DAN. - I. Fifth son of Jacob and first of Bilhah, Rachel’s maid (Gen. 30:6; 35:25). At his birth Rachel, playing on the word *dan* “he judged,” exclaimed: “The Lord hath judged me.” The Bible records nothing further of him. His descendants (Gen. 46:23) were the Hushim. He was the eponym of the tribe.
2. The tribe, which numbered 62,700 men fit for war at Sinai (Num. 1:38 ff.), was surpassed only by Judah with 74,600. Yet it developed little: in the plains of Moab the Danites fit for war numbered 64,400 (Num. 26:42 ff.). They camped north of the tabernacle with Asher and Naphtali; on the desert march they brought up the rear (Num. 2:25; 10:25). In the division of the Palestinian territory it received a narrow tract between Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. Unable to assign precise boundaries, Josh. 19:41–46 lists the cities that fell to Dan: Zorah, Eshtaol, Horesh (= Beth-shemesh), Aijalon, Ibleam, Eltekeh (mentioned in an inscription of Sennacherib), Joppa (v.), Lod, and Ono. The territory lay in the Shephelah, between Joppa, Lod, and the Sharon, above Joppa, extending to the foothills of the mountains—a zone celebrated for fertility, as the place-names themselves attest; the varied terrain is likewise reflected in the toponymy: *Shephelah* = lowlands; *Gibeathon* = height. The Amorites (v.) drove the Danites from the plain into the hill country (Judg. 1:34 ff.), so that possession of the seacoast remained precarious, where the Philistines (v.) settled. Cramped borders impelled the Danites to seek a new home elsewhere. Five envoys were sent to scout for more spacious lands (Judg. 18). Reaching the northernmost edge of Palestine, they chose the region of Laish (modern Tell el-Qadi) near the sources of the Jordan, well suited by its wealth and isolation. Six hundred armed men, with their families, occupied the new territory. They took from the sanctuary of Micah (v.) the *ephod* and the *teraphim*, and persuaded the Bethlehemite Levite who served there to accompany them. After conquering Laish, which they renamed Dan, they established a sanctuary there, later condemned as separatist and idolatrous.
The history of the sanctuary at Dan is significant because it reveals the religious ideas of a people exposed to Canaanite influences regarding the manner of worship. Micah’s ancient sanctuary in Ephraim was not idolatrous in itself, yet its procedure is reproved (Judg. 17:6) as contrary to Mosaic legislation (Ex. 20:4; Deut. 12:14; Lev. 17:8–9). The sanctuary at Dan continued to be frequented by the Danites while the national cult of Israel centered on the ark at Shiloh. In the tenth century, at the division of Israel from the kingdom of Judah, Jeroboam I set up one of his golden calves at Dan, making it the second official sanctuary of Israel and thereby fostering religious syncretism.
The phrase “from Dan to Beersheba” denotes the extreme limits of Palestine (Judg. 20:1; 1 Sam. 3:20; 2 Sam. 3:10; 17:11; 24:2, 15; 1 Kgs. 4:25; 1 Chr. 21:2; 2 Chr. 13:35; 27:37). The tribe is omitted from the genealogies in 1 Chr. 2–12, suggesting that it had become extinct after most of its members emigrated to Laish. In Rev. 7:5–8 Dan is missing from the count of the “sealed.” The Danites were noted for boldness (Gen. 49:16–18) and martial prowess (Deut. 33:22), which found expression in the exploits of Samson (v.).