Dan

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Judges 1:1 Genesis 30:6

2. The biblical city of Dan is often mentioned in the description of the land of Israel, namely “from Dan even to Beersheba” ( Judges 20:1 ). It has been identified with modern tell el-Qadi (or tell Dan). The tel, which covers about 50 acres, is situated at the northern end of the richly fertile Huleh Plain at the base of Mt. Hermon. The abundant springs of the site provide one of the three main sources of the Jordan River.

The city was formerly named Laish ( Judges 18:7 or Leshem in   Joshua 19:47 ) when occupied by the Canaanites. This city is mentioned in the Egyptian execration texts and Mari tablets from the eighteenth century B.C. Later Thutmose III listed Laish among the cities conquered in his 1468 B.C. campaign. The name Dan was applied to the city conquered by the Israelite tribe in its northern migration ( Judges 18:1 ).

Excavation of tell Dan has been led by A. Biran of Hebrew University in Jerusalem since 1966. Laish was founded at the end of the Early Bronze II Age (about 2700 B.C.) near the springs and flourished until about 2300 B.C. Significant pottery remains of this era were uncovered along with remains of floors and walls. The city probably remained unoccupied until the Middle Bronze II period (about 2000 B.C.), when a large, well-fortified city was constructed. A massive earthen rampart similar to that of Hazor was built for defensive purposes, and set into the rampart (about 1750 B.C.) was a well-preserved, mudbrick “triple-arched gate.” The fifteen meter square gate system stood twelve meters above the surrounding plain and contained the earliest arched entryways known in the world. The gate was blocked and covered within a century for reasons unknown. The earthen ramparts continued to be the primary defense fortification through several wars and conquests until the Israelite period. Other significant finds from the period include jar burials, tombs, and pottery.

The Late Bronze Age is represented by a richly-supplied tomb containing Mycenaean and Cypriote imported wares; ivory inlaid cosmetic boxes; gold, silver, and bronze objects; and forty-five skeletons of men, women, and children.

Iron Age Laish was rebuilt by local inhabitants in the late thirteenth century B.C. but destroyed about 1100 B.C. by the migrating tribe of Dan. Scripture describes the conquest of the city as if the local people were unsuspecting of the coming invasion. Danites utilized the earlier rampart for defense and built their homes on the ruins of the previous city. The first Danite city, which contained some Philistine pottery remnants, was destroyed a century after its founding. The city was soon rebuilt and became a prominent Israelite city of the Iron Age.

Following the establishment of the Israelite kingdom under David and Solomon, Jeroboam led the Northern tribes in revolt against Rehoboam (about 925 B.C.). As an alternative to worship in Jerusalem, Dan and Bethel were fortified as border fortress/sanctuaries ( 1 Kings 12:29 ) with temples containing golden calf representations of Yahweh. This may have represented a combination of Baal worship with worship of Yahweh. The extent to which the Baal cult influenced Northern Israel is seen in the reign of Jehu, who did not destroy the altars at Dan and Bethel, despite eradicating the Baal priests from the land ( 2 Kings 10:32 ). Excavations at Dan have uncovered the “high place” of Jeroboam along with a small horned altar, the city gate (with royal throne) and walls (12 feet thick), hundreds of pottery vessels, buildings, and inscribed objects. This city was soon taken by Ben-hadad of Aram and then recaptured by Jeroboam II in the eighth century B.C. ( 2 Kings 14:25 ). The Israelite city of Dan fell to the Assyrians under Tiglath-pileser III (Pul of Old Testament) about 743 B.C. ( 2 Kings 15:29 ). He annexed the city into an Assyrian district. Many Danites were deported to Assyria, Babylon, and Media following the fall of Samaria in 722 or 721 B.C. ( 2 Kings 17:6 ) to Sargon II. Foreigners were brought in from Babylon, Aram, and other lands to settle Israel's territory. The writer of Kings ascribed the fall of the kingdom to the worship of gods other than Yahweh ( 2 Kings 17:7-20 ), and Dan was one of the key centers of this idolatry.

As Josiah came to the throne of Judah in 639 B.C., Assyria was on the decline. Josiah incorporated the former Northern Kingdom territories into a united country, restoring the classical borders of Israel to “from Dan to Beersheba.” An upper gate to the city was built during this period, and the inscription found at this level, “belonging to Ba'alpelet,” demonstrates that Baal worship continued to influence this area after the Assyrian destruction. The partially rebuilt city survived until the onslaught of the Babylonian army of Nebuchadnezzar (about 589 B.C.; compare  Jeremiah 4:14-18 ).

