Difference between revisions of "Dan"

From BiblePortal Wikipedia
Tag: Manual revert
 
(8 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
== Fausset's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_35065" /> ==
== Fausset's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_35077" /> ==
<p> ("judge".) Jacob's fourth son, Bilhah's (maid of Rachel) first (&nbsp;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" (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp;Judges 15:20). [[Hushim]] (the plural implying a family) or [[Shuham]] alone is mentioned as Dan's son (&nbsp;Genesis 46:23); but at the Exodus the tribe stood second of [[Israel]] in numbers (&nbsp;Numbers 1:39), &nbsp;Numbers 1:62,700; 64,400 at the close of the wilderness sojourn (&nbsp;Numbers 26:43). </p> <p> It occupied the N. side of the tabernacle, the hindmost in the march (&nbsp;Numbers 2:25; &nbsp;Numbers 2:31; &nbsp;Numbers 10:25), with [[Asher]] and Naphtali. Of Dan was Aholiab, associated with Bezaleel, in the construction of the tabernacle (&nbsp;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 &nbsp;Joshua 15:33 with &nbsp;Joshua 19:41. The [[Amorites]] previously "would not suffer them to come down into the valley" (&nbsp;Judges 1:34). </p> <p> 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 (&nbsp;Judges 13:25; &nbsp;Judges 14:1; &nbsp;Judges 14:5; &nbsp;Judges 14:19; &nbsp;Judges 16:4; &nbsp;Judges 16:31; &nbsp;Judges 18:12). The Phoenician king Esmunazar made this rich plain his prize long after, as an inscription records if rightly deciphered. In &nbsp;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. </p> <p> [[Thrice]] stress is laid on the 600 being "appointed with weapons of war" (&nbsp;Judges 18:11; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;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; &nbsp;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" (&nbsp;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. </p> <p> This probably suggested the city Dan to [[Jeroboam]] as one of the two seats of the golden calf worship (&nbsp;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; &nbsp;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 &nbsp;Genesis 49:17; &nbsp;Jeremiah 8:16; &nbsp;Amos 8:14), as there was a [[Judas]] among the twelve. </p> <p> 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]] (&nbsp;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. </p>
<p> The city at the northern bound of Israel, as [[Beersheba]] was the southern, so that" from Dan even to Beersheba" (&nbsp;Judges 20:1, etc., and bitterly, &nbsp;1 Chronicles 21:2, "from Beersheba even to Dan") expresses the whole country. Originally [[Leshem]] or Laish, see above. "Far from Zidon, in the valley that lieth by [[Beth]] Rebob," but belonging to Zidon, as their living "after the manner of the Zidonians" implies; they were too far off for [[Zidon]] to help them when attacked by the [[Danites]] (&nbsp;Judges 18:7; &nbsp;Judges 18:28). [[Already]] in Abraham's time, the spot was called by him Dan, the scene of God's "judgment" on [[Chedorlaomer]] and the invaders (&nbsp;Genesis 14:14; compare &nbsp;Isaiah 41:1-3). </p> <p> But its ordinary name was even then [[Lasha]] or Laish, the north-eastern bound of Canaan, as [[Sodom]] was the southwestern bound (&nbsp;Genesis 10:19). This too would be an additional reason for the Danites naming their city close by Abraham's camping ground, Daniel The repetition thrice of "the city" (&nbsp;Judges 18:28-29) marks that there was already another application of the name "Dan," namely, to Abraham's camping ground (compare &nbsp;Deuteronomy 34:1). Le [[Clerc]] suggests that the fountain was called Dan, "judge," as Ainmishpat means "the fount of justice." The city was smitten by [[Benhadad]] (&nbsp;1 Kings 15:20, the last place of mentioning it). </p> <p> Now ''Tel-El-Kady'' (the Arabic equivalent to Dan), "the judge's mound," whose long level top is strewed with ruins, probably those of Daniel From its foot gushes out one of the largest fountains in the world, the main source of the Jordan, called el Led-dan, a corruption of Dan, and the stream from it Nahr ed Dahn; all these names confirming Le Clerc's view. The land is truly "a large land, where there is no want of anything that is on the earth" (&nbsp;Judges 18:10). In &nbsp;1 Kings 7:13-14, [[Hiram]] the worker in brass is said to be of Naphtali; but in &nbsp;2 Chronicles 2:13-14, he is called "son of a woman of Dan." As the "outgoings" of [[Naphtali]] were at Jordan, the city Dan probably was in the tribe of Naphtali. </p> <p> So she dwelt in Naphtali, but was by birth of the [[Danite]] colony there. An undesigned mark of truth. The seeming discrepancy, thus cleared, powerfully disproves the possibility of collusion, and shows the witness of Kings and of Chronicles to be mutually independent and true. A place in S. [[Arabia]] from whence the Phoenicians obtained wrought iron, cassia, and calamus (&nbsp;Ezekiel 27:19). "Dan also." Since none of the other places begin with "also" (Hebrew ''W¦-'' ), Fairbairn translates it as Vedan, the modern Aden, near the straits of Babelmandeb. [[Ptolemy]] mentions a Dara. But probably, as Judah is mentioned in &nbsp;Ezekiel 27:17, so Dan in &nbsp;Ezekiel 27:19 represents northern Israel. Sailors from ports of Dan, with descendants of Javan, traded in the fairs of Tyre, "going to and fro." </p>
          
