Dan (Son of Jacob)

Biblical Account

Dan's birth is recorded in Genesis 30:1-6. Rachel, who had been unable to bear children (see Rachel and Leah), gave her maidservant Bilhah to her husband Jacob, and Bilhah bore a son. Rachel named the child Dan, saying, "God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son" (Genesis 30:6). The name Dan is related to a Hebrew word meaning "to judge" or "to render judgment." Bilhah later bore Naphtali, so Naphtali was Dan's full brother (Genesis 30:7-8; 35:25).

Little is recorded about Dan himself. Genesis 37:2 notes that Joseph tended the flocks with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, and Dan went down to Egypt with his brothers. Genesis 46:23 lists Hushim as his son; in Numbers 26:42 the same son appears as Shuham.

Significance in Scripture

On his deathbed Jacob blessed him: "Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path" (Genesis 49:16-17). Moses declared, "Dan is a lion's whelp: he shall leap from Bashan" (Deuteronomy 33:22).

The tribe of Dan, descended from him, produced Oholiab, a craftsman of the tabernacle (Bezalel and Oholiab; Exodus 31:6), and the judge Samson (Judges 13). In Judges 18, however, the tribe of Dan migrated north to Laish, renamed the city Dan, and set up an idol there. Dan was later one of the places where Jeroboam placed a golden calf (1 Kings 12:29). The phrase "from Dan even to Beersheba" is used to denote the entire land of Israel (1 Samuel 3:20 and elsewhere).

The New Testament does not mention Dan directly. However, Dan's absence from the list of the twelve tribes in Revelation 7:5-8 has long attracted attention. By contrast, Dan is included in the allotment of the restored land in Ezekiel 48.

Interpretations and Debates

• The "serpent" image in Genesis 49: Some interpreters read it positively, as meaning that even a small tribe can overthrow a powerful enemy, and connect it with Samson. Others read it negatively, as foreshadowing cunning or the tribe's later idolatry.
• The omission in Revelation 7: A widely known explanation attributes the omission to the idolatry of the tribe of Dan. Some ancient interpreters, such as Irenaeus in the second century, held that the Antichrist would come from the tribe of Dan. Other scholars, by contrast, regard the omission as a consequence of including both Levi and Joseph while keeping the number at twelve. The biblical text does not state the reason for the omission.
• Extrabiblical traditions: The Testament of Dan, part of the Old Testament pseudepigraphal work Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, contains Dan's confession that he envied and hated Joseph. This account comes from later literature and is not found in Scripture.

In the Korean Church

Sermons focused on Dan as an individual are rare. He is mentioned mainly in Bible studies on the twelve tribes of Israel or in Sunday school lessons in which children memorize the twelve sons of Jacob. He is also sometimes discussed in connection with the Samson narrative, the passages on idolatry in the latter part of Judges, and the interpretation of Revelation 7.