Dan || Jacob’s Family Tree || Week 5

Welcome back to the halfway point of our series that we’re calling “Jacob’s Family Tree.” Over the past four weeks, we’ve discussed the blessings Jacob gave his sons. We’ve discussed the blessings given to Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, and Issachar so far. Today, we discuss the blessing given to Dan, which is found in Genesis 49:16-18:

16 “Dan will rule his own people like the other tribes.

17 Dan will be like a snake on the side of the road. He will be like a dangerous snake lying near the path. The snake bites a horse’s leg. And the rider is thrown off backward.

18 “Lord, I wait for your salvation, 

Let’s dive into what this blessing meant for Dan’s tribe.

Defining Judge

Dan’s name translates to the word “judge.” He fathered an aggressive tribe that would also judge the nation but would not be known for the moral stature of religious faithfulness. An example of this is found in 1 Kings 12:28-30, and it says this:

28 King Jeroboam asked his men for advice. So he made two golden calves. He said to his people, “It is too hard for you to go to Jerusalem to worship. Israel, here are your gods who brought you out of Egypt.”

29 King Jeroboam put one golden calf in the city of Bethel. And he put the other in the city of Dan. 

30 And this became a very great sin. The people traveled as far as Dan to worship the calf there.

The golden calves presented here replicate the same premise that Aaron and the Israelites went through in Exodus 32. Dan’s location in this played a key role. They were in the northernmost part of Jeroboam’s kingdom, about 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee. This paganized worship of the Lord was practiced at Dan during the period of the judges. Judges 18:31 talks about why they went through these methods of worship. Because the ark of God was so far away, they justified their idolatry by their distance from the rest of Israel. This caused perpetual idolatry for many generations.

Leaving Their Land and Creating New Land

Joshua 19:40-48 talks about the allotment they received from the Promise Land. Their land was a narrow, roughly U-shaped strip just north of Judah’s claim and south of Ephraim’s. The Mediterranean coast lay on the western arm of the “U.” Joppa was on the coast near the north end. Later the Danites, failing to possess their original claim, migrated northeastward to Laish or Lesham. They conquered this area north of the Sea of Galilee and Hazor and renamed it Dan.

Day of Salvation

Jacob’s closing line expressed for Dan on the day when salvation would come to Israel, but Dan is omitted from the list of tribes. There’s no explained reason why though, so there ya go.

We learned about the judgment that Dan’s tribe would offer over the Israelites. We learned that they wouldn’t be known for their morals or faithfulness and saw history repeated in their Golden Calf episode. This idolatry was a generational curse that started in the book of Judges. We learned about their land placement and how they moved and reclaimed part of their land. On the Day of Salvation, Dan’s tribe received no part of it for an unknown reason.

Next week, we discuss the blessings of Gad, Asher, and Napthali.