          
== International Standard Bible Encyclopedia <ref name="term_2935" /> ==
== International Standard Bible Encyclopedia <ref name="term_2976" /> ==
<p> (דּן , <i> '''''dān''''' </i> , "judge"; Δάν , <i> '''''Dán''''' </i> ). </p> 1. Name <p> 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" (&nbsp;Genesis 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" (&nbsp;Genesis 49:16 ). Of the patriarch Dan almost nothing is recorded. Of his sons at the settlement in Egypt only one, Hushim, is mentioned (&nbsp;Genesis 46:23 ). The name in &nbsp;Numbers 26:42 is Shuham. </p> 2. The [[Tribe]] <p> The tribe however stands second in point of numbers on leaving Egypt, furnishing 62,700 men of war (&nbsp;Numbers 1:39 ); and at the second census they were 64,400 strong (&nbsp;Numbers 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 (&nbsp;Numbers 2:25; &nbsp;Numbers 10:25; compare &nbsp;Joshua 6:9 the King James Version margin, "gathering host"). The prince of the tribe was [[Ahiezer]] (&nbsp; Numbers 1:12 ). Among the spies Dan was represented by [[Ammiel]] the son of [[Gemalli]] (&nbsp;Numbers 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 (&nbsp;Exodus 31:6 ). One who was stoned for blasphemy was the son of a [[Danite]] woman (&nbsp;Leviticus 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]] (&nbsp; Deuteronomy 27:13 ). The prince of Dan at the division of the land was [[Bukki]] the son of [[Jogli]] (&nbsp;Numbers 34:22 ). </p> 3. Territory <p> The portion assigned to Dan adjoined those of Ephraim, [[Benjamin]] and Judah, and lay on the western slopes of the mountain. The reference in &nbsp;Judges 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 (&nbsp; Judges 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 &nbsp;Joshua 19:47 . </p> 4. The Danite Raid <p> 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 &nbsp;2 Chronicles 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 (&nbsp; 1 Chronicles 12:35; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 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 &nbsp;Revelation 7:5 . </p> <p> 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" (&nbsp;Genesis 49:17 ) - but swift and strong in striking - "a lion's whelp, that leapeth forth from Bashan" (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 33:22 ). Along with Abel, Dan ranked as a city in which the true customs of old Israel were preserved (&nbsp;2 Samuel 20:18 Septuagint). </p>
<p> A city familiar as marking the northern limit of the land of [[Israel]] in the common phrase "from Dan even to Beer-sheba" (&nbsp;Judges 20:1; &nbsp;1 Samuel 3:20 , etc.). Its ancient name was [[Laish]] or Leshem (&nbsp;Judges 18:7 , etc.). It was probably an outlying settlement of [[Tyre]] of Sidon. Its inhabitants, pursuing the ends of peaceful traders, were defenseless against the onset of the Danite raiders. Having captured the city the Danites gave it the name of their own tribal ancestor (Jdg 18). It lay in the valley near Beth-rehob (&nbsp;Judges 18:28 ). [[Josephus]] places it near Mt. [[Lebanon]] and the fountain of the lesser Jordan, a day's journey from [[Sidon]] ( <i> Ant. </i> , V, iii, 1; VIII, viii, 4; <i> BJ </i> , IV, i, 1). Eusebius, <i> Onomasticon </i> says it lay 4 Roman miles from Paneas on the way to Tyre, at the source of the Jordan. This points decisively to <i> ''''' Tell el ''''' </i> - <i> ''''' Ḳāḍy ''''' </i> , in the plain West of Banias. The mound of this name - <i> ''''' Ḳāḍy ''''' </i> is the exact Arabic equivalent of the [[Hebrew]] <i> ''''' Dan ''''' </i> ̌ - rises from among the bushes and reeds to a height varying from 40 to 80 ft. The largest of all the springs of the [[Jordan]] rises on the west side. The waters join with those of a smaller spring on the other side to form <i> ''''' Nahr el ''''' </i> - <i> ''''' Leddān ''''' </i> which flows southward to meet the streams from <i> ''''' Bāniās ''''' </i> and <i> ''''' Ḥasbeiyeh ''''' </i> . The mound, which is the crater of an extinct volcano, has certain ancient remains on the south side, while the tomb of <i> ''''' [[Sheikh]] Marzuk ''''' </i> is sheltered by two holy trees. The sanctuary and ritual established by the Danites persisted as long as the house of God was in Shiloh, and the priesthood in this idolatrous shrine remained in the family of [[Jonathan]] till the conquest of Tiglath-pileser (&nbsp;Judges 18:30; &nbsp;2 Kings 15:29 ). Here [[Jeroboam]] I set up the golden calf. The ancient sanctity of the place would tend to promote the success of his scheme (&nbsp;1 Kings 12:28 f, etc.). The calf, according to a [[Jewish]] tradition, was taken away by Tiglath-pileser. Dan fell before Benhadad, king of Syria (&nbsp; 1 Kings 15:20; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 16:4 ). It was regained by Jeroboam Ii (&nbsp;2 Kings 14:25 ). It shared the country's fate at th hands of Tiglath-pileser (&nbsp;2 Kings 15:29 ). </p> <p> It was to this district that [[Abraham]] pursued the army of Chedorlaomer (&nbsp;Genesis 14:14 ). For Dr. G. A. Smith's suggestion that Dan may have been at <i> ''''' Bāniās ''''' </i> see <i> HGHL </i> 1, 473, 480 f. </p>
          
