The fifth son of Jacob, and by Bilhah, the handmaid of Rachel. (Gen.. xxx. 4 - 6.) I notice this man more with a view to make an observation on his father’s prophecy concerning his tribe, than from any thing particularly to be recorded relative to Dan himself. Jacob, when dying, prophesied concerning Dan in these remarkable words: (Gen. xlix. 16, 17.) "Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse’s heels, so that his rider shall fall backward."This prophecy was accomplished in the person of Samson, who descended from Dan. It is worthy farther remark, that though in the first instance of Dan there were no very promising prospects of a numerous race, Dan himself having but one son, (Gen. 16. 23.) yet, at the children of Israel’s leaving Egypt, the tribe of Dan amounted to "threescore and two thousand, seven hundred men, " all that were able to go forth to war. (Num. i. 38)
the fifth son of Jacob, Gen 30:1-6. Dan had but one son, whose name was Hushim, Gen 46:23; yet he had a numerous posterity; for, on leaving Egypt, this tribe consisted of sixty-two thousand seven hundred men able to bear arms, Num 1:38. Of Jacob’s blessing Dan, see Gen 49:16-17. They took Laish, Jdg 18:1; Jos 19:47. Whey called the city Dan, after their progenitor. The city of Dan was situated at the northern extremity of the land of Israel: hence the phrase, “from Dan to Beersheba,” denoting the whole length of the land of promise. Here Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, set up one of his golden calves, 1Ki 12:29; and the other at Bethel.
Son of Jacob
Dan, son of Jacob by the concubine Bilhah (Gen 30:3; Gen 35:25), and founder of one of the tribes of Israel. Dan had but one son, called Hushim (Gen 46:23): notwithstanding which, when the Israelites came out of Egypt, this tribe contained 62,700 adult males (Num 1:39), which made it the second of the tribes in number, Judah only being above it. Its numbers were less affected in the desert than those of many other tribes; for at the census, before entering Canaan, it mustered 64,400 (Num 26:43), being an increase of 1700, which gave it still the second rank in population. But there is nothing in the history of the tribe corresponding to this eminence in population: the most remarkable circumstance in its history, however, is connected with this fact. The original settlement assigned to the tribe in south-western Palestine being too small for its large population, a body of them went forth to seek a settlement in the remote north, and seized and remained in permanent occupation of the town and district of Laish, the inhabitants of which dwelt in greater security and were more easily conquered than the neighbors of the tribe in its own proper territory (Jos 19:47; Jdg 1:34; Judges 18). The district regularly allotted to the tribe, although contracted, was very fertile. It had the country of the Philistines on the west, part of Judah with Benjamin on the east, Ephraim on the north, and Simeon on the south. The territory proved inadequate chiefly from the inability of the Danites to expel the Philistines and Amorites, who occupied parts of the land assigned to them. There is no doubt that the territory as allotted, but not possessed, extended to the Mediterranean through the country of the Philistines. Samson was of this tribe, and its proximity to the Philistines explains many circumstances in the history of that hero. It appears from that history that there was an under-current of private and social intercourse between the Philistines and the Danites, notwithstanding the public enmity between Israel and the former (Judges 13-16).
Town of Dan
Dan, the town, anciently called Laish, or Leshem, mentioned in the preceding article as having been conquered by a warlike colony of Danites, who named it after their tribe. The terms in which the condition of Laish is described, previously to the conquest, indicate that the place belonged to the Sidonians, and that the inhabitants lived quiet and secure, ’after the manner of the Sidonians,’ enjoying abundance of all things (Jdg 18:7). They seem to have derived their security from the absence of any adverse powers in their neighborhood, and from confidence in the protection of Sidon, which was, however, too far off to render aid in the case of such a sudden assault as that by which they were overpowered. This distance of Sidon was carefully noted by the Danite spies as a circumstance favorable to the enterprise; and it does not appear that Sidon ever made any effort to dispossess the intruders. Dan afterwards became a chief seat of Jeroboam’s idolatry, and one of the golden calves was set up there (1Ki 12:28-29). It was conquered, along with other towns, by the Syrians (1Ki 15:20); and the name is familiar from the recurrence of the proverbial expression, ’from Dan to Beersheba,’ to denote the extent of the Promised Land (Jdg 20:1; 1Sa 3:20; 2Sa 17:11) [BEER-SHEBA.] In the days of Eusebius, Dan was still a small village, which is placed by him four miles from Paneas, towards Tyre. As this distance corresponds to the position of the fountain at Tel el-Kadi, which forms one of the sources of the Jordan, and is doubtless that which is called Dan by Josephus (Antiq.i. 10, 1), the situation of the city of Dan could not therefore have been that of Paneas itself, with which it has been in later times confounded [CAESAREA PHILIPPI]. There are no longer any ruins near the spring at Tel el Kadi, but at about a quarter of an hour north, Burckhardt noticed ruins of ancient habitations; and the hill which overhangs the fountains appears to have been built upon, though nothing is now visible.
A judge,\par 1. A son of Jacob by Bilhah, Gen 30:3 35:25. The tribe of Dan was second only to that of Judah in numbers before entering Canaan, Num 1:39 26:43. A portion was assigned to Dan, extending southeast from the seacoast near Joppa. It bordered on the land of the Philistines, with whom the tribe of Dan had much to do, Jdg 13:1-16:31. Their territory was fertile, but small, and the natives were powerful. A part of the tribe therefore sought and conquered another home, Jos 19:1-51 Jdg 18:1-31 \par 2. A city originally called Laish, Jdg 18:29, at the northern extremity of Israel, in the tribe of Naphtali. "From Dan to Beersheba" denotes the whole extent of the land of promise, Dan being the northern city, and Beersheba the southern one. Dan was seated at the foot of Mount Hermon, four miles west of Paneas, near one source of the Jordan, on a hill now called Tell-el-Kady. Laish at one time belonged to Zidon, and received the name of Dan from a portion of that tribe who conquered and rebuilt it, Jdg 18:1-31 . It was an idolatrous city even then, and was afterwards the seat of one of the golden calves of Jeroboam, 1Ki 12:28 1Sa 8:14 . Though once and again a very prosperous city, Jdg 18:10 Eze 27:19, only slight remains of it now exist.\par
Dan. (a judge).
1. The fifth son of Jacob, and the first of Bilhah, Rachel’s maid. Gen 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, Gen 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," Jdg 1:34, and they had another portion granted them. Judges 18. In the "security" and "quiet," Jdg 18:7; Jdg 18:10, 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 1 Chronicles 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. Rev 7:5-7.
2. The well-known city, so familiar as the most northern landmark of Palestine, 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.
("judge".) Jacob’s fourth son, Bilhah’s (maid of Rachel) first (Gen 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" (Gen 49:16), i.e., having the full tribal standing as much as Leah’s descendants.
