them, and to have sunk down into a condition of semi-heathenism from which they never emerged. The mounds of ruins which mark the site of the city show that it covered a considerable extent of ground. But there remains no record of any noble deed wrought by the degenerate tribe. Their name disappears from the roll-book of the natural and the spiritual Israel.", Manning's Those Holy Fields. This old border city was originally called Laish. Its modern name is Tell el-Kady, "Hill of the Judge." It stands about four miles below Caesarea Philippi, in the midst of a region of surpassing richness and beauty. (2.) This name occurs in Ezek 27:19, Authorize Version; but the words there, "Dan also," should be simply, as in the Revised Version, "Vedan," an Arabian city, from which various kinds of merchandise were brought to Tyre. Some suppose it to have been the city of Aden in Arabia. (See MAHANEH-DAN T0002375.)

(a judge). 1. The fifth son of Jacob, and the first of Bilhah, Rachel's maid. #Ge 30:6| (B.C. after 1753.) The origin of the name is given in the exclamation of Rachel. The records of Dan are unusually meagre. Only one son is attributed to him, #Ge 46:23| but his tribe was, with the exception of Judah, the most numerous of all. In the division of the promised land Dan was the last of the tribes to receive his portion, which was the smallest of the twelve. #Jos 19:48| But notwithstanding its smallness it had eminent natural advantages. On the north and east it was completely embraced by its two brother tribes Ephraim and Benjamin, while on the southeast and south it joined Judah, and was thus surrounded by the three most powerful states of the whole confederacy. It was a rich and fertile district; but the Amorites soon "forced them into the mountain," #Jud 1:34| and they had another portion granted them. Judges 18. In the "security" and "quiet," #Jud 18:7,10| of their rich northern possession the Danites enjoyed the leisure and repose which had been denied them in their original seat. In the time of David Dan still kept its place among the tribes. #1Ch 12:35| Asher is omitted, but the "prince of the tribe of Dan" is mentioned in the list of #1Ch 27:22| But from this time forward the name as applied to the tribe vanishes; it is kept alive only by the northern city. In the genealogies of 1Chr 2-12, Dan is omitted entirely. Lastly, Dan is omitted from the list of those who were sealed by the angel in the vision of St. John. #Re 7:5-7| 2. The well-known city, so familiar as the most northern landmark of Israel, in the common expression "from Dan even to beersheba." The name of the place was originally LAISH or LESHEM. #Jos 19:47| After the establishment of the Danites at Dan it became the acknowledged extremity of the country. It is now Tell el-Kadi, a mound, three miles from Banias, from the foot of which gushes out one of the largest fountains in the world, the main source of the Jordan.

DAN (judge), the fifth son of Jacob, and the first of Bilhah, Rachel's maid. Gen 30:6. Nothing is known personally of the patriarch. The prediction uttered by Jacob respecting him, Gen 49:16-17, is variously interpreted. It is probable that the elevation of his tribe to an equal rank with the others, notwithstanding that he was born of a concubine, was foretold in v. Ex 17:16, and the residue of the prediction may allude to the subtle and crafty disposition of his descendants. Indeed, we know that Samson, who was among the most noted of them, was remarkably successful in stratagem, Jud 14-15; and perhaps the same trait was characteristic of their tribe. Jud 18:26-27. It is noticeable that the tribe of Dan is omitted from the numbering in Rev 7. Because of this, and because Dan first introduced idolatry into Israel, Jud 18, many of the fathers maintained that Antichrist would come from Dan.