Dan again was occupied in the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods. In the area of the high place, statues and figurines of Greco-Roman and Egyptian gods such as Osiris, Bes, and Aphrodite have been excavated. The Greek and Aramaic inscription, “To the god who is in Dan, Zoilos made a vow,” further evidences the religious significance of the city.

Dennis Cole

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

DAN . According to the popular tradition, Dan was the fifth son of Jacob, and full brother of Naphtali, by Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid (  Genesis 30:6;   Genesis 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. [Note: Assyrian.] proper names Ashur-dân [‘Ashur is judge’], Aku-dâna [‘the moon-god is judge’] of the period of Hammurabi). Its feminine counterpart is Dinah (Jacob’s daughter by Leah), which as the name of the half-sister of Dan is probably reminiscent of some related clan that early lost its identity.

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 [Note: Priestly Narrative.] makes Dan a large tribe. With his characteristic love of large numbers he gives the fighting strength of Dan in the Wilderness census as 62,700, more than that of any other except Judah ( Numbers 1:33; cf.   Numbers 26:43 , Moab census). All the other data point in the opposite direction. J [Note: Jahwist.] (  Judges 18:11 ) speaks of it as a ‘family’; elsewhere Dan is said to have had only one son, Hushim or Shuham (  Genesis 46:23 ,   Numbers 26:42 ). The tribe at first occupied the hill-country in the S.W. of Ephraim, and thence attempted to spread out into the valleys of Aijalon and Sorek. That it ever reached the sea, either here or in its later northern home, is unlikely, notwithstanding the usual interpretation of   Judges 5:17 , a passage which yields no wholly satisfactory meaning. (But see Moore, Judges, ad loc .). In this region the Danites were severely pressed by the ‘Amorites’ = (Canaanites). The major portion were compelled to emigrate northward, where they found at the foot of Mt. Hermon an isolated city, Laish or Leshem, situated in a fertile tract of country (  Joshua 19:47 ,   Judges 18:1-31 ). This city with its unsuspecting inhabitants the Danites ruthlessly destroyed. A new city was built, to which they gave the name of Dan. In this colony there were only 600 armed men with their families. On their way thither they induced the domestic priest of an Ephraimite, Micah, to accompany them with his sacred paraphernalia, an ephod, a graven and a molten image, and the teraphim . These were duly installed in a permanent sanctuary, in which the descendants of Moses are said to have ministered until the Captivity (  Judges 18:30 ). That the remnant of the family left in the South was either destroyed by its enemies, or, more likely, absorbed by the neighbouring tribes, is made probable by   Judges 1:35 , which ascribes the victory over their enemies to the ‘house of Joseph.’   Genesis 49:17 says ‘Dan shall be a serpent in the way, an adder in the path’; and   Deuteronomy 33:22 , ‘Dan is a lion’s whelp,’ etc. These characterizations are more applicable to a small tribe of guerilla fighters, versed in cunning strategy, wont to strike a quick blow from ambush at a passing troop, than they are to the more sustained measures of warfare of a large and powerful body. See also Tribes.

James A. Craig.

DAN . A city in northern Palestine, once called Laish (  Judges 18:29 ) or Leshem (  Joshua 19:47 ), though the ancient record of the battle of four kings against five gives the later name (  Genesis 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 (  1 Kings 12:29 ). It was perhaps the same as Dan-jaan , one of the borders of Joab’s census district (  2 Samuel 24:6 ). It was captured by Ben-hadad (  1 Kings 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.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Fifth son of Jacob, and first of Bilhah, Rachel's maid.  Genesis 30:6 , etc. Little is recorded of him personally: only one son is mentioned in  Genesis 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.  Numbers 1:39;  Numbers 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.  Judges 1:34 . This showed great want of faith in the DANITES (as they are called in  Judges 13:2;  Judges 18:1,11;  1 Chronicles 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,   Exodus 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."  Genesis 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.  Judges 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.  Genesis 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,"  Deuteronomy 33:22 , which may be a prophecy that Dan would do the work of Satan: cf.  Psalm 22:12,13 . This thought is confirmed by Dan's name being absent from  1 Chronicles 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.   Revelation 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  Ezekiel 48:1,2,32 .

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Dan. (a judge).