It occupied the N. side of the tabernacle, the hindmost in the march (Num 2:25; Num 2:31; Num 10:25), with Asher and Naphtali. Of Dan was Aholiab, associated with Bezaleel, in the construction of the tabernacle (Exo 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
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 (Jdg 13:25; Jdg 14:1; Jdg 14:5; Jdg 14:19; Jdg 16:4; Jdg 16:31; Jdg 18:12). The Phoenician king Esmunazar made this rich plain his prize long after, as an inscription records if rightly deciphered. In Jos 19:47," the coast of Dan went out (too little)’ for them," rather "went out from them" (Hebrew
Thrice stress is laid on the 600 being "appointed with weapons of war" (Jdg 18:11; Jdg 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 (1Sa 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; Jdg 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" (Jdg 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 (1Ki 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; Hos 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 Gen 49:17; Jer 8:16; Amo 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 (Gen 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.
(Heb. id.
TRIBE OF DAN. — Only one son is attributed to this patriarch (Gen 46:23); but it may be observed that “Hushim” is a plural form, as if the name, not of an individual, but of a family; and it is remarkable whether as indicating that some of the descendants of Dan are omitted in these lists, or from other causesthat when the people were numbered in the wilderness of Sinai, this was, with the exception of Judah, the most numerous of all the tribes, containing 62,700 men able to serve. The position of Dan during the march through the desert was on the north side of the tabernacle (Num 2:25). Here, with his brother Naphtali, and Asher, the son of Zilpah, before him, was his station, the hindmost of the long procession (Num 2:31; Num 10:25). The names of the “captain” (
After this nothing is heard of Dan till the specification of the inheritance allotted to him (Jos 19:48). He was the last of the tribes to receive his portion, and that portion, according to the record of Joshua — strange as it appears in the face of the numbers just quoted-was the smallest of the twelve. 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 Benejamin, while on the south-east and south it joined Judah, and was thus surrounded by the three most powerful states of the whole confederacy. Of the towns enumerated as forming “the ‘border’ of its inheritance,” the most easterly which can now be identified are Ajalon, Zorah (Zareah), and Ir-Shemesh (or Beth-shemesh, q.v.). These places are on the slopes of the lower ranges of hills by which the highlands of Benjamin and Judah descend to the broad maritime plain, that plain which on the south bore the distinctive name of “the Shefelah,” and more to the north, of “Sharon.” From Japho — afterwards Joppa, and now Yafa — on the north, to Ekron and, Gathrimmon on the south-a length of at least fourteen miles that noble tract, one of the most fertile in the whole of Palestine, was allotted to this tribe. By Josephus (Ant. v. 1, 22, and 3, 1) this is extended to Ashdod on the south, and Dor, at the foot of Carmel, on the north, so as to embrace the whole, or nearly the whole, of the great plain, including Jamnia and Gath. (This discrepancy may be accounted for by supposing that the Danites at some period may have overrun the country thus far, when the Philistines were humbled by the powerful Ephraimites and the still more powerful David.) But this rich district, the corn-field and the garden of the whole south of Palestine, which was the richest prize of Phoenician conquest many centuries later, and which, even in the now degenerate state of the country, is enormously productive, was too valuable to be given up without a struggle by its original possessors.
The Amorites accordingly “forced the children of Dan into the mountain, for they would not suffer them to come down into the valley” (Jdg 1:34) — forced them up from the corn-fields of the plain, with their deep black soil, to the villages whose ruins still crown the hills that skirt the lowland. True, the help of the great tribe so closely connected with Dan was not wanting at this juncture, and “the hand of the children of Joseph,” i.e. Ephraim, “prevailed against the Amorites” for the time. But the same’ thing soon occurred again, and in the glimpse with which we are afterwards favored into the interior of the tribe, in the history of its great hero, the Philistines have taken the place of the Amorites, and with the same result. Although Samson “comes down” to the “vineyards of Timnath” and the valley of Sorek, yet it is from Mahaneh-Dan — the fortified camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol, behind: Kirjathjearim — that he descends, and it is to that natural fastness, the residence of his father, that he “goes up” again after his encounters, and that he is at last borne to his family sepulchre , the burying-place of Manoah (Jdg 14:1; Jdg 14:5; Jdg 14:19; Jdg 13:25; Jdg 16:4; — comp. Jdg 18:12; Jdg 16:31). It appears from that history that there was an under-current of private and social intercourse between the Philistines and the Danites, notwithstanding the public enmity between Israel and the former (Judges 13-16).
These considerations enable us to understand how it happened that long after the partition of the land “all the inheritance of the Danites had not fallen to them among the tribes of Israel” (Jdg 18:1). They perhaps furnish a reason for the absence of Dan from the great gathering of the tribes against Sisera (Jdg 5:17). They also explain the warlike and independent character of the tribe betokened in the name of their head- quarters, as just quoted — Mahaneh-Dan, “the camp, or host, of Dan” — in the fact specially insisted on and reiterated (Jdg 18:11; Jdg 18:16-17) of the complete equipment of their 600 warriors “appointed with weapons of war,” and the lawless freebooting style of their behavior to Micah. There is something very characteristic in the whole of that most fresh and interesting story preserved to us in Judges 18 — a narrative without a parallel for the vivid glance it affords into the manners of that distant time- characteristic of boldness and sagacity, with a vein of grim sardonic humor, but undeformed by any unnecessary bloodshed.
In the “security” and “quiet” (Jdg 18:7; Jdg 18:10) of their rich northern possession the Danites enjoyed the leisure and repose which had been denied them in their original seat. But of the fate of the city to which they gave “the name of their father” (Jos 19:47), we know scarcely anything. The strong religious feeling which made the Danites so anxious to ask counsel of God from Micah’s Levite at the commencement of their expedition (Jdg 18:5), and afterwards take him away with them to be “a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel,” may have pointed out their settlement to the notice of Jeroboam as a fit place for his northern sanctuary. But beyond the exceedingly obscure notice in Jdg 18:30, we have no information on this subject. From 2Ch 2:14, it would appear that the Danites had not kept their purity of lineage, but had intermarried with the Phoenicians of the country. (See an elaboration of this in Blunt, Coincidences, pt. 2, ch. 4.)
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 1 Chronicles 2-12 Dan is omitted entirely, which is remarkable When the great fame of Samson and the warlike character of the tribe are considered, and can only be accounted for by supposing that its genealogies had perished. It is perhaps allowable to suppose that little care would be taken to preserve the records of a tribe which had left its original seat near the head-quarters of the nation, and given its name to a distant city notorious only as the seat of a rival and a forbidden worship. Lastly, Dan is omitted from the list of those who were sealed by the angel in the vision of John (Rev 7:5-8). — Smith, Dict. of Bible, s.v. Perhaps the portion of the tribe which remained south was in time amalgamated with the tribe of Judah (as appears in the cities enumerated after the exile, Neh 11:35), while the northern section united with the northern confederacy, and shared in its dispersion.
