properly · noun, common feminine singular construct
tribe
מַטֵּ֥הma.Teh
H4294
a branch (as extending) · noun, common masculine singular construct
children
בְנֵיve.nei-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Dan
דָ֖ןdan
H1835
Dan · proper noun, a place name
families
לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֑םle.mish.pe.cho.Tam
H4940
a family · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
cities
הֶֽעָרִ֥יםhe.'a.Rim
H5892
a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
villages
וְחַצְרֵיהֶֽןve.chatz.rei.Hen
H2691
a yard (as inclosed by a fence) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine plural
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).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Joshua 19:40-48
Dan, though commander of one of the four squadrons of the camp of Israel, in the wilderness, that which brought up the rear, yet was last provided for in Canaan, and his lot fell in the southern part of Canaan, between Judah on the east and the land of the Philistines on the west, Ephraim on the north and Simeon on the south. Providence ordered this numerous and powerful tribe into a post of danger, as best able to deal with those vexatious neighbours the Philistines, and so it was found in Samson. Here is an account, 1. Of what fell to this tribe by lot, Zorah, and Eshtaol, and the camp of Dan thereabouts, of which we read in the story of Samson. And near there was the valley of Eshcol, whe…
the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem--The Danites, finding their inheritance too small, decided to enlarge its boundaries by the sword; and, having conquered Leshem (Laish), they planted a colony there, calling the new settlement by the name of Dan (see on Jdg 18:7).
Adam Clarke on Joshua 19:47
Went out too little for them - This is certainly the meaning of the passage; but our translators have been obliged to add the words too little to make this sense apparent. Houbigant contends that an ancient copyist, meeting frequently with the words ויצאהגבול vaiyetse haggebul, in the preceding history, became so familiarized to them that he wrote them here instead of ויאץ הגבול vaiyaats haggebul, and the border of the children of Dan was Strait for them. It was on this account that they were obliged to go and fight against Leshem, and take and possess it, their former inheritance being too strait for their increasing population.
And called Leshem, Dan - This city was situated near the origi…
This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan,.... Before described by its cities, which were in it. This tribe was bounded by Ephraim on the north, by Judah on the east, by Simeon on the south, and by the Mediterranean sea on the west. Josephus (h) says, the Danites enjoyed the vale which lies to the setting sun, bounded by Azotus and Doris, and all Jamnia and Getta, from Accaron (or Ekron) to the mountain from whence the tribe of Judah begins:
according to their families; which inheritance was distributed according to the number of their families:
their cities with their villages; before named.
(h) Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 22.
The Church Fathers
Concerning the "Jebusites," who "dwelt in Jerusalem," it was said some time ago how "the sons of Judah could not exterminate them," and likewise concerning the "Canaanites," whom "the sons of Ephraim could not exterminate" as they dwelt in their midst. The present reading reports things similar to these concerning the "Amorites," saying that: "the Amorite continued to dwell in Elom and in Salamin; and the hand of Ephraim was made heavy upon them." "Amorite" is interpreted as "bitter" or "bitterness." Those therefore who "dwell in Elom," which is interpreted as "those butting like rams," or "in Salamin," which is interpreted as "peaceable," continue and dwell as bitternesses among those who butt like rams and among the peaceable. Those who butt like rams are those who, being set in contests, strive to storm the diabolical houses and structures; but the peaceable are those who, having overcome the desires of the flesh, bear peace of soul. Yet in both the contrary power, bitterness, perseveres and struggles to persist. In this we can understand something of this sort, since it says: "the Amorite continued to dwell among them": for example, if a hostile power of a demon, coming from the troop of bitterness, besieges someone's body, throws the mind into confusion and lulls it to sleep, while many prayers, many fastings, many invocations of exorcists are applied, and deaf to all these the demon remains and persists in the besieged body, more tolerably enduring the punishments of the exorcists and the torments brought upon it by the invocation of God's name than to depart from the person whom it shamelessly and wickedly besieges: so also here it must be understood in the case of those who are called "Amorites," who "continue and persist in dwelling in Elom and in Salamin." And that Scripture might truly show that they persist while enduring punishments and scourges, it says: "and the hand of Ephraim was made heavy upon them." But how is "the hand of Ephraim made heavy upon the Amorites"? Either, as we said, "the hand of Ephraim" is said to be "made heavy" upon the unclean spirits by the more forcefully applied laying-on of the exorcists' hand, or because good acts and good works weigh down and afflict the race of demons and the contrary powers. For the better the things we do and the more we conduct ourselves in the best pursuits, the more these things become…
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
Dan — A judge. (1.) The fifth son of Jacob. His mother was Bilhah, Rachel’s maid (Gen. 30:6, “God hath judged me”, Heb. dananni). The blessing pronounced on him by his father was, “Dan shall judge his…
Tabor — A height. (1.) Now Jebel et-Tur, a cone-like prominent mountain, 11 miles west of the Sea of Galilee. It is about 1,843 feet high. The view from the summit of it is said to be singularly extensive…
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).
John Calvin on Joshua 19:32–end
Joshua 19:32-51
32. The sixth lot came out to the children of Naphtali, even for the children of Naphtali according to their families.
32. Filiis Nephtali exivit sors sexta, filiis inquam, Nephtali, per familias suas.
33. And their coast was from Heleph, from Allon to Zaanannim, and Adami, Nekeb, and Jabneel, unto Lakum; and the outgoings thereof were at Jordan:
33. Fuitque terminus eorum ab Heleph, et ab Elon in Saanannim, et Adami, Neceb, et Jabneel, usque ad Lacum: suntque exitus ejus ad Jordanem.
34. And then the coast turns westward to Aznothtabor, and goeth out from thence to Hukkok, and reacheth to Zebulun on the south side, and reacheth to Asher on the west side, and to Judah up…
The Inheritance of the Tribe of Dan. - This fell to the west of Benjamin, between Judah and Ephraim, and was formed by Judah giving up some of its northern towns, and Ephraim some of its southern towns, to the Danites, so as to furnish them with a territory proportionate to their number. It was situated for the most part in the lowland (shephelah), including, however, the hill country between the Mediterranean and the mountains, and extended over a portion of the plain of Sharon, so that it belonged to one of the most fruitful portions of Palestine. The boundaries are not given, because they could be traced from those of the adjoining territories.
Jos 19:41-42
From Judah the families of Dan…
The tribe of Dan had trouble taking possession of their land because of the Philistines, so a group of Danites later moved northward to Laish (see Judg 18), which they renamed Dan, on the northern border of Israel’s territory.
Rashi on Joshua 19:47
The boundary of Bnei Don extended from them. At this point they took only a small portion, but the lot also fell for them in another place which was a distance from their boundary, and thus the other tribes intervened between them.4Others explain the words, וַיֵצֵא גְבוּל בְנֵי־דָן מֵהֶם to mean, “the boundary of the Bnei Don was too small for them,” and they went out to capture the city of Leshem to make room for their population.
They fought against Leshem. This took place later in the time of Osniel, the son of Kenaz, in the days of the graven image of Michoh, as it is said in the Book of Shoftim.5Shoftim 17:3,4. 18:2. (See Rashi to 17:1.)
Leshem This is the city of Layish, that is ment…