          
==References ==
==References ==
<references>
<references>


<ref name="term_35065"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/fausset-s-bible-dictionary/dan+(1) Dan from Fausset's Bible Dictionary]</ref>
<ref name="term_35077"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/fausset-s-bible-dictionary/dan+(2) Dan from Fausset's Bible Dictionary]</ref>
          
          
<ref name="term_2935"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/international-standard-bible-encyclopedia/dan+(1) Dan from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia]</ref>
<ref name="term_2976"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/international-standard-bible-encyclopedia/dan+(2) Dan from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia]</ref>
          
          
</references>
</references>

Latest revision as of 14:05, 16 October 2021

Fausset's Bible Dictionary [1]

The city at the northern bound of Israel, as Beersheba was the southern, so that" from Dan even to Beersheba" ( Judges 20:1, etc., and bitterly,  1 Chronicles 21:2, "from Beersheba even to Dan") expresses the whole country. Originally Leshem or Laish, see above. "Far from Zidon, in the valley that lieth by Beth Rebob," but belonging to Zidon, as their living "after the manner of the Zidonians" implies; they were too far off for Zidon to help them when attacked by the Danites ( Judges 18:7;  Judges 18:28). Already in Abraham's time, the spot was called by him Dan, the scene of God's "judgment" on Chedorlaomer and the invaders ( Genesis 14:14; compare  Isaiah 41:1-3).

But its ordinary name was even then Lasha or Laish, the north-eastern bound of Canaan, as Sodom was the southwestern bound ( Genesis 10:19). This too would be an additional reason for the Danites naming their city close by Abraham's camping ground, Daniel The repetition thrice of "the city" ( Judges 18:28-29) marks that there was already another application of the name "Dan," namely, to Abraham's camping ground (compare  Deuteronomy 34:1). Le Clerc suggests that the fountain was called Dan, "judge," as Ainmishpat means "the fount of justice." The city was smitten by Benhadad ( 1 Kings 15:20, the last place of mentioning it).