The following is a list of all the places in the tribe of Dan mentioned in Scripture, with their probable identification:
Ajalon. Town. Yalo. Allon. do. SEE ELON. Arimathaea. do. Ramleh? Ataroth-Joab. do. Deir-Ayub? Ba’aiath. do. Deir Balut. Bene-barak. do. Buraka. Beth-car. Hill. . Beit Far? Beth-shemesh. Town. Ain Shems. Charashim. Valley. Wady Mazeirah]? Ekron. Town. A kir. Elon. do. [Beit Susin]? Eltekeh. do. [El-Maans reh]? Eshtaol. do. Yeshua? Gath-rimmon. do. [Rafat.] Gibbethon. do. [Saidonl? Gimzo. do. Jimzu. Gittaim. do. SEE ARIMATHIA. Hadid. do. El-Haditheh. Heres. Mountain. SEE JEATAM. Ir-shemesh. Town. SEE BETH-SHEMESE. Jabniel, or Jabneh. do. Yebna. Japho. do. Yafa. Jearim. Mountain. [Hills W. of Wady Ghurab]. Jehud. Town. El-Yehumdieh. Jethlah. do. [Ruins N. of Latrum]? Joppa. do. SEE JAPHO. Lod, or Lydda. do. Ludd. Mahaneh-dan. Plain. W. of Kirjath-jearim? Makaz. District. E. of Ekron? Me-jarkon. Town. [Danniyal]? Neballat. do. Beit Nebala. Ono. do. Kefr-Auna. Rakkon. do. [ Kheibehl? Seir [or Seirath?]. Mountain. Saris. Shaalbin. Town. [Beit Sira]? Sharon. Plain. Vicinity of.Ludd. Shicron. Town. [Beit Shit]? Timnah, or Timnath. do. Tibneh. Zorah, or Zoreah. do. Sura.
The mention of this tribe in the “blessings” of Jacob and Moses must not be overlooked, but it is difficult to extract any satisfactory meaning from them. According to Jewish tradition, Jacob’s blessing on Dan is a prophetic allusion to Samson, the great “judge” of the tribe; and the ejaculation with which it closes was that actually uttered by Samson when brought into the temple at Gaza. (See the Targum Ps. Jonathan on Gen 49:16-17; and the quotations in Kalisch’s Genesis ad loc.) Modern critics likewise see an allusion to Samson in the terms of the blessings which they presume on that account to have been written after the days of the Judges (Ewald, Gesch. 1:92). Jerome’s observations (Qu. in Gen.) on this passage are very interesting. Herder’s interpretation as given by Stanley (Palestine, p. 388) is as follows: “It is doubtful whether the delineation of Dan in Jacob’s blessing relates to the original settlement on the western outskirts of Judah, or to the northern outpost. Herder’s explanation will apply almost equally to both. ‘Dan,’ the judge, ‘shall judge his people;’ he the son of the concubine no less than the sons of Leah; he the frontier tribe no less than those in the places of honor shall be ‘as one of the tribes of Israel.’ ‘Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path,’ that is, of the invading enemy by the north or by the west, ‘that biteth the heels of the horse,’ the indigenous serpent biting the foreign horse unknown to Israelite warfare, ‘so that his rider shall fall backwards.’ And his war-cry as from the frontier fortresses shall be, ‘For Thy salvation, O Lord, I have waited!’ In the blessing of Moses the southern Dan is lost sight of. The northern Dan alone appears, with the same characteristics, though under a different image; ‘a lion’s whelp’ in the far north, as Judah in the far south: ‘he shall leap from Bashan’ — from the slopes of Hermon, where. he is couched watching for his prey.”
2. (Josephus
To the form of this image and the nature of the idolatry we have no clew, nor to the special relation which existed between it and the calf-worship afterwards instituted there by Jeroboam (1Ki 12:29-30). It only appears that Jeroboam took advantage of the confirmed idolatry of the Danites (Jdg 18:30), erected a temple in their city, and set up there one of his golden calves for the benefit of those to whom a pilgrimage to Jerusalem would not have been politic, and a pilgrimage to Bethel might have been irksome (1Ki 12:28). The latter worship is alluded to in Amo 8:14 in a passage which possibly preserves a formula of invocation or adjuration in use among the worshippers; but the passage is very obscure. The worship of the calf may be traced to this day in the secret rites of the Nosairian Druse saints of the vicinity (Newbold, Jour. As. Soc. 16:27). After the establishment of the Danites at Dan it became the acknowledged extremity of the country, and the formula “from Dan even to Beersheba” is frequent throughout the historical books (Jdg 20:1; 1Sa 3:20; 2Sa 3:10; 2Sa 17:11; 2Sa 24:2; 2Sa 24:15; 1Ki 4:25). In the later records the form is reversed, and becomes “from Beersheba even to Dan” (1Ch 21:2; 2Ch 30:5). It is occasionally employed alone in a somewhat similar meaning; thus, in Jer 8:16, “The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan; the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones” (also 4:15). Dan was, with other northern cities, laid waste by Benhadad (1Ki 15:20; 2Ch 16:4), and this is the last mention of the place.
Various considerations would incline us to the suspicion that Dan was a holy place of note from a far earlier date than its conquest by the Danites. These are:
(1.) The extreme reluctance of the Orientals — apparent in numerous cases in the Bible — to initiate a sanctuary, or to adopt for worship any place which had not enjoyed a reputation for holiness from pre-historic times.
(2.) The correspondence of Dan with Beersheba in connection with the life of Abraham — the origin of Beersheba also being, as has been noticed, enveloped in some diversity of statement.
(3.) More particularly its incidental mention in the very clear and circumstantial narrative of Gen 14:14, as if well known even at that very early period. Its mention in Deu 34:1, is also before the events related in Judges xviii, though still many centuries later than the time of Abraham. But the subject is very difficult, and we can hardly hope to arrive at more than conjecture upon it. With regard to Gen 14:14, three explanations suggest themselves.
a. That another place of the same name is intended. (See Kalisch, ad loc. for an ingenious suggestion of Dan-jaan). Against this may be put the belief of Josephus (comp. Ant. 1:10, 1, with v. 3, 1) and of Jerome (Onomast. s.v. Laisa, comp. with Quaest. Hebr. in Genesim, 14:14), who both unhesitatingly identify the Dan near Paneas with the Dan of Abraham.