("judge".) Jacob's fourth son, Bilhah's (maid of Rachel) first (Genesis 30:6), own brother to Naphtali. The female corresponding name is Dinah ("judgment".) Rachel's exclamation originated the name, "God hath judged me," i.e. vindicated my cause by giving me a son. Jacob on his deathbed said, "Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel" (Genesis 49:16), i.e., having the full tribal standing as much as Leah's descendants. (See CONCUBINE.) The judgeship of Samson may also be a fulfillment of Jacob's words (Judges 15:20). Hushim (the plural implying a family) or Shuham alone is mentioned as Dan's son (Genesis 46:23); but at the Exodus the tribe stood second of Israel in numbers (Numbers 1:39), Numbers 1:62,700; 64,400 at the close of the wilderness sojourn (Numbers 26:43). It occupied the N. side of the tabernacle, the hindmost in the march (Numbers 2:25; Numbers 2:31; Numbers 10:25), with Asher and Naphtali. Of Dan was Aholiab, associated with Bezaleel, in the construction of the tabernacle (Exodus 31:6, etc.). Its allotment was on the coast W. of Judah and Benjamin, S. of Ephraim, N. of Simeon; small, but most choice, extending from Joppa on the N. to Ekron on the S., 14 miles long, part of the shephelah (or vale sweeping along the whole coast, the N. part of which is Sharon). The powerful Philistines near them drove them partly toward the mountainous region bordering on Judah, so as to encroach on Judah's towns, Zorah and Eshtaol and Ir-shemesh or Beth-shemesh; compare Joshua 15:33 with Joshua 19:41. The Amorites previously "would not suffer them to come down into the valley" (Judges 1:34). Hence, Samson resides at Mahaneh-Dan (the camp of Dan) in the hills, between Zorah and Eshtaol, behind Kirjath Jearim, and thence "comes down" to the vineyards of Timnath and the valley of Sorek. There too was his final resting place (Judges 13:25; Judges 14:1; Judges 14:5; Judges 14:19; Judges 16:4; Judges 16:31; Judges 18:12). The Phoenician king Esmunazar made this rich plain his prize long after, as an inscription records if rightly deciphered. In Joshua 19:47," the coast of Dan went out (too little)' for them," rather "went out from them" (Hebrew meehem), i.e. to a distance from their original allotment, namely, to Leshem or Laish, (which 600 of their warriors armed went forth from Zorah and Eshtaol to seize on, in the far N.) and named Dan after their father, at the W. source of the Jordan River, four miles W. of Paneas. Thrice stress is laid on the 600 being "appointed with weapons of war" (Judges 18:11; Judges 18:16-17), for the Philistines deprived all Israelites they could of arms, so that we find Samson using a donkey's jawbone as his only weapon (1 Samuel 13:19-21). Hence, as being so occupied with the Philistine warfare, Danites were not among Barak's and Deborah's helpers against Sisera (Judges 4; Judges 5:17, where allusion occurs to Dan's possession of the only Israelite port, "Why did Dan remain in ships?".) The N. Danites of Laish (named by them Dan) carried with them Micah the Ephraimite's Levitical family priest (Judges 17; 18) and graven image, which they worshipped" until the day of the captivity of the land" (Judges 18:30-31), i.e. until the Israelite reverse whereby the Philistines carried away the ark; what aggravated their idolatry was it was at the very time "that the house of God was in Shiloh," within their reach. This probably suggested the city Dan to Jeroboam as one of the two seats of the golden calf worship (1 Kings 12:29). Dan's genealogy is not given in 1 Chronicles 2-12. Its unsettled state audits connection with the far N. Dan, the headquarters of idolatry, may have caused the loss of the genealogy. Dan is omitted among the sealed in Revelation 7 as having been the first to lapse into idolatry, for which cause Ephraim also is omitted (Judges 17; Hosea 4:17) and Joseph substituted. Arethas of the 10th century suggests that Dan's omission is because Antichrist is to be from him, or else to be his tool (compare Genesis 49:17; Jeremiah 8:16; Amos 8:14), as there was a Judas among the twelve. Jacob's prophecy, "Dan shall be a serpent in the way, ... that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward," alludes primarily to Dan's local position in front of the royal Judah; so ready to meet the horse, forbidden in Israelite warfare, with the watchword "I have waited for Thy salvation," and to fall unawares on the advancing enemy by the way Dan's mode of warfare is illustrated in its attack on the men of Laish," careless, quiet, and secure," as also in their great judge Samson's mode of attack, watching for an opportunity and striking an unlooked for, stealthy, sudden blow. Mainly perhaps, by the Spirit, he has in view the old serpent which was to "bruise the heel" of the promised Savior (Genesis 3:15), but ultimately to have its head bruised by Him; therefore he adds the desire of all believers, "I have waited for Thy salvation," which abrupt exclamation is thus clearly accounted for.