Dan

The tribe of Dan, one of the twelve tribes descended from Jacob’s son Dan through his concubine Bilhah, is first noted in Scripture for its allotted territory west of Judah, though the tribe struggled to secure it against the Amorites and Philistines. Its most famous member was the judge Samson, whose Spirit-empowered exploits against the Philistines are recorded in Judges 13–16. Later, part of the tribe migrated north, seized the peaceful city of Laish, renamed it Dan, and installed a shrine containing stolen idols and an unauthorized priesthood, practices that persisted for generations. This northern sanctuary became a focal point of national idolatry when Jeroboam set up one of his golden calves there, illustrating the tribe’s contribution to Israel’s covenant unfaithfulness and the eventual judgment pronounced by the prophets.

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Meaning: Judge
Patriarch: Dan
Mother: Bilhah
Territory: Originally coastal plain near Philistia, later migrated north to Laish
Blessing: Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
Key Figures: Samson

Key Passages

Jacob's Blessing

Genesis 49:16-18

D¹⁶an shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.

Dan's Migration

Judges 18:1-6

I¹n those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel.

² And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there. ³ When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here? ⁴ And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest. ⁵ And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous. ⁶ And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the LORD is your way wherein ye go.

Dan's Idolatry

Judges 18:27-31

A²⁷nd they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire.

²⁸ And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by Bethrehob. And they built a city, and dwelt therein. ²⁹ And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first. ³⁰ And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. ³¹ And they set them up Micah’s graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

Did You Know?

Dan is the only tribe completely absent from the list of sealed tribes in Revelation 7.

The tribe of Dan was the first to fall into organized idolatry (Judges 18).

Samson, Israel's strongest judge, came from the tribe of Dan.

Dan's territory included the northernmost city in Israel. Giving rise to the phrase 'from Dan to Beersheba.'

Dan