b. That it is a prophetic anticipation by the sacred historian of a name which was not to exist till centuries later, just as Samson has been held to be alluded to in the blessing of Dan by Jacob. c. That the passage originally contained an older name, as Laish; and that, when that was superseded by Dan, the new name was inserted in the MSS. This last is Ewald’s (Gesch. 1:73), and of the three is the most feasible, especially when we consider the characteristic, genuine air of the story in Judges, which fixes the origin of the name so circumstantially. Josephus (Ant. v. 3, 1) speaks positively of the situation of Laish as “not far from Mount Libanus and the springs of the lesser Jordan, near (
In perfect agreement with this is the position of Tell el-Kadi, a mound from the foot of which gushes out “one of the largest fountains in the world,” the main source of the Jordan (Robinson, Later Res. 3, 390-393). The tell itself, rising from the plain by somewhat steep terraces, has its long, level top strewed with ruins, and is very probably the site of the town and citadel of Daniel. The spring is called el-Leddan, possibly a corruption of Dan (Robinson, 3, 392), and the stream from the spring Nahr ed-Dhan (Wilson, 2:173), while the name, Tell el-Kadi, “the Judge’s mound,” agrees in signification with the ancient name. Those who have visited it give the exact agreement of the spot with — the requirements of the story in Judges 18 — ‘“a good land and a large, where there is no want of anything that is on the earth” (Thomson, Land and Book, 2:320). Tell el-Kady is cup- shaped, resembling an extinct crater, and is covered with a dense jungle of thorns, thistles, and rank weeds. Its circumference is about half a mile, and its greatest elevation above the plain eighty feet. There are some traces of old foundations, and heaps of large stones on the top and sides of the southern part of the rim, where perhaps the citadel or a temple may have stood. There are also ruins in the plain a short distance north of the tell. There are doubtless other remains, but they are now covered with grass - and jungle. At the western base of the tell is the great fountain, and there is a smaller one within the cup, shaded by noble oak-trees (Porter, Damascus, 1:303). About a quarter of an hour north, Burckhardt noticed ruins of ancient habitations and the hill which overhangs the fountains appears to have been built upon, though nothing is now visible (Burckhardt, Syria, p. 42; Robinson, Researches, 3, 351-358).
3. “Dan also” stands in the A.V. as the rendering of
Dan (dăn), Jdg 1:1-36. A son of Jacob by bis concubine Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid. Gen 30:6; Gen 35:25; Exo 1:4; 1Ch 2:2. Of Dan’s personal history we know nothing, except that he had one son, Hushim or Shuham. Gen 46:23; Num 26:42. He shared with Ms brethren the prophetic blessing of Jacob, Gen 49:16-17, fulfilled, perhaps, in the administration of Samson, and in the craft and stratagem which his descendants used against their enemies. Other explanations, however, have been given. Those descendants multiplied largely; for at the first census after quitting Egypt the tribe numbered 62,700 males above 20 years of age; and, when numbered again on their coming to Jordan, they were 64,400. Num 1:38-39; Num 26:42-43. Moses ere his death, like Jacob, pronounced a prophetic blessing on the tribe: "Dan is a lion’s whelp: he shall leap from Bashan," Deu 33:22, fulfilled in the predatory expeditions of which one at least is recorded in their subsequent history. 2, The territory in Canaan allotted to Dan was on the seacoast, west of Benjamin and between Ephraim and Judah. It embraced a broad plain, 14 miles long, near the sea. The Amorites kept them from the plain and forced them into the mountains. Hence they had another portion granted them, near Mount Hermon, Jdg 18:1-31, where they set up a graven image stolen from Mic 3:1-12. Dan, city of, the chief city of the northern district held by this tribe. Jdg 20:1. It was originally called Laish, Jdg 18:29; noted for idolatry, Jdg 18:30; now called Tel-el-Kâdy, or "Mound of the Judge," three miles from Banias, north of the waters of Merom. 4. The Dan of Eze 27:19, R. V. "Vedan." is possibly the same as No. 2. but some identify it with Dedar, others with Aden, in Arabia.
Fifth son of Jacob, and first of Bilhah, Rachel’s maid. Gen 30:6, etc. Little is recorded of him personally: only one son is mentioned in Gen 46:23. The tribe of Dan was, however, numerous: at the Exodus there were 62,700 fighting men, exceeding all the tribes except Judah; and at the second numbering they had increased to 64,400. Num 1:39; Num 26:42-43. Yet when in the land the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountains: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley. Jdg 1:34. This showed great want of faith in the DANITES (as they are called in Jdg 13:2; Jdg 18:1; Jdg 18:11; 1Ch 12:35); and Deborah in her song said, ’Why did Dan remain in ships,’ when the Lord’s enemies were being destroyed?
Their portion fell on the sea-coast between those of Manasseh and Judah. It was small in comparison with their numbers, which occasioned some going north and building the city of Dan, q.v. Dan was not conspicuous among the tribes, but Aholiab, who helped Bezaleel in the work of the tabernacle, was of the tribe, Exo 31:6; and Samson also.
When Jacob blessed his sons he said, "Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward." Gen 49:16-17. This tribe was guilty of setting up very early in the land the idolatry, which continued until the people were carried into captivity. Jdg 18:30-31. One naturally associates ’the adder that biteth the heels’ with the serpent that would bruise the heel of the seed of the woman. Gen 3:15. It seems to suggest that the Antichrist will arise out of the tribe of Dan, and this indeed has been the judgement of Christians from the earliest times. Moses said, "Dan is a lion’s whelp: he shall leap from Bashan," Deu 33:22, which may be a prophecy that Dan would do the work of Satan: cf. Psa 22:12-13. This thought is confirmed by Dan’s name being absent from 1Ch 2 - 8 (the book that records much of grace and blessing), and being omitted also from the list of tribes from each of which twelve thousand will be sealed in a future day. Rev 7:3-8. Still God’s promises to the twelve tribes will be kept, and the tribe of Dan will have its portion in the land as prophesied in Eze 48:1-2; Eze 48:32.
By: Emil G. Hirsch, Eduard König, Kaufmann Kohler
—Biblical Data:
1. The name of Jacob's fifth son (Gen. xxx. 6), whose mother was Bilhah, Rachel's handmaiden (ib. xxx. 3, xxxv. 25). He was therefore a full brother of Naphtali (xxx. 8). Dan's name occurs also in Gen. xlix. 16 et seq.; Judges xviii. 29; I Chron. ii. 2, and in all the passages where his sons are mentioned (Gen. xlvi. 23 et seq.).
The Tribe.
