Dan

March 8, 2018

Joseph goes to Galilee (Mt 2:22-2:22)

“But when Joseph heard

That Archelaus

Was ruling over Judea,

In place of his father,

King Herod,

He was afraid

To go there.

After being warned

In a dream,

He went away

To the district of Galilee.”

 

ἀκούσας δὲ ὅτι Ἀρχέλαος βασιλεύει τῆς Ἰουδαίας ἀντὶ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ Ἡρῴδου ἐφοβήθη ἐκεῖ ἀπελθεῖν· χρηματισθεὶς δὲ κατ’ ὄναρ ἀνεχώρησεν εἰς τὰ μέρη τῆς Γαλιλαίας

 

Once again, Joseph was warned in a dream (χρηματισθεὶς δὲ κατ’ ὄναρ), without the explicit mention of the angel of the Lord. Joseph found out that the son of King Herod (ἀντὶ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ Ἡρῴδου), Archelaus, (23 BCE-16 CE) was now in charge in Judea (ἀκούσας δὲ ὅτι Ἀρχέλαος βασιλεύει τῆς Ἰουδαίας). He was afraid to go back there (ἐφοβήθη ἐκεῖ ἀπελθεῖν) to Judea, since maybe King Herod’s son would be after his child just like his father. Actually, Herod Archelaus only lasted about 10 years before the Romans took the title away from him in 6 CE. Thus, Joseph decided to withdraw to the district of Galilee (ἀνεχώρησεν εἰς τὰ μέρη τῆς Γαλιλαίας), without explicitly being told to do so. Galilee was a rocky terrain region in northern Israel. Originally, it was part of the tribal regions of Naphtali, Dan, and Asher, but later it was part of the northern kingdom of Israel, with a Phoenician presence and influence. In the Roman times, Galilee was clearly separate from Judea. Many of the events in the life of Jesus would take place there, even though Herod Antipas, the other son of King Herod, ruled Galilee from 4 BCE-39 CE.

July 27, 2017

The three gates on the east side (Ezek 48:32-48:32)

“On the east side,

It shall be  

Four thousand five hundred cubits.

The three gates are

The gate of Joseph,

The gate of Benjamin,

The gate of Dan.”

There were 3 gates on the east side, 4,500 cubits from the center. It is interesting to note that Manasseh and Ephraim are no longer mentioned but merely their father, Joseph, as if it was only one tribe. The sons clearly had land given to them. The gate of Joseph would have been the most popular, since Benjamin and Dan were smaller tribes.

July 23, 2017

The tribe of Asher (Ezek 48:2-48:2)

“Adjoining the territory of Dan,

From the east side

To the west side,

Asher,

Was one portion.”

Although it is not mentioned, the Mediterranean Sea might have been Asher’s western border. Here it seems to be on both sides of Dan. Asher in Joshua, chapter 19, was west of Naphtali and Zebulun, but here it is mentioned before them. The Israelites never had control of the seacoast towns anyway.

October 20, 2016

Tracing the coming enemy (Jer 4:15-4:17)

“A voice declares

From Dan.

It proclaims disaster

From Mount Ephraim.

Tell the nations!

‘Here they are!’

Announce to Jerusalem.

‘Besiegers come from a distant land!

They shout against the cities of Judah!

They have closed in around her

Like watchers of a field.”

Jeremiah has a little play by play of how the invading destroyers were coming to Jerusalem. First, they were in the far northern territory of Dan near the Syrian border. Then the second disaster warning comes from Mount Ephraim, just north of Benjamin, in the central area. Finally, they are besieging and surrounding the cities of Judah, the heartland, where Jerusalem is on the border with Benjamin. They were in fields watching as the attack was imminent.

 

February 17, 2015

The apostasy in Naphtali (Tob 1:3-1:5)

“I, Tobit, walked in the ways of truth and righteousness all the days of my life. I performed many acts of charity to my kindred and my people who had gone with me in exile to Nineveh in the land of the Assyrians. When I was in my own country, in the land of Israel, while I was still a young man, the whole tribe of my ancestor Naphtali deserted the house of David and Jerusalem. This city had been chosen from among all the tribes of Israel. All the tribes of Israel should sacrifice there. The temple was the dwelling of God that had been consecrated and established for all generations forever. All my kindred and our ancestral house of Naphtali sacrificed to the calf that King Jeroboam of Israel had erected in Dan and on the mountains of Galilee.”

