Dedan

Biblical References

Dedan in the Genealogies

Dedan appears as a personal name in two genealogies in Genesis.

• Line of Ham: In Genesis 10:7 and 1 Chronicles 1:9, Dedan is listed among the descendants of Cush, the son of Ham. He is the son of Raamah and the brother of Sheba.
• Line of Abraham: In Genesis 25:3 and 1 Chronicles 1:32, Dedan is the son of Jokshan, who was born to Abraham and Keturah. Here, too, he is the brother of Sheba. Genesis 25:3 names the Asshurim, the Letushim, and the Leummim as Dedan's descendants. These Asshurim are generally regarded as an Arabian tribe distinct from Mesopotamian Assyria.

Dedan in the Prophets

• Isaiah 21:13: Dedan appears in the burden concerning Arabia, which depicts the caravans of Dedan taking refuge from war and lodging for the night in the thickets.
• Jeremiah 25:23: Dedan is listed, along with Tema and Buz, among the nations that must drink the cup of God's wrath.
• Jeremiah 49:8; Ezekiel 25:13: Dedan is mentioned in prophecies of judgment against Edom.
• Ezekiel 27:15, 27:20: Dedan appears as a trading partner of Tyre and is said to have dealt in saddlecloths.
• Ezekiel 38:13: In the prophecy concerning Gog, Dedan appears with Sheba and the merchants of Tarshish among those who ask whether Gog has come to take a spoil.

Background

The Hebrew form of the name is Dedan, and its meaning is uncertain. Ancient Dedan is widely identified with the area of the Al-Ula oasis in what is now northwestern Saudi Arabia, where ancient inscriptions bearing the name "Dedan" have been discovered. Dedan is known to have lain on the caravan route that carried incense and spices northward from South Arabia. Its proximity to Tema and Edom is generally thought to explain why the prophetic books frequently mention it together with those regions. Scholars differ on the period of its greatest prosperity and on its political organization.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

The name Dedan shows that even distant trading peoples outside Israel are included in the biblical genealogies and prophecies. The prophetic books treat Dedan as one of the nations under God's judgment and sovereignty. The name Dedan does not appear in the New Testament. Although the prophecy concerning Gog in Ezekiel 38 is taken up in the reference to "Gog and Magog" in Revelation 20:8, Dedan is not mentioned in that passage.

Interpretations and Issues

Dedan in Two Genealogies

Several explanations have been offered for why Dedan appears in both the line of Ham and the line of Abraham:

• Two distinct groups bore the same name.
• A single group was formed through the intermingling of several lineages.
• Biblical genealogies reflect not only physical descent but also geographical and political relationships.

Textual Variant in Ezekiel 27:15

The Masoretic Text reads "Dedan" in this verse, whereas the Septuagint reads "Rhodians." Many scholars attribute the difference to confusion between two similar-looking Hebrew letters (ד and ר). The New Korean Revised Version follows the reading "Dedan," while some translations in other languages and some commentaries adopt the Septuagint reading.

Eschatological Interpretation

Some interpreters in the dispensationalist tradition regard the war involving Gog in Ezekiel 38 as a future end-time event, and some of them associate Sheba and Dedan with present-day nations of the Arabian Peninsula. Other interpreters, by contrast, read the prophecy symbolically or understand it within its historical context in the ancient Near East. The text itself does not identify any modern nation.