2. "Dan" designates one of the twelve tribes of Israel, both in poetic (Deut. xxxiii. 22; Judges v. 17) and in prose passages (Num. i. 12; ii. 25, 31; Deut. xxvii. 13; Judges xiii. 25, xviii. 12; Ezek. xlviii. 1, 32 et seq.; I Chron. xxvii. 22; II Chron. ii. 13); but it generally occurs in combinations such as "the sons of Dan" (Num. i. 38, ii. 25, vii. 66, x. 25, xxvi. 42; Josh. xix. 47), "the generations of Dan" (Num. xxvi. 42), "the tribe of the sons of Dan" (Num. xxxiv. 22; Josh. xix. 40, 48), or, simply, "the tribe of Dan" (Ex. xxxi. 6, xxxv. 34, xxxviii. 23; Lev. xxiv. 11; Num. i. 39, xiii. 12; Josh. xxi. 5, 23). The following are detached details from the history of the tribe given in the Old Testament. The artist Aholiab or Oholiab, who took part in the construction of the Tabernacle (Ex. xxxi. 6, xxxv. 34, xxxviii. 23), was a member of this tribe, as was also the mother of a man who blasphemed the name of Yhwh (Lev. xxiv. 11). At the time of Moses, Dan is represented as one of the larger tribes of the children of Israel, and as numbering 62,700 men of twenty years of age and upward (Num. i. 39, ii. 26). Somewhat later, when the tribe of Benjamin, for instance, is reported as having only 35,400 (Num. i. 37) or 45,600 men (ib. xxvi. 41), the number in the tribe of Dan is given as 64,400 (ib. xxvi. 43). Its men able to bear arms were among the three tribes (Dan, Asher, and Naphtali) whose army in the wilderness of Sinai covered the northern flank (Num. ii. 25-31, x. 25-27). Ammiel, one of the twelve spies (ib. xiii. 12), belonged to Dan; and its prince was Bukki (ib. xxxiv. 22). On entering Canaan the representatives of Dan, together with those of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, took their position on Ebal, the mount of the curse (Deut. xxvii. 13). In Moses' blessing Dan is characterized as "a lion's whelp: he shall leap from Bashan" (ib. xxxiii. 22). The latter clause, however, does not fit Dan, since that tribe did not live in the well-known plain of Bashan east of the Jordan.
The Territory.
The land assigned to the tribe of Dan was in western Canaan, its several cities and boundaries being enumerated in Josh. xix. 40-46. Noteworthy among the cities are Zorah, Eshtaol, Thimnathah or Timnah, Ajalon (near which was fought the famous battle described in Josh x. 12), and Ekron, which is found in the cuneiform inscriptions as "Amḳarruna." On the north the territory of Dan ended opposite Joppa, the modern Jaffa. This territory, not very extensive originally, was soon diminished by its dangerous neighbors, the Philistines. It is not surprising, therefore, that the Danites had great difficulty in conquering the country that had been assigned to them (Josh. xix. 47; Judges xviii. 1). Accordingly, they sent a deputation to find a district suitable for the reception of a part of the tribe. This was found in the vicinity of the city of Laish (Judges xviii. 7-27; see below, 3). Another indication that the tribe of Dan was harassed is found in the sentence "Why did Dan remain in ships?" (Judges v. 17). This probably had reference to the fact that members of the tribe of Dan had enlisted on the ships of the Phenicians (see Budde, "Kurzer Handcommentar," 1897, and Nowack, "Handcommentar," 1900).
The distress of Dan increased when, toward the end of the period of the Israelitish judges, the Philistines, receiving reenforcements from their former home (Guthe, "Gesch. des Volkes Israel," 1899, p. 65), endeavored to invade the middle territories of Canaan (Josephus, "Ant." v. 8, § 1). Then help arose for Dan in the person of the hero Samson (Judges xiii. 2-xvi. 31), whose work was brilliantly continued by Samuel (I Sam. vii. 11), and then by David and other kings. This explains why the tribe of Dan is mentioned in the accounts of David (I Chron. xxvii. 22) and Solomon (II Chron. ii. 13), and in later times (Ezek. xlviii. 1, 2, 32).
3. The later designation for the Canaanite city Laish (Judges xviii. 7, 14, 27, 29) or Leshem (Josh. xix. 47), the latter name being probably derived from "Lesham." The city lay in a deep valley near Beth-rehob (Judges xviii. 28), on the northern frontier of Palestine, at the place where "men come to Hamath" (Num. xiii. 21). According to Josephus ("Ant." v. 3, § 1), it was not far from the sources of the lesser Jordan, and, according to the "Onomastica Sacra" (s.v. "Dan"), three or four Roman miles from Paneas. In the Book of Enoch (xiii. 7) it is said that "Dan lay south of the western side of Mt. Hermon." Originally inhabited by Canaanites, it was captured by a part of the tribe of Dan, whose territory in southwestern Palestine was invaded by the Philistines (Josh. xix. 47; Judges xviii. 1 et seq.), and who named it after their tribal ancestor (Josh. xix. 47). The mention of the name of Dan as early as the time of Abraham and Moses (Gen. xiv.14; Deut. xxxiv. 1) is therefore anticipated by the later chronicler (compare "Beth-el" in Gen. xii. 8 and xxviii. 19). Consequently there is no reason to assume, from Gen. xiv. 14 and Deut. xxxiv. 1, the existence of another city of Dan.
The place seems to be identical with Dan-jaan (II Sam. xxiv. 6), which was situated east of the Lake of Gennesaret toward Sidon; and as this was the route on which Laish-Dan lay (Judges xviii. 7, 29), it is probable that "Dan-jaan" is a corruption of"Dan-jaar" (Dan in the wood), and that this was merely an occasional designation of the city of Dan.
The place is often mentioned in the phrases "from Dan even to Beer-sheba" (Judges xx. 1; I Sam. iii. 20; II Sam. iii. 10; xvii. 11; xxiv. 2, 15; I Kings iv. 25; Amos viii. 14) and "from Beer-sheba even to Dan" (I Chron. xxi. 2; II Chron. xxx. 5); while in Jer. iv. 15 and viii. 16 it is mentioned as a northern frontier town of Palestine.
Dan is also referred to in connection with the ritual; for, according to Judges xviii. 31, a graven image stood there up to the time of the destruction of the sanctuary at Shiloh, which sanctuary is mentioned for the last time in I Sam. iv. 12. Jeroboam I. set up at Dan one of the two golden calves which he intended as symbols for Yhwh (I Kings xii. 29). Many persons of the northern tribes of Israel, therefore, made pilgrimages to Dan (Amos viii. 14; II Kings x.29); but the city soon fell into the hands of Israel's northern enemies (I Kings xv. 20; II Chron. xvi. 4).
A hill near the valley in which lay the ancient city of Dan is to-day called "Tall al-Ḳaḍi"—i.e., "Hill of the Judge"—the name being, perhaps, a reminiscence of the name Dan = "judge."
Bibliography:
Stade, Gesch. des Volkes Israel, i. 124, 146;
Cornill, Gesch. des Volkes Israel, 1898, p. 32;
Guthe, Gesch. des Volkes Israel, 1899, pp. 5 et seq.;
Winckler, Gesch. Isr. in Einzeldarstellungen, 1900, ii. 63 et seq.;
Holzinger on Gen. xxx. 24, in Kurzer Handcommentar, 1898;
Gunkel on Gen. xxix. 23, in Handcommentar, 1901;
Cheyne, in Encyc. Bibl. s.v. Dan;
Buhl, Geographie des Alten Palästinas, 1896, § 124.
