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Dan - location profile

Location and Setting

Located near the southwestern slopes of Mount Hermon, Dan was an ancient Canaanite city originally known as Laish (Judg 18:29) or Leshem (Judg 19:47). The tribe of Dan migrated to the area during the early days of the Judges era, took the city, and gave it their tribal name.
As the northernmost city of Israel, the name of the city, together with Beersheba in the south, defined the borders of the land, "from Dan to Beersheba" (Judg 20:1).
Dan was strategically situated on the road from Damascus in Syria to Tyre on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The north-south route from Hazor to Lebanon passed through Abel-beth-maachah, just west of Dan.
Dan stood at the northern end of the very fertile upper Jordan Valley, one of the most productive regions of the land. This location also made it vulnerable to invasions from the north, which was the approach traditionally used by Mesopotamian powers.

The territory allotted to the tribe of Dan after the Conquest extended to the Mediterranean coast (Josh 19:40-47). This included the strategically important International Coastal Highway and the area controlled by the Philistines. When it became impossible for the tribe to possess their territory or even to defend themselves against the pressure exerted by the Philistines in the Shephelah (Judg 1:34), its members sought a more secure location.
The tribe sent five spies to search for a suitable place for the tribe (Judges 18). Ultimately they selected Laish, which they conquered and possessed (Josh 19:47). Not all the tribe of Dan migrated to Laish. Some, including Samson and his family, remained in the disputed territory, continuing their contacts with the Philistines. Eventually this remnant was absorbed by the tribe of Judah (2 Kgs 15:29).
The events of the transition (Judges 18) and subsequent choices resulted in the tribe of Dan’s becoming the most idolatrous of all the tribes.
Idolatrous worship practices were established in Dan during the priesthood of Moses’ grandson, Jonathan, and were continued by his descendants (Judg 18:30). The city finally became a national center of idolatry under Jeroboam I (1 Kgs 12:29-33).

Bimson, John J., ed. Baker Encyclopedia of Bible Places. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1995.
DeVries, LaMoine F. Cities of the Biblical World. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997.
Turner, George A. Historical Geography of the Holy Land. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1973.
White, Jr., W. "Dan" The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Ed. Merrill C. Tenney. 5 vols. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976.