Tribe of Dan

The Tribe of Dan (???? "Judge", Standard Hebrew Dan, Tiberian Hebrew D?n) is one of the Hebrew tribes, which the Bible claims was founded by Dan, son of Jacob and Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant (Genesis 30:4).

Related Topics:
Standard Hebrew - Tiberian Hebrew - Hebrew tribe - Bible - Dan - Jacob - Bilhah - Rachel's - Genesis

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The tribe originally settled in the central coastal area of the Promised Land (Joshua 19), in proximity to the area controlled by the Philistines. Samson, the legendary warrior against the Philistines, was said to be a member of this tribe. The inability of the tribe to settle its inheritance in the fertile valleys already occupied by the Philistines, led the group to abandon their positions in the Hill Country overlooking the Sorek Valley (Mahaneh Dan = "Camps of Dan") and migrate to an open area. The Bible claims that the tribe moved to the northern part of the land (Judges 18), apparently due to military pressure by the Philistines. In the north, the principal settlement was the ancient site of Luz, later named Dan, whose ruins are located at modern Tel Dan. The move involved a religious act of defiance, when the Dan people installed their own independent legacy of Levite clergy (see Judges 17).

Related Topics:
Promised Land - Joshua - Philistines - Samson - Sorek Valley - Judges - Tel Dan - Levite

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When Jeroboam led the revolt of the northern tribes and established the Kingdom of Israel, Dan was one of the tribes in it, and so would count as one of the Lost Tribes exiled by the Assyrians.

Related Topics:
Jeroboam - Kingdom of Israel - Lost Tribes - Assyria

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The original territory of Dan, before the move to the north, includes the area as far north as modern Tel Aviv, but extends south into the Shephelah in the area of Timnah and the Sorek Valley.. Hence this metropolis is known in Hebrew as Gush Dan - the Dan area.

Related Topics:
Tel Aviv - Shephelah - Timnah - Sorek Valley - Gush Dan

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The Beta Israel, a group of Jews living in Ethiopia which was isolated from Israel until the 19th century, claim to be descendants of the Tribe of Dan, though it is not clear how they got there.

Related Topics:
Beta Israel - Jew - Ethiopia - Israel - 19th century

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