Deuteronomy 33:22

And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion’s whelp: he shall leap from Bashan.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Dan	וּלְדָ֣ן u.le.Dan	H1835	Dan · conjunction + preposition + proper noun, a place name
said	אָמַ֔ר 'a.Mar	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Dan	דָּ֖ן dan	H1835	Dan · proper noun, a place name
lion’s	אַרְיֵ֑ה 'ar.Yeh	H738	a lion · noun, common masculine singular absolute
whelp	גּ֣וּר gur	H1482	a cub (as still abiding in the lair) · noun, common masculine singular construct
leap	יְזַנֵּ֖ק ye.za.Nek	H2187	properly · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Bashan	הַבָּשָֽׁן ha.ba.Shan	H1316	Bashan (often with the article) · definite article + proper noun, a place name

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Joshua 19:47 And the coast of the children of Dan went out too little for them: therefore the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and took i…
Judges 18:27 And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure…
Genesis 49:16-17 Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
Judges 13:2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.
Judges 13:24-25 And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.
Judges 14:6 And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told…
Judges 14:19 And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change o…
Judges 15:8 And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 33:22-25

Here is, I. The blessing of Dan, Deu 33:22. Jacob in his blessing had compared him to a serpent for subtlety; Moses compares him to a lion for courage and resolution: and what could stand before those that had the head of a serpent and the heart of a lion? He is compared to the lions that leaped from Bashan, a mountain noted for fierce lions, whence they came down to leap upon their prey in the plains. This may refer either, 1. To the particular victories obtained by Samson (who was of this tribe) over the Philistines. The Spirit of the Lord began to move him in the camp of Dan when he was very young, as a lion's whelp, so that in his attacks upon the Philistines he surprised them, and overp…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Deuteronomy 33:22

Dan is a lion's whelp--His proper settlement in the south of Canaan being too small, he by a sudden and successful irruption, established a colony in the northern extremity of the land. This might well be described as the leap of a young lion from the hills of Bashan.

John Gill on Deuteronomy 33:22

And of Dan he said,.... Of the tribe of Dan, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem: Dan is a lion's whelp; or like one for boldness, strength, and courage; and was verified in Samson, who was of this tribe; who, when a young lion roared against him, the Spirit of the Lord came on him, and he tore it to pieces, Judges 14:5, he shall leap from Bashan; not Dan, for he was seated far from that country; but the sense is, he was like to a young lion for its strength, when it leaps from Bashan, as Aben Ezra rightly explains it. Bashan was a mountain in which lions haunted, and from whence they might be said to leap, as they do when they seize on their prey: it may have some respect to the leap…

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John Calvin on Deuteronomy 33:22

And of Dan he said. He foretells that the tribe of Dan, like that of Gad, should be warlike, not so much from voluntary disposition, as from necessity; for their love of war was not to be deemed praiseworthy, inasmuch as it is altogether contrary to humanity; but because the unscrupulousness of the enemies, by which that tribe was infested, compelled them to take up arms. He compares it to a lion impetuously leaping from Mount Bashan; and the particle of comparison must be understood here, for Mount Bashan was not situated in the territory of this tribe. But Moses means to say that they should be as ready for the combat as a lion, which, after it has issued from its den into the open plains,…

The Church Fathers

Moses blessed this tribe, saying: Dan is a lion's cub that shall leap forth from Bashan (Deut. XXXII, 22), that is, from confusion. Hence, according to the Greek translation, we should understand that Dan himself became a serpent sitting on the way. Dan means judgement. And therefore, this tribe underwent a grave risk of judgement, as the serpent, Antichrist, slipped in and wounded it with his venoms.
— Ambrose of Milan, On the Blessings of the Patriarchs, Chapter VII

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Bless — (1.) God blesses his people when he bestows on them some gift temporal or spiritual (Gen. 1:22; 24:35; Job 42:12; Ps. 45:2; 104:24, 35). (2.) We bless God when we thank him for his mercies (Ps.…
Simeon, The tribe of — Was “divided and scattered” according to the prediction in Gen. 49:5-7. They gradually dwindled in number, and sank into a position of insignificance among the other tribes. They decreased in the…
Dan · .Blessed by Moses — .Blessed by Moses
Dan, The Tribe Of · Predictions respecting — Predictions respecting
Lion, The · Described as: Active — Described as: Active
Tribes Of Israel, The · Predictions respecting each of — Predictions respecting each of

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Deuteronomy 33:22

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 33:22-25

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Deuteronomy 33:22

John Gill on Deuteronomy 33:22

John Calvin on Deuteronomy 33:22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Deuteronomy 33:22

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 33:22-25

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Deuteronomy 33:22

John Gill on Deuteronomy 33:22

John Calvin on Deuteronomy 33:22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Deuteronomy 33:22

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Deuteronomy 33:22

Rashi on Deuteronomy 33:22