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Joshua 19:40–48 — Dan’s Inheritance. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

Dan was the most numerous tribe, next to Judah, in each census taken during the exodus. (See Numbers 1, 26) This tribe had also had a post of honour in being commander of the rear-guard during the march. A similar post is here assigned to Dan in Palestine, viz., next to Judah, on the side of the Philistine territory.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

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.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and CollegesMarginal/exegetical notes1880s

the seventh lot ] came out to the smallest of all the tribes, that of Dan, descended from the fifth son of Jacob.

The Cambridge editors call Dan "the smallest" by territory even while Ellicott calls it the most numerous by census — a deliberate juxtaposition the text itself sets up.

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Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

It lay on the west of Benjamin and consisted of portions surrendered by Judah and Ephraim. Its boundaries are not stated, as they were easily distinguishable from the relative position of Dan to the three adjoining tribes.

JFB notes what every commentator on this unit observes: Dan alone among the tribes is given no boundary survey, only a city-roll — because its lines simply followed the borders of the three tribes that hemmed it in.

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The seventh lot came out for the clans of the tribe of Dan:

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

haš·šə·ḇî·‘î hag·gō·w·rāl yā·ṣā lə·miš·pə·ḥō·ṯām lə·maṭ·ṭêh ḇə·nê- ḏān

Word by word7 · parsed

הַשְּׁבִיעִֽי׃haš·šə·ḇî·‘îThe seventhH7637

√ shᵉbîyʻîy — seventhArticleNumberordinal masculine singular

haš·šə·ḇî·‘î (H7637), "the seventh" — the final ordinal in the second casting of lots at Shiloh. Dan is last, the seventh of the seven landless tribes provided for here. John Gill: "Which was the last lot drawn."

הַגּוֹרָ֥לhag·gō·w·rāllotH1486

√ gôwrâl — properly, a pebble, iArticleNounmasculine singular

hag·gō·w·rāl (H1486), "the lot/pebble" — the instrument of allotment throughout chs. 13–19. The root denotes a small thrown stone; in Israel's theology its fall is no accident but verdict ("the lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD," Proverbs 16:33). The land is distributed by sacred lot precisely so that no tribe can claim its portion was self-seized; the boundary is a gift, not a conquest.

יָצָ֖אyā·ṣācame outH3318

√ yâtsâʼ — to go (causatively, bring) out, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively, direct and proximVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

yā·ṣā (H3318), "came/went out" — the same verb returns at v. 47, where Dan's border "goes out from them." The lot that goes out to give the land, and the border that goes out to lose (or extend) it, are bracketed by one Hebrew word; the unit's whole drama hangs on the two senses of a single verb.

לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֑םlə·miš·pə·ḥō·ṯāmfor the clansH4940

√ mishpâchâh — a family, iPreposition-lNounfeminine plural constructthird person masculine plural

lə·miš·pə·ḥō·ṯām (H4940), "for their clans" — the land is divided not to individuals but to family-groups, the building-block of Israel's social order; the same word frames the unit again at v. 48 and reappears at the head of the Danite migration (Judges 18:11).

לְמַטֵּ֥הlə·maṭ·ṭêhof the tribeH4294

√ maṭṭeh — a branch (as extending)Preposition-lNounmasculine singular construct

בְנֵי־ḇə·nê-H1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

דָ֖ןḏānof DanH1835

√ Dân — Dan, one of the sons of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

ḏān (H1835), "Dan" — the name means "he judged / vindicated" (Genesis 30:6, where Rachel cries "God has judged me"). The fifth son of Jacob, by Bilhah. Ellicott notes Dan was "the most numerous tribe, next to Judah," yet here receives the smallest inheritance — a tension this unit never resolves. Jacob's deathbed word ("Dan shall judge his people," Genesis 49:16) reads the tribe's character out of its very name.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

For the tribe of the sons of Dan, according-to-their-clans, came-out the seventh lot.

Where the English smooths the original

הַגּוֹרָ֥ל hag·gō·w·rāl (H1486) literally means a pebble — the small stone cast to read the divine verdict. BSB's neutral "lot" hides the physical object; the land of Dan is parceled out by a thrown stone whose fall, in Israel's theology (Proverbs 16:33), is the LORD's own decision, not chance.
יָצָ֖א yā·ṣā (H3318) is "went out / came forth." The lot does not arrive or get assigned — it goes out, an active verb of emergence. The same verb (H3318) recurs in v. 47 of Dan's border that "goes out from them." English flattens both into ordinary prose, losing the verbal echo.
לְמַטֵּ֥ה lə·maṭ·ṭêh (H4294) is "for the branch / rod" — the word for tribe is also the word for a shoot "as extending" from a stock. BSB's "tribe" is correct but mute; the Hebrew pictures Israel as one tree, Dan a branch of it. Word order also differs: the original names the seventh lot last, climactically, where English fronts it.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

From Judah the families of Dan received Zorea and Eshtaol (see at Joshua 15:33 ), and Ir-shemesh, also called Beth-shemesh ( 1 Kings 4:9 ), on the border of Judah (see Joshua 15:10 ); but of these the Danites did not take possession, as they were given up by Judah to the Levites ( Joshua 21:16

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

the steep, hard, rocky hills, their wildernesses of mastic, clear springs, and frequent caves and precipices, are the fastnesses in which Samson was born, and from which he descended into the plain to harry the Philistines

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

Irshemesh signifies the city of the sun, as the Targum interprets it, and was so called very probably from a temple in it, dedicated to the idolatrous worship of the sun

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

Their inheritance; which is here described only by its cities, not by its borders, which are in part the same with Judah’s; and their inheritance is in good part taken out of Judah’s too large portion

Poole names the structural oddity of Dan's section — cities, not borders — and the reason: Dan's land was largely carved out of Judah's over-large allotment (cf. Joshua 19:9, where Simeon's portion is taken from Judah for the same reason).

