Person
Dan
son of Jacob
Son of Jacob by Bilhah; progenitor of the tribe that migrated north, conquered Laish, and renamed it Dan after themselves.
Who or what is this?
Dan was the fifth son of , born to Bilhah, the maidservant of . In Genesis 30 's sister Rachel, unable to bear children herself, gives Bilhah to Jacob as a surrogate; when Dan is born Rachel declares that God has 'judged' ( dan) her cause and given her a son. Dan is listed among the twelve sons who descend to (Genesis 46) and receives a portion of Jacob's deathbed blessing in Genesis 49, portrayed as a serpent by the roadside and a judge of his people. ' blessing in Deuteronomy 33 pictures the as a lion's cub leaping from . The tribe initially received territory in the southwest between Ephraim and but found the land too constricted and the pressure from the too great ( 19). A contingent famously migrated northward, conquered the peaceful city of , renamed it after their ancestor, and established a sanctuary there that later became one of 's two golden-calf shrines (Judges 18; 1 Kings 12).
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