—In Rabbinical and Hellenistic Literature:
Dan plays a peculiar rôle in rabbinical tradition. Owing to the fact that his name, as the name of a tribe, is connected with the blasphemer (Lev. xxiv. 11), and with the idolatry of northern Israel (Judges xviii. 30; I Kings xii. 29; Amos viii. 14), while Samson, the judge of the tribe of Dan, proved faithless to his nazirate (Judges xiii. 2), Dan came to be regarded as the black sheep of the house of Jacob. His hatred of Joseph, because he brought to his father evil reports against the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, induced him to plot against Joseph's life, and he advised the brothers to deceive their father by telling that they had found the coat of Joseph dipped in blood (Test. Patr., Zebulon, 4; Dan, 1; Gad, 1). Dan and Gad were in league with the crown prince of Egypt against Joseph and Asenath (see Asenath, Prayer of).
As early as the days of Moses the tribe of Dan worshiped idols, wherefore the pillar of cloud failed to protect it, and consequently Amalek smote Dan, who was the "hindmost" and "feeble" because "he feared not God" (Targ. Yer. to Deut. xxv. 18; Pesiḳ. iii. 27b; Pesiḳ. R. xii.; Tan., Ki Teẓe). Being "the rearward of all the camps" (Num. x. 25), Dan fell a victim to "the fire that devoured the uttermost part of the camp because of the idol which provoked the anger of the Lord" (Targ. Yer. to Num. xi. 1, Hebr.). It was also Dan's idolatry which induced Balaam to order altar and sacrifices for the defeat of Israel (Targ. Yer. to Num. xxii. 41, xxiii. 1). Dan's idolatry restrained Abraham in his march against the Babylonian kings (Gen. xiv. 15; Gen. R. xliii.) and appalled Moses in his vision of the future (Targ. Yer. to Deut. xxxiv. 1; Sifre, Debarim, 357). The children of Dan taught their sons the idolatrous Amorite practises contained in the books hidden under Mount Abarim (Gaster, "Chronicles of Jerahmeel," 1899, p. 167).
Jacob's blessing of Dan, in which he is compared to a serpent (Gen. xlix. 16-18), is referred to Samson (Gen. R. xcviii.), and the serpent is said to have been made the emblem of the tribe on its standard (Num. R. ii.).
Dan, Type of Antichrist.
But Dan became the very type of evil-doing. He was placed to the north (Num. ii. 25), this being the region of darkness and evil (Jer. i. 14), because of his idolatry which wrapped the world in darkness (Num. R. ii.). Still further goes a tradition which identifies the serpent and the lion (Gen. xlix. 17 and Deut. xxxiii. 22) with Belial (see the literature in Bousset's "Antichrist," 1895, pp. 87, 113). Irenæus ("Adversus Hæreses," v. 302), Hippolytus ("De Christo et Antichristo," pp. 14, 15), and other Church fathers have a tradition, which can not but be of Jewish origin, that the Antichrist comes from the tribe of Dan, and base it upon Jer. viii. 16: "The snorting of his [the enemy's] horses was heard from Dan"—a verse referred also in Gen. R. xliii. to Dan's idolatry. Irenæus remarks that Dan is, in view of this tradition, not in the Apocalypse (Rev. vii. 5-7) among the 144,000 saved ones of the twelve tribes. Nor is the omission of Dan in I Chron. iv. et seq. unintentional. Bousset, who has a special chapter devoted to the Dan Antichrist legend (l.c. pp. 112-115), believes that the connection of Dan with Belial in Test. Patr., Dan, 5 points to the same tradition. This seems to find corroboration in Targ. Yer. to Deut. xxxiv. 3, where the war against Ahriman (
)and Gog or Magog in the vision of Moses seems to refer to Dan, 1 (compare Sifre, l.c. to 
; see also Dan, in Ten Tribes, The Lost.)
—Critical View:
Kuenen ("Theologisch Tijdschrift," v. 291) and others after him, such as Cheyne ("Encyc. Bibl." s.v.), have argued that "Dan" is the title of a deity. In the etymology adduced in the explanatory remarks attributed to Rachel (Gen. xxx. 6) nothing is said about the character of the child. The judgment referred to is by God, and is passed upon Rachel. The reference to the name "Daniel" and to the cuneiform name of a king, "Ashur-dan," in support of the critical view has not been regarded by conservative scholars as sufficient to prove the contention in issue. Still, the analogy with other names, both tribal (Gad) and personal, is strongly in favor of the views advanced by Kuenen and his successors. "Daniel," in all probability, means "Dan is El" (compare "Eliyahu") and not "God is my judge"; and "Ashur-dan" is also a combination of two names of deities.
The personal existence of a son of Jacob bearing the name "Dan" has also been denied by modern scholars. This is in accord with the general doubt cast on the patriarchal biographies and genealogies. It is contended that no clan or tribe ever sprang from one ancestor. While among the tribes one ofthe name of Dan may have existed, the designation is that of an eponym, assumed after the tribe had come to reflect upon its own origin and its relations to other tribes (Cornill, "History of Israel," p. 32; Stade, "Gesch. des Volkes Israel," i. 124, 146; Guthe, "Gesch. des Volkes Israel," pp. 5 et seq.; Holzinger, "Kurzer Handcommentar," on Gen. xxx. 24; Gunkel, "Handcommentar," on Gen. xxix. 35; Cheyne, in "Encyc. Bibl." cols. 992 et seq.).
The assumption that Dan was the son of Rachel's handmaid, Bilhah, whose other son was Naphtali, signifies, according to the modern view of the ideas underlying such genealogies, that the tribe of Dan recognized a closer geographical or historical connection with that of Naphtali, in common with which it was regarded, or regarded itself, as somehow in a position subordinate to the tribes that traced their descent directly through Rachel from Jacob. The universal applicability of this principle has been doubted by König ("Bibelkritisches," 1902). In the case of Dan, tradition furnishes only scant material by which to test the theory. Yet, as the genealogies and biographies of other tribal eponyms appear to justify the general principle, there is no reason, from the point of view of the critical school, to question its applicability to Dan (see Tribes, The Twelve).
DAN.—According to the popular tradition, Dan was the fifth son of Jacob, and full brother of Naphtali, by Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid (Gen 30:6; Gen 30:8). Rachel, who had no children, exclaimed ‘dananni’ (‘God hath judged me’), and, therefore, he was called Dan. As in the case of so many names, this is clearly a ‘popular etymology.’ It is probable that Dan was an appellative, or titular attribute, of some deity whose name has not come down to us in connexion with it, or it may even be the name of a god as Gad was (cf. the Assyr.
Of this eponymous ancestor of the tribe tradition has preserved no details, but some of the most interesting stories of the Book of Judges tell of the exploits of the Danite Samson, who, single-handed, wrought discomfiture in the ranks of the Philistines. These are heroic rather than historical tales, yet suggestive of the conditions that prevailed when the tribes were establishing themselves.