After the preceding 3rd person introduction of Tobit, this now is a 1st person singular account of what happened. Tobit explained that he was a man of truth and righteousness. He was kind to his associates who were exiled in Nineveh, which was the northern capital of Assyria, east of the Tigris River. When Tobit was in his own country as a young man, the tribe of Naphtali deserted the house of David and Jerusalem. Naphtali was, in fact, 1 of the sons of Jacob, 1 or the 12 tribes of Israel. Asher, Naphtali, and Dan were the northern most tribes of Israel. They were a long way from Jerusalem. As explained in 1 Kings, chapters 12 and 13, King Jeroboam (931-910 BCE), the first king of Israel, set up a golden calf in the territory of Dan and Bethel so that people could worship there instead of Jerusalem. Tobit on the other hand worshiped in Jerusalem.

 

December 26, 2014

The dispute with King Baasha of Israel (2 Chr 16:1-16:6)

“In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of King Asa, King Baasha of Israel went up against Judah. He built Ramah to prevent anyone from going out or coming into the territory of King Asa of Judah. Then King Asa took silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the Yahweh and the king’s house. He sent them to King Ben-hadad of Aram, who resided in Damascus, saying. ‘Let there be an alliance between me and you, like between my father and your father. I am sending to you silver and gold. Go! Break your alliance with King Baasha of Israel that he may withdraw from me.’ King Ben-hadad listened to King Asa. He sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the store-cities of Naphtali. When Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah, and let his work cease. Then King Asa brought all Judah together. They carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which King Baasha had been building. With them he built Geba and Mizpah.”

Once again, this is almost based word for word like 1 Kings, chapter 15. King Baasha (909-886 BCE) was the contemporary king of Israel. Instead of a continual war with Kings Asa and King Baasha, here the war begins in the 36th year of the rule of King Asa. King Baasha set up some kind of barricade in Ramah, which was about 6 miles north of Jerusalem that kept King Asa from coming and going into Jerusalem. King Asa of Judah had an idea to get the Aramean King Ben-hadad of Damascus on his side against King Baasha of Israel. He sent envoys to Damascus with gold and silver from the temple and palace treasuries. He wanted King Ben-hadad to break his alliance with King Baasha and invade the northern territories. King Ben-hadad took the gold and silver. Then he sent his armies to take over the northern area around Dan and Naphtali. Here there is no mention of Galilee. When this happened, King Baasha stopped his work at Ramah and went to defend his cities. There is no mention of Tirzah here. Meanwhile, King Asa sent all his people out from Jerusalem to Ramah to take all the stones and timbers. Then they rebuilt the cities of Geba, 6 miles northeast of Jerusalem in the Benjamin territory, and Mizpah, about 4 miles northwest of Jerusalem. These towns had existed before, but now they were refortified. Mizpah was a common name for many towns.

 

December 6, 2014

Various tribal leaders (1 Chr 27:16-27:22)

“Over the tribes of Israel,

For the Reubenites Eliezer son of Zichri was chief officer.

For the Simeonites, Shephatiah son of Maacah was chief officer.

For Levi, Hashabiah son of Kemuel was chief officer.

For Aaron, Zadok was chief officer.

For Judah, Elihu, one of David’s brothers was chief officer.

For Issachar, Omri son of Michael was chief officer.

For Zebulun, Ishmaiah son of Obadiah was chief officer.

For Naphtali, Jeremoth son of Azriel was chief officer.

For the Ephraimites, Hoshea son of Azaziah was chief officer.

For the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joel son of Pedaiah was chief officer.

For the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo son of Zechariah was chief officer.

For Benjamin, Jaasiel son of Abner was chief officer.

For Dan, Azarel son of Jeroham was chief officer.

These were the leaders of the tribes of Israel.”

Notice first, that there is no leader for Gad or Asher. Aaron also had a separate leader. Although there are 10 different people with the name of (1) Eliezer, this son of Zichri is only mentioned here. Even though there are 7 different people with the name of (2) Shephatiah, this son of Maacah is only mentioned here. This (3) Hashabiah son of Kemuel may be the same as the Levite mentioned earlier in this book, but there were a lot of Levites with this name. (4) Zadok was the high priest. (5) Elihu was not really a blood brother of King David. There were 3 others with the name of (6) Omri, but this Omri was not a king. (7) Ishmaiah son of Obadiah may have been one of the “Thirty” warriors of David. (8) Jeremoth son of Azriel may have been one of the warriors mentioned in chapter 25. There were 3 other people with the name of Hoshea, including a king, but not this (9) Hoshea son of Azaziah. Although Joel was a popular name of over 14 people, including a prophet, this (10) Joel son of Pedaiah only appears here. 6 different biblical people have the name of Iddo, but this (11) Iddo son of Zechariah only appears here. There is only 1 other Jaasiel besides this (12) Jaasiel son of Abner. This (13) Azarel son of Jeroham may be the same one mentioned in chapter 25.

