The tribe of Dan

July 22, 2017

The tribe of Dan (Ezek 48:1-48:1)

“These are the names

Of the tribes.

You will begin

At the northern border,

On the Hethlon road,

From Lebo-hamath,

As far as Hazar-enon,

The border

Of Damascus

With Hamath

To the north.

This will extend

From the east side

To the westside.

This shall be

One portion

Of Dan.”

According to Joshua, chapter 19, Dan had a small territory between Ephraim, Benjamin, and Judah. However, it was wiped out, so that they ended up with a small territory between Manasseh and Naphtali near the Syrian border. Thus, the tribe of Dan here gets this northern territory, close to Damascus. It was not clear how many from the tribe of Dan were still around.

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May 11, 2014

The tribe of Dan (Josh 19:40-19:48)

“The seventh lot came out for the tribe of Dan, according to its families. The territory of its inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh, Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah, Elon, Timnah, Ekron, Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon, and Me-jarkon and Rakkon a the border opposite Joppa. When the territory of the Danites was lost to them, the Danites went up and fought against Leshem. After capturing it and putting it to the sword they took possession of it and settled in it, calling Leshem Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Dan, according to their families, these towns with their villages.”

Dan’s original territory between Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim was wiped out so that they ended up in the northeast corner, east of Naphtali and west of Manasseh. The battle at Leshem gave Dan some territory. Otherwise Judah would have it. Dan like Simeon seems like a vanishing tribe. There is no mention of when this happened. It is interesting that it is mentioned at the partition of the territories, before it actually happened. 3 of the towns mentioned here were also given to Judah: Zorah, Eshtaol, and Ekron. 8 others are only mentioned here and not elsewhere in the biblical books: Ir-shemesh, Shaalabbin, Ithlah, Jehud, Bene-berak, Me-jarkon, Rakkon, and Leshem.