P
James A. Craig.
DAN.—A city in northern Palestine, once called Laish (Jdg 18:29) or Leshem (Jos 19:47), though the ancient record of the battle of four kings against five gives the later name (Gen 14:14). It was a city remote from assistance, and therefore fell an easy prey to a band of marauding Danites, searching for a dwelling-place. It was in the north boundary of Palestine. The story of the Danites stealing the shrine of Micah is told to account for its sanctity, which Jeroboam I. recognized by setting up here one of his calf-shrines (1Ki 12:29). It was perhaps the same as Dan-jaan, one of the borders of Joab’s census district (2Sa 24:6). It was captured by Ben-hadad (1Ki 15:20). It is identified with Tell el-Kadi on account of the similarity of meaning of the names (Arabic kadi = Hebrew dan = ‘judge’)—a very dangerous ground for such speculations. The site, however, would suit the geographical context of the narratives.
R. A. S. Macalister.
Judging: a judge
(Heb. dn, Sept. Dán),–(1) The fifth son of Jacob, being the elder of the two sons born to him by Bala, the handmaid of Rachel, and the eponymous ancestor of the tribe bearing the same name. Etymologically, the word is referred to the Hebrew root dyn signifying "to rule" or "judge", and in the passage, Gen., xix, 17, it is interpreted "judge", but in Gen. xxx, 6, the explanation of the name rests rather on the passive sense of the word–the child Dan being represented as the result of God’s judgment in favour of Rachel. In accordance with the meaning expressed in the latter passage, Josephus (Antiq., I, xix, 7) gives as the equivalent of the name Dan the Greek Theókritos. A cognate feminine form of the same word, likewise in the passive sense, is recognized in Dina (dynh), name of the daughter of Jacob by Lia, doubtless with reference to the judgment or vindication she received at the hands of her two brothers Simeon and Levi (Genesis 34). Apart from the account connected with his birth in Gen., xxx, the Bible gives very little information concerning Dan the son of Jacob. In Gen., xxxv, 25, his name is mentioned together with those of the other sons of Israel, and in Gen., xlvi, which contains a genealogical list of their immediate descendants, we read (23), "The sons of Dan: Husim". This last, being a Hebrew plural form, refers most likely not to an individual, but to a clan or tribe. In Numbers, xxvi, 42, we find "Suham" instead of "Husim". In Jacob’s blessing (Genesis 49), as well as in Deut., xxxiii, 22, and various other passages, the name Dan refers not to the son of the patriarch, but to the tribe of which he was the acknowledged father.(2) One of the twelve tribes of Israel. According to the census related in the first chapter of Numbers (a section ascribed to the priestly writer), there were reckoned among the "sons of Dan" in the second year after the Exodus, 62,700 men "able to go forth to war", being the largest number given to any of the tribes except that of Juda. Confining ourselves to the Biblical data, and prescinding from all criticism of sources, it would appear from these figures that the tribe must have suffered a considerable diminution ere its establishment in Canaan, where, from various indications, it appears as one of the smallest of the twelve. The territory occupied by the tribe lay to the south-west of Ephraim; it was bounded on the south by Juda and on the west by the Shephela. Whether the Danites occupied also the latter or were confined to the mountainous inland district is uncertain. A passage of the Canticle of Debbora (Judges 5:17) would seem to indicate that the territory extended down to the sea, and moreover, among the towns enumerated in Josue, xix, 40-48 (P.) mention is made of Acron and Joppe. Be that as it may, it was doubtless because of their narrow territorial limits that later the Danites undertook an expedition northward and created a new settlement at Lais. For, notwithstanding the narrative contained in Josue, xix, 40- 48, indicating with detail the district and the cities allotted to Dan in the distribution after the conquest, we find later in the Book of Judges (xviii, 1) that "the tribe of Dan sought them an inheritance to dwell in: for unto that day they had not received their lot among the other tribes". This was perhaps another way of conveying the idea already set forth in the first chapter, viz. that "the Amorrhite straitened the children of Dan in the mounbtain, and gave them not place to go down to the plain". Being thus cramped and restricted in their territory, they resolved to seek a home elsewhere. The interesting story of this expedition is told, with many traits characteristic of that period of Hebrew civilization, in the eighteenth chapter of Judges. Having previously sent spies to reconnoitre the ground, the Danites sent a detachment of six hundred men who plundered and burnt the city of Lais, and butchered its inhabitants, after which they "rebuilt the city and dwelt therein". At least a remnant of the tribe must have remained in the south, as is evidenced in the story of Samson, who was a Danite. Several references to the activities of the tribe of Dan in the early period of the monarchy are found in the Books of Chronicles. Thus, 28,600 armed men of the tribe are represented as taking part in the election of David in Hebron (1 Chronicles 12:35), and among the skilled artists sent by Hiram of Tyre to Solomon was the metal-worker Hiram, whose mother was of the tribe of Dan (2 Chronicles 2:13 sq.).(3) A city of Palestine, originally Lais, or Lesem, and called Dan after it had been destroyed and rebuilt by the six hundred emissaries from the tribe of that name (Judges 18). Its location marked the northern boundary of Palestine as did Bersabee the southern extremity, whence the popular expression "from Dan to Bersabee" used to designate the entire extent of the country. Although nothing now remains of the city of Dan, its situation on the confines of Nephthali has been pretty accurately determined by means of various Scriptural and other ancient indications. That Lais was a Sidonian settlement at a distance from the parent city is clear from Judges, xviii, 7, 28, and the great fertility of the spot is affirmed in the same chapter (9, 12). Josephus, who calls the town Dána, and elsewhere Dánon, places it "in the neighbourhood of Mt. Libanus, near the fountains of the Lesser Jordan, in the great plain of Sidon, a day’s journey from the city" (Antiq., V, iii, 1). According to Eusebius and St. Jerome, the village of Dan was situated within four miles of Paneas (Banias, or Cæsarea-Philippi), on the road to Tyre, at the rise of the Jordan. Its proximity to Paneas has led to a confusion of the two towns in certain ancient works, as, for instance, in the Babylonian Talmud; and a few modern scholars, among whom is G. A. Smith, still identify Dan with Banias, but the generally received opinion places it at Tell el-Qadi, and this identification has in its favour, among other reasons, the practical identity of the name, as "Tell el-Qadi" signifies the "hill of the Judge". This quadrangular mound is situated about a mile and a half south-west of Mt. Hermon, and to the west of Banias. The site and surroundings are remarkably picturesque, and close to the mound on the west is a spring from which clear, cold water flows in abundance, forming a nahr, or torrent, which the Arabs call Nahr Leddân–probably a corruption of ed-Dân. This torrent is the main source of the Jordan, and it is doubtless the "Lesser Jordan" mentioned by Josephus.Dan is mentioned in the fourteenth chapter of Genesis in connection with the expedition of Abraham against Chodorlahomor, but it is doubtful if the place there referred to is the same as the ancient Lais. Though the identification is affirmed by both Eusebius and Jerome, many modern scholars place the Dan of Genesis, xiv, in the vicinity of Galaad, and identify it with Dan-Yuan mentioned in II Kings, xxiv, 6. The conquest of Lais by the Danites, referred to above under (2), is related in Judges, xviii. The portion of the tribe which took up its abode there was addicted to certain forms of idolatry from the beginning (cf. Judges 18:30, 31), and it was in this frontier town that Jeroboam set up one of the golden calves which were intended to draw the Israelites of the Northern Kingdom away from the Sanctuary in Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:29, 30; 2 Kings 10:29).-----------------------------------For (1) VIGOROUX, for f(2) and (3) LEGENDRE, both in Dict. de la Bible, s. v.; also for (1) and (2) PEAKE, for (3) MACKIE, both in HASTINGS, Dict. of the Bible, s. v.JAMES F. DRISCOLL. Transcribed by WGKofron With thanks to St. Mary’s Church, Akron, Ohio The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IVCopyright © 1908 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat. Remy Lafort, CensorImprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York
(
1. Name
The fifth of Jacob’s sons, the first borne to him by Bilhah, the maid of Rachel, to whom, as the child of her slave, he legally belonged. At his birth Rachel, whose barrenness had been a sore trial to her, exclaimed “God hath judged me ... and hath given me a son,” so she called his name Dan, i.e. “judge” (Gen 30:6). He was full brother of Naphtali. In Jacob’s Blessing there is an echo of Rachel’s words, “Dan shall judge his people” (Gen 49:16). Of the patriarch Dan almost nothing is recorded. Of his sons at the settlement in Egypt only one, Hushim, is mentioned (Gen 46:23). The name in Num 26:42 is Shuham.
