Tribe of Israel
Tribe of Dan in the Bible דָּן
Dan’s name is tied to judgment, and the tribe produces Samson, yet its later story is heavily marked by idolatry at both tribal and national shrines. Dan remains in Ezekiel’s restoration vision even though the tribe is absent from Revelation 7’s list.
Start here in Scripture
Key Bible passages for the tribe of Dan
These passages provide the quickest route into Dan’s identity and trajectory. The fuller reference index below is designed for deeper study.
Origin story
Dan is Jacob’s son through Bilhah, Rachel’s servant. Rachel names him in the language of God judging or vindicating her (Genesis 30:5–6).
Promise, blessing, and calling
Jacob says Dan will judge his people as one of Israel’s tribes, while Moses pictures Dan with the vigor of a lion’s cub (Genesis 49:16; Deuteronomy 33:22).
The tribe’s biblical trajectory
Dan’s assigned territory proves difficult to secure. A Danite migration north culminates in the seizure of Laish and the establishment of an idolatrous shrine described in Judges 18. Yet Dan also produces Samson, whose flawed but God-used strength brings repeated blows against the Philistines. Later Jeroboam places one of his golden calves at Dan, making the city a symbol of northern idolatry.
Famous stories, milestones, and lessons
Genesis 30:5–6
Judgment at birth
Dan’s name begins with vindication and justice.
Joshua 19:40–48; Judges 1:34–35
Difficult inheritance
Unfinished conquest creates pressure that later shapes Dan’s migration.
Judges 13–16
Samson
God can use a deeply flawed deliverer without endorsing the flaws.
Judges 18:1–31
Micah’s idol and the Danite shrine
Pragmatic religion can institutionalize compromise for generations.
1 Kings 12:28–30
Jeroboam’s calf at Dan
A tribal location becomes a national center of false worship.
Ezekiel 48:1–2,32; Revelation 7:4–8
Ezekiel restoration / Revelation omission
Hold what Scripture says—and what it does not say—without sensational speculation.
Faithfulness, failure, and repentance
Dan’s judges-era shrine and later association with Jeroboam’s calf make false worship central to the tribe’s warning. Samson adds a second warning: divine gifting and divine approval of a person’s every choice are not the same thing.
Ending story and later biblical horizon
Dan is included in Ezekiel’s restored land vision but omitted from the twelve tribes named in Revelation 7. Scripture does not explain that omission, so the page should resist speculative conclusions. The canonical lesson is strong enough without them: covenant identity and remarkable gifting do not excuse corrupt worship.
Deep Bible study
Bible reference index for the tribe of Dan
Designed to be exhaustive for tribal identity and trajectory: patriarch/lineage, censuses and camp order, inheritance, major tribal actors, corporate faithfulness/failure, exile/restoration texts, and explicit later tribal references. Excludes unrelated homonyms and routine geographic uses that add nothing to the tribe's story.
Show the book-by-book reference index
- 2 Chronicles
- 2:14
- Ezekiel
- 48:1–2,32
- Joshua
- 19:40–48; 21:5,23–24
Read in context: a tribal name can identify the patriarch, descendants, territory, a political kingdom, or a later restoration/symbolic setting. The surrounding passage determines which sense is in view.