 

October 30, 2014

Reuben (1 Chr 5:1-5:1)

“Reuben was the first-born of Israel. However, because he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel. Thus Reuben is not enrolled in the genealogy according to the birthright.”

Now we are going to look at the Transjordan area or the east side of the Jordan River. First up is Reuben, who was technically the first born child of Jacob or Israel. Leah, the older sister of Rachel was the mother of Reuben and 5 other sons of Jacob. In Genesis, chapter 35, Reuben had sex with his father’s concubine, Bilhah, who was actually the mother of his step brothers, Dan and Naphtali. Thus he had sex with his step mother while Israel was away. There was no indication in Genesis that Israel took the birthright away from Reuben to give it to the sons of Joseph. The only indication is that Jacob, on his deathbed made the sons of Joseph his, just like Reuben and Simeon in Genesis, chapter 48. There was no talk of replacing them, just making them equal. In fact in Genesis, chapter 46, the biblical author when listing those who went to Egypt with Jacob, listed Reuben first with his children.

October 23, 2014

The descendents of Israel (1 Chr 2:1-2:2)

“These are the sons of Israel, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.”

The first listing of the 12 tribes of Israel is found in Genesis, chapter 35, where they are listed by their mother so that you could understand where the 12 tribes came from. Incidentally here in this book Jacob is always called Israel, never Jacob. The opposite is true in Genesis, where they are generally called the sons of Jacob. Here in Chronicles, there is no mention of the four different wives of Jacob. Thus you had the 11 clans of Esau or Edom and the 12 tribes of Jacob or Israel. The twelve clans of Israel had 4 different mothers. Leah was the mother of six sons or half of the tribes with (1) Reuben, (2) Simeon, (3) Levi, (4) Judah, (5) Issachar, and (6) Zebulun. Rachel was the mother of (7) Joseph and (8) Benjamin. Bilhah was the mother of (9) Dan and (10) Naphtali. Zilpah was the mother of (11) Gad and (12) Asher. The two maid servants, Bilhah and Zilpah, contributed to a third of the house of Israel. More information about these people can be found in chapters 29 and 30 of Genesis.

August 20, 2014

The political and religious schism (1 Kings 12:25-12:33)

“Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim. He resided there. He then built Penuel. Then Jeroboam said to himself. ‘Now the kingdom may well revert to the house of David. If this people continue to go up to offer sacrifices in the house of Yahweh at Jerusalem, the heart of this people will turn again to their master, King Rehoboam of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam of Judah.’ So the king took counsel. He made two calves of gold. He said to the people. ‘You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’ He set one in Bethel. The other he put in Dan. This thing became a sin. The people went to worship before the one at Bethel and before the other as far as Dan. He also made houses on high places. He appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites. Jeroboam appointed a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like the festival that was in Judah. He offered sacrifices upon the altar. So he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. He placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made. He went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month that he alone had devised. He appointed a festival for the people of Israel. He went up to the altar to offer incense.”

For the first time we have two kings, one in Judah and the other for the rest of Israel in Shechem as the political break is complete. Jeroboam built a place in Shechem that was in Ephraim territory rather than in Manasseh. He also built a place on the east side of the Jordan in Gad, named Penuel, a place where Gideon had some problems in Judges, chapter 8. Then Jeroboam did not want the Israelites to go to Jerusalem. Thus, he set up other places to worship Yahweh. He built two golden calves. Does that sound familiar? The golden calf as a golden bull was a symbol of Baal. He put one in Dan on the northern border while the other was in Bethel on the southern border in Ephraim, on the way to Jerusalem. He created his own festival. He had priests that were not Levites. The Levites did not have a strong role in this Israel society like they did in Judah. Jeroboam himself offered incense and sacrifices on the various high altars. Clearly, he was setting up an alternative worship service to that of Jerusalem. He was against the traditional ways of Jerusalem. Now the political schism had become a religious schism as well.