2. The Tribe
The tribe however stands second in point of numbers on leaving Egypt, furnishing 62,700 men of war (Num 1:39); and at the second census they were 64,400 strong (Num 26:43). The standard of the camp of Dan in the desert march, with which were Asher and Naphtali, was on the north side of the tabernacle (Num 2:25; Num 10:25; compare Jos 6:9 the King James Version margin, “gathering host”). The prince of the tribe was Ahiezer (Num 1:12). Among the spies Dan was represented by Ammiel the son of Gemalli (Num 13:12). Of the tribe of Dan was Oholiab (the King James Version “Aholiab”) one of the wise-hearted artificers engaged in the construction of the tabernacle (Exo 31:6). One who was stoned for blasphemy was the son of a Danite woman (Lev 24:10 f). At the ceremony of blessing and cursing, Dan and Naphtali stood on Mount Ebal, while the other Rachel tribes were on Gerizim (Deu 27:13). The prince of Dan at the division of the land was Bukki the son of Jogli (Num 34:22).
3. Territory
The portion assigned to Dan adjoined those of Ephraim, Benjamin and Judah, and lay on the western slopes of the mountain. The reference in Jdg 5:17: “And Dan, why did he remain in ships?” seems to mean that on the West, Dan had reached the sea. But the passage is one of difficulty. We are told that the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain (Jdg 1:34), so they did not enjoy the richest part of their ideal portion, the fertile plain between the mountain and the sea. The strong hand of the house of Joseph kept the Amorites tributary, but did not drive them out. Later we find Dan oppressed by the Philistines, against whom the heroic exploits of Samson were performed (Jdg 14ff). The expedition of the Danites recorded in Jdg 18 is referred to in Jos 19:47.
4. The Danite Raid
The story affords a priceless glimpse of the conditions prevailing in those days. Desiring an extension of territory, the Danites sent out spies, who recommended an attack upon Laish, a city at the north end of the Jordan valley. The people, possibly a colony from Sidon, were careless in their fancied security. The land was large, and there was “no want of anything that was in the earth.” The expedition of the 600, their dealings with Micah and his priest, their capture of Laish, and their founding of an idol shrine with priestly attendant, illustrate the strange mingling of lawlessness and superstition which was characteristic of the time. The town rebuilt on the site of Laish they called Dan - see following article. Perhaps 2Ch 2:14 may be taken to indicate that the Danites intermarried with the Phoenicians. Divided between its ancient seat in the South and the new territory in the North the tribe retained its place in Israel for a time (1Ch 12:35; 1Ch 27:22), but it played no part of importance in the subsequent history. The name disappears from the genealogical lists of Chronicles; and it is not mentioned among the tribes in Rev 7:5.
Samson was the one great man produced by Dan, and he seems to have embodied the leading characteristics of the tribe: unsteady, unscrupulous, violent, possessed of a certain grim humor; stealthy in tactics - “a serpent in the way, an adder in the path” (Gen 49:17) - but swift and strong in striking - “a lion’s whelp, that leapeth forth from Bashan” (Deu 33:22). Along with Abel, Dan ranked as a city in which the true customs of old Israel were preserved (2Sa 20:18 Septuagint).
1) Son of Jacob (Israel). Ancestor of one of the tribes of Israel; 2) The tribe that bears his name.
The tribe of Dan was descended from the elder of two sons whom Rachel’s maid Bilhah bore to Jacob (Gen 30:1-6). In the original division of Canaan, Dan received its tribal portion on the Philistine coast between Judah and Ephraim (Jos 19:40-48; Jdg 5:17; Jdg 13:1-2; Jdg 14:1; Jdg 16:23; for map see TRIBES).
Besides being squeezed between Israel’s two most powerful tribes, the Danites were pushed back from the coast by the Philistines and the Amorites. The tribe therefore sent representatives north to look for a better place to live (Jdg 1:34; Jdg 18:1-2). The place they decided upon was Laish, located in the fertile region of the Jordan headwaters in the far north of Canaan. With the swiftness and ruthlessness that had characterized the tribe from the beginning, they slaughtered the people of Laish and seized the town for themselves, renaming it Dan (Jdg 18:7-10; Jdg 18:27-29; cf. Gen 49:16-17; Deu 33:22).
From that time on, the towns of Dan and Beersheba marked respectively the northern and southern limits of the land of Israel (Jdg 20:1; 1Sa 3:20; 2Sa 17:11; 2Sa 24:2). When the nation was split in two after the death of Solomon, the southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin were separated from the northern tribes, who still called themselves Israel. The new limits of Israel were now Dan in the north and Bethel in the south. The breakaway king of Israel set up his own shrines in these two towns, in opposition to Judah’s shrine in Jerusalem (1Ki 12:28-30).
Dan’s isolated location meant that it was open to enemy attack from the north (1Ki 15:20). It was one of the first parts of Israel to fall when Assyria conquered the land and took the people into captivity (2Ki 15:29).