Now Tel-El-Kady (the Arabic equivalent to Dan), "the judge's mound," whose long level top is strewed with ruins, probably those of Daniel From its foot gushes out one of the largest fountains in the world, the main source of the Jordan, called el Led-dan, a corruption of Dan, and the stream from it Nahr ed Dahn; all these names confirming Le Clerc's view. The land is truly "a large land, where there is no want of anything that is on the earth" ( Judges 18:10). In  1 Kings 7:13-14, Hiram the worker in brass is said to be of Naphtali; but in  2 Chronicles 2:13-14, he is called "son of a woman of Dan." As the "outgoings" of Naphtali were at Jordan, the city Dan probably was in the tribe of Naphtali.

So she dwelt in Naphtali, but was by birth of the Danite colony there. An undesigned mark of truth. The seeming discrepancy, thus cleared, powerfully disproves the possibility of collusion, and shows the witness of Kings and of Chronicles to be mutually independent and true. A place in S. Arabia from whence the Phoenicians obtained wrought iron, cassia, and calamus ( Ezekiel 27:19). "Dan also." Since none of the other places begin with "also" (Hebrew W¦- ), Fairbairn translates it as Vedan, the modern Aden, near the straits of Babelmandeb. Ptolemy mentions a Dara. But probably, as Judah is mentioned in  Ezekiel 27:17, so Dan in  Ezekiel 27:19 represents northern Israel. Sailors from ports of Dan, with descendants of Javan, traded in the fairs of Tyre, "going to and fro."

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [2]

A city familiar as marking the northern limit of the land of Israel in the common phrase "from Dan even to Beer-sheba" ( Judges 20:1;  1 Samuel 3:20 , etc.). Its ancient name was Laish or Leshem ( Judges 18:7 , etc.). It was probably an outlying settlement of Tyre of Sidon. Its inhabitants, pursuing the ends of peaceful traders, were defenseless against the onset of the Danite raiders. Having captured the city the Danites gave it the name of their own tribal ancestor (Jdg 18). It lay in the valley near Beth-rehob ( Judges 18:28 ). Josephus places it near Mt. Lebanon and the fountain of the lesser Jordan, a day's journey from Sidon ( Ant. , V, iii, 1; VIII, viii, 4; BJ , IV, i, 1). Eusebius, Onomasticon says it lay 4 Roman miles from Paneas on the way to Tyre, at the source of the Jordan. This points decisively to Tell el - Ḳāḍy , in the plain West of Banias. The mound of this name - Ḳāḍy is the exact Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew Dan ̌ - rises from among the bushes and reeds to a height varying from 40 to 80 ft. The largest of all the springs of the Jordan rises on the west side. The waters join with those of a smaller spring on the other side to form Nahr el - Leddān which flows southward to meet the streams from Bāniās and Ḥasbeiyeh . The mound, which is the crater of an extinct volcano, has certain ancient remains on the south side, while the tomb of Sheikh Marzuk is sheltered by two holy trees. The sanctuary and ritual established by the Danites persisted as long as the house of God was in Shiloh, and the priesthood in this idolatrous shrine remained in the family of Jonathan till the conquest of Tiglath-pileser ( Judges 18:30;  2 Kings 15:29 ). Here Jeroboam I set up the golden calf. The ancient sanctity of the place would tend to promote the success of his scheme ( 1 Kings 12:28 f, etc.). The calf, according to a Jewish tradition, was taken away by Tiglath-pileser. Dan fell before Benhadad, king of Syria (  1 Kings 15:20;  2 Chronicles 16:4 ). It was regained by Jeroboam Ii ( 2 Kings 14:25 ). It shared the country's fate at th hands of Tiglath-pileser ( 2 Kings 15:29 ).

It was to this district that Abraham pursued the army of Chedorlaomer ( Genesis 14:14 ). For Dr. G. A. Smith's suggestion that Dan may have been at Bāniās see HGHL 1, 473, 480 f.

References

  1. ↑ Dan from Fausset's Bible Dictionary
  2. ↑ Dan from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Retrieved from "http://wiki.bibleportal.com/index.php?title=Dan&oldid=386283"