1. The fifth son of Jacob, and the first of Bilhah, Rachel's maid.  Genesis 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,  Genesis 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.  Joshua 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,"  Judges 1:34, and they had another portion granted them. Judges 18. In the "security" and "quiet,"  Judges 18:7;  Judges 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.  1 Chronicles 12:35. Asher is omitted, but the "prince of the tribe of Dan" is mentioned in the list of  1 Chronicles 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.  Revelation 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 .  Joshua 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.

Bridgeway Bible Dictionary

The tribe of Dan was descended from the elder of two sons whom Rachel’s maid Bilhah bore to Jacob ( Genesis 30:1-6). In the original division of Canaan, Dan received its tribal portion on the Philistine coast between Judah and Ephraim ( Joshua 19:40-48;  Judges 5:17;  Judges 13:1-2;  Judges 14:1;  Judges 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 ( Judges 1:34;  Judges 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 ( Judges 18:7-10;  Judges 18:27-29; cf.  Genesis 49:16-17;  Deuteronomy 33:22).

From that time on, the towns of Dan and Beersheba marked respectively the northern and southern limits of the land of Israel ( Judges 20:1;  1 Samuel 3:20;  2 Samuel 17:11;  2 Samuel 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 ( 1 Kings 12:28-30).

Dan’s isolated location meant that it was open to enemy attack from the north ( 1 Kings 15:20). It was one of the first parts of Israel to fall when Assyria conquered the land and took the people into captivity ( 2 Kings 15:29).

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Dan (dăn),  Judges 1:1-36. A son of Jacob by bis concubine Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid.  Genesis 30:6;  Genesis 35:25;  Exodus 1:4;  1 Chronicles 2:2. Of Dan's personal history we know nothing, except that he had one son, Hushim or Shuham.  Genesis 46:23;  Numbers 26:42. He shared with Ms brethren the prophetic blessing of Jacob,  Genesis 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.  Numbers 1:38-39;  Numbers 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,"  Deuteronomy 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,  Judges 18:1-31, where they set up a graven image stolen from  Micah 3:1-12. Dan, city of, the chief city of the northern district held by this tribe.  Judges 20:1. It was originally called Laish,  Judges 18:29; noted for idolatry,  Judges 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  Ezekiel 27:19, R. V. "Vedan." is possibly the same as No. 2. but some identify it with Dedar, others with Aden, in Arabia.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A judge,

1. A son of Jacob by Bilhah,  Genesis 30:3   35:25 . The tribe of Dan was second only to that of Judah in numbers before entering Canaan,  Numbers 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,  Judges 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,  Joshua 19:1-51   Judges 18:1-31

2. A city originally called Laish,  Judges 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,  Judges 18:1-31 . It was an idolatrous city even then, and was afterwards the seat of one of the golden calves of Jeroboam,  1 Kings 12:28   Amos 8:14 . Though once and again a very prosperous city,  Judges 18:10   Ezekiel 27:19 , only slight remains of it now exist.

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

The fifth son of Jacob, and by Bilhah, the handmaid of Rachel. ( Genesis 30:4-6) 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: ( Genesis 49:16-17) "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, ( Genesis 46:23) 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. ( Numbers 1:38)

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

the fifth son of Jacob,  Genesis 30:1-6 . Dan had but one son, whose name was Hushim,  Genesis 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,  Numbers 1:38 . Of Jacob's blessing Dan, see  Genesis 49:16-17 . They took Laish,  Judges 18:1;  Joshua 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,  1 Kings 12:29; and the other at Bethel.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

This name occurs in  Ezekiel 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.)

Copyright Statement These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain.

Bibliography Information Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Dan'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/d/dan.html. 1897.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( n.) A title of honor equivalent to master, or sir.

(2): ( n.) A small truck or sledge used in coal mines.

King James Dictionary

DAN, n. A title of honor equivalent to master used by Shakspeare, Prior, &c., but now obsolete.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Son of Jacob

Dan, son of Jacob by the concubine Bilhah , and founder of one of the tribes of Israel. Dan had but one son, called Hushim : notwithstanding which, when the Israelites came out of Egypt, this tribe contained 62,700 adult males , 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 , 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 (;; 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 . 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 . It was conquered, along with other towns, by the Syrians and the name is familiar from the recurrence of the proverbial expression, 'from Dan to Beersheba,' to denote the extent of the Promised Land (;; ) [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.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Bibliography Information McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Dan'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/d/dan.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.