Judges 18:29

18:29 They named it Dan after their ancestor, who was one of Israel’s sons. ¹  But the city’s name used to be Laish.

Judges 1:34

1:34 The Amorites forced the people of Dan to live in the hill country. They did not allow them to live in ²  the coastal plain.

Judges 13:25

13:25 The Lord’s spirit began to control him ³  in Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Judges 18:16

18:16 Meanwhile the six hundred Danites, fully armed, stood at the entrance to the gate. ⁴ 

Judges 18:23

18:23 When they called out to the Danites, the Danites ⁵  turned around and said to Micah, “Why have you gathered together?”

Judges 5:17

5:17 Gilead stayed put ⁶  beyond the Jordan River.

As for Dan – why did he seek temporary employment in the shipyards? ⁷ 

Asher remained ⁸  on the seacoast,

he stayed ⁹  by his harbors. ¹⁰ 

Judges 18:22

18:22 After they had gone a good distance from Micah’s house, Micah’s neighbors ¹¹  gathered together and caught up with the Danites.

Judges 18:25-26

18:25 The Danites said to him, “Don’t say another word to us, or some very angry men ¹²  will attack you, and you and your family will die.” ¹³  18:26 The Danites went on their way; when Micah realized ¹⁴  they were too strong to resist, ¹⁵  he turned around and went home.

Judges 20:1

Civil War Breaks Out

20:1 All the Israelites from Dan to Beer Sheba ¹⁶  and from the land of Gilead ¹⁷  left their homes ¹⁸  and assembled together ¹⁹  before the Lord at Mizpah.

Judges 18:2

18:2 The Danites sent out from their whole tribe five representatives, ²⁰  capable men ²¹  from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. They said to them, “Go, explore the land.” They came to the Ephraimite hill country and spent the night at Micah’s house. ²² 

Judges 18:30

18:30 The Danites worshiped ²³  the carved image. Jonathan, descendant ²⁴  of Gershom, son of Moses, ²⁵  and his descendants ²⁶  served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the exile.

¹ tn Heb “They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who had been born to Israel.”

² tn Heb “come down into.”

³ tn Or “move him to action”; or “stir him.”

⁴ tn Heb “And the six hundred men, equipped with the weapons of war…from the sons of Dan.”

⁵ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Danites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶ tn Heb “lived” or “settled down.”

⁷ tn Heb “Dan, why did he live as a resident alien, ships.” The verb גּוּר (gur) usually refers to taking up residence outside one’s native land. Perhaps the Danites, rather than rallying to Barak, were content to move to the Mediterranean coast and work in the shipyards. For further discussion, see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 262.

⁸ tn Heb “lived.”

⁹ tn Heb “lived” or “settled down.”

¹⁰ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word מִפְרָץ (mifrats) is uncertain, but the parallelism (note “seacoast”) suggests “harbors.”

⁷ tn Heb “the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house.”

⁸ tn Heb “bitter in spirit.” This phrase is used in 2 Sam 17:8 of David and his warriors, who are compared to a bear robbed of her cubs.

⁹ tn Heb “and you will gather up your life and the life of your house.”

⁹ tn Heb “saw.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “they were stronger than he.”

¹⁰ sn Dan was located in the far north of the country, while Beer Sheba was located in the far south. This encompassed all the territory of the land of Canaan occupied by the Israelites.

¹¹ sn The land of Gilead was on the eastern side of the Jordan River.

¹² tn Heb “went out.”

¹³ tn Heb “and the assembly was convened as one man.”

¹¹ tn Heb “The Danites sent from their tribe five men, from their borders.”

¹² tn Heb “men, sons of strength.”

¹³ tn Heb “They came to the Ephraimite hill country, to Micah’s house, and spent the night there.”

¹² tn Heb “erected for themselves.”

¹³ tn Heb “son.”

¹⁴ tc Several ancient textual witnesses, including some LXX mss and the Vulgate, support the reading “Moses” (מֹשֶׁה, mosheh) here. Many Hebrew mss have a nun (נ) suspended above the name between the first two letters (מנשׁה), suggesting the name Manasseh (מְנַשֶּׁה, mÿnasheh). This is probably a scribal attempt to protect Moses’ reputation. For discussion, see G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 401-2.

¹⁵ tn Heb “sons.”