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
Deuteronomy 33:22 And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion’s whelp: he shall leap from Bashan.
Genesis 30:6 And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan.
Numbers 10:25 And the standard of the camp of the children of Dan set forward, which was the rereward of all the camps throughout their hosts: and over hi…
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 15:20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
Judges 18:1-2 In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that…
Judges 18:26-27 And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his house.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 49:13-21
Here we have Jacob's prophecy concerning six of his sons.
I. Concerning Zebulun (Gen 49:13), that his posterity should have their lot upon the seacoast, and should be merchants, and mariners, and traders at sea. This was fulfilled when, two or three hundred years after, the land of Canaan was divided by lot, and the border of Zebulun went up towards the sea, Jos 19:11. Had they chosen their lot themselves, or Joshua appointed it, we might have supposed it done with design to make Jacob's words good; but, being done by lot, it appears that it was divinely disposed, and Jacob divinely inspired. Note, The lot of God's providence exactly agrees with the plan of God's counsel, like a true copy wi…
ISSACHAR-- (Gen 49:14-15)
a strong ass couching down between two burdens--that is, it was to be active, patient, given to agricultural labors. It was established in lower Galilee--a "good land," settling down in the midst of the Canaanites, where, for the sake of quiet, they "bowed their shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute."
Adam Clarke on Genesis 49:16
Dan shall judge - Dan, whose name signifies judgment, was the eldest of Jacob's sons by Bilhah, Rachel's maid, and he is here promised an equal rule with those tribes that sprang from either Leah or Rachel, the legal wives of Jacob. Some Jewish and some Christian writers understand this prophecy of Samson, who sprang from this tribe, and judged, or as the word might be translated avenged, the people of Israel twenty years. See Jdg 13:2; Jdg 15:20.
John Gill on Genesis 49:16
Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. There is an elegant paronomasia, or an allusion to the name of Dan in those words, which signifies to judge, and the sense of them is, there should be heads, rulers, and judges of it, as the other tribes had; and this is the rather mentioned of him, because he is the first of the children of concubine wives as yet taken notice of; and what is here said of him is also to be understood of the rest of the sons of the concubines; for the meaning is not, that a judge should arise out of him as out of the other tribes, that should judge all Israel, restraining it to Samson, who was of this tribe, as the Targums and Jarchi; for no such judg…
The Church Fathers
If one from Dan judges his people, how much more will that one from Judah, to whom the kingdom belongs, judge all the nations? For our Lord became a serpent to that first serpent and a viper to Satan, just like the serpent of bronze that countered the snakes.
The simple meaning of this is that Dan also gave a judge to Israel. For after Joshua, judges were appointed for the people from the various tribes. Indeed, Samson was also from the tribe of Dan, and he judged Israel for twenty years. But this prophecy does not signify him, but the Antichrist who will come from the tribe of Dan, a fierce judge, and a monstrous tyrant, will judge his people. Like a serpent on the road, sitting in the path, he will try to overthrow those who walk in the way of truth, desiring to supplant the truth. This is indeed biting the horse's heel, so that the horse, wounded and poisoned by the serpent's bite, may lift its heel; just as Judas the betrayer, tempted by the devil, lifted his heel against the Lord Jesus, in order to overthrow the horseman, who threw himself down to lift everyone.
(Verses 16 and following.) And he shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Let Dan be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward: thy salvation, O Lord, I will wait for. Samson was a judge in Israel, from the tribe of Dan. This therefore he saith: Now seeing in the spirit Samson thy Nazarite nourish his hair, and triumph over his enemies being cut down; which in the likeness of a serpent and ruler obstructing the ways, he permitteth none to pass through the land of Israel: but also if anyone, presuming on his own strength, relying on the swiftness of a horse, shall wish to invade it like a spoiler, he shall not be able to escape. However, the whole thing is spoken metaphorically of a serpent and a knight. Therefore, seeing your mighty Nazarene, who himself died for the prostitute and, dying, killed our enemies, I thought, O God, that he was the Christ, your Son. But because he died and did not rise again, and was led captive to Israel, another Savior of the world must be awaited by me and my race, to whom the promise has been given, and he will be the expectation of the nations.
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
Children · Male: Received the blessing of their father before his death — Male: Received the blessing of their father before his death
Dan · .Blessed of Jacob — .Blessed of Jacob
Dan, The Tribe Of · Predictions respecting — Predictions respecting
Patriarchal Government · Exercised in: Blessing and cursing their children — Exercised in: Blessing and cursing their children
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).
Dan shall judge his people. In the word judge there is an allusion to his name: for since, among the Hebrews, dvn (din) signifies to judge, Rachel, when she returned thanks to God, gave this name to the son born to her by her handmaid, as if God had been the vindicator of her cause and right. Jacob now gives a new turn to the meaning of the name; namely, that the sons of Dan shall have no mean part in the government of the people. For the Jews foolishly restrict it to Samson, because he alone presided over the whole people, whereas the language rather applies to the perpetual condition of the tribe. Jacob therefore means, that though Dan was born from a concubine, he shall still be one of th…
"Dan will procure his people justice as one of the tribes of Israel. Let Dan become a serpent by the way, a horned adder in the path, that biteth the horse's heels, so that its rider falls back." Although only the son of a maid-servant, Dan would not be behind the other tribes of Israel, but act according to his name (ידין דּן), and as much as any other of the tribes procure justice to his people (i.e., to the people of Israel; not to his own tribe, as Diestel supposes). There is no allusion in these words to the office of judge which was held by Samson; they merely describe the character of the tribe, although this character came out in the expedition of a portion of the Danites to Laish in…
Dan was called to provide justice (Dan means “judge”), but the tribe would choose treachery, like a snake beside the road (see Judg 18).
Rashi on Genesis 49:3
וראשית אוני THE BEGINNING OF MY VIGOR — That is the first drop [of semen], as he had not experienced a seminal emission from all of his days [until that time] (Genesis Rabbah 98:4).
אוני means MY VIGOR, as (Hosea 12:9) “I have gained me (און) strength”; (Isaiah 40:26) “by the greatness of His (אונים) might”; (Isaiah 5:29) “and to him that hath no (אונים) might Ho increaseth strength”.
יתר שאת SUPERIORITY IN DIGNITY — Since you were the first-born it was proper that you should be superior to your brothers by being endowed with the priesthood. This term שאת “lifting up” alludes to the נשיאות כפים the raising of the hands when the priests pronounce the benediction (cf. Onkelos).
ויתר עז SUPE…