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The territory of their inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh,

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·hî gə·ḇūl na·ḥă·lā·ṯām ṣā·rə·‘āh wə·’eš·tā·’ō·wl wə·‘îr šā·meš

Word by word7 · parsed

וַיְהִ֖יway·hîH1961

√ hâyâh — to exist, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

way·hî (H1961), the consecutive-imperfect "and it was" — the standard narrative resumptive that introduces the boundary list, the same form that opens the whole book at 1:1.

גְּב֣וּלgə·ḇūlThe territoryH1366

√ gᵉbûwl — properly, a cord (as twisted), iNounmasculine singular construct

נַחֲלָתָ֑םna·ḥă·lā·ṯāmof their inheritanceH5159

√ nachălâh — properly, something inherited, iNounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine plural

צָרְעָ֥הṣā·rə·‘āhincluded ZorahH6881

√ Tsorʻâh — Tsorah, a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

ṣā·rə·‘āh (H6881), "Zorah" — a frontier town shared with Judah (Joshua 15:33). The Pulpit Commentary locates here "the fastnesses in which Samson was born," tying Dan's allotment to its one great deliverer before he is born.

וְאֶשְׁתָּא֖וֹלwə·’eš·tā·’ō·wlEshtaolH847

√ ʼEshtâʼôl — Eshtaol, a place in PalestineConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

’eš·tā·’ō·wl (H847), "Eshtaol" — paired with Zorah as Dan's southern anchor; from these two towns the 600 Danite warriors of Judges 18 will later march north (Judges 18:11).

וְעִ֥ירwə·‘îrvvvH5905

√ ʻÎyr Shemesh — Ir-Shemesh, a place in Palestine

שָֽׁמֶשׁ׃šā·mešIr-shemeshH5905

√ ʻÎyr Shemesh — Ir-Shemesh, a place in PalestineConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

šā·meš (H8121 in compound), "sun" — the second element of Ir-shemesh, the same town called Beth-shemesh elsewhere. Keil notes the Danites never actually took it: it was "given up by Judah to the Levites" (Joshua 21:16).

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And was the territory of their inheritance: Zorah, and Eshtaol, and Ir-shemesh,

Where the English smooths the original

גְּב֣וּל gə·ḇūl (H1366) is properly "a cord / twisted line" — a boundary drawn as a measuring-rope. BSB's "territory" names the area; the Hebrew names the line that encloses it. The same root reappears at v. 46 ("the territory before Joppa") and v. 47 ("the border went out").
נַחֲלָתָ֑ם na·ḥă·lā·ṯām (H5159) is "their inheritance" — an estate received by lot and held across generations, not bought. BSB keeps "inheritance," rightly; but note the Hebrew makes the land theirs before any city is conquered — the deed precedes the possession, a tension v. 47 will expose.
וְעִ֥יר שָֽׁמֶשׁ׃ ‘îr šā·meš means "city of the sun" (Ir-shemesh). The BSB transliterates the name; the Hebrew is transparent and pagan — a town named for sun-worship now entered onto Israel's inheritance roll. Gill and the Pulpit Commentary both read it as a surviving relic of solar cult.

Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah,

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·ša·‘ă·lab·bîn wə·’ay·yā·lō·wn wə·yiṯ·lāh

Word by word3 · parsed

וְשַֽׁעֲלַבִּ֥יןwə·ša·‘ă·lab·bînShaalabbinH8169

√ Shaʻalbîym — Shaalbim or Shaalabbin, a place in PalestineConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

ša·‘ă·lab·bîn (H8169), "Shaalabbin/Shaalbim" — a town the Danites could not clear of Canaanites (Judges 1:35), later home to one of David's mighty men (1 Kings 4:9). Each begins with the conjunctive wə- ("and"), the list strung as a single breath.

וְאַיָּל֖וֹןwə·’ay·yā·lō·wnAijalonH357

√ ʼAyâlôwn — Ajalon, the name of five places in PalestineConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

’ay·yā·lō·wn (H357), "Aijalon" — a Levitical city (Joshua 21:24), repeatedly contested with the Philistines, fortified by Rehoboam, lost by Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28:18). A name that names the whole later history of the border.

וְיִתְלָֽה׃wə·yiṯ·lāhIthlahH3494

√ Yithlâh — Jithlah, a place in PalestineConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

yiṯ·lāh (H3494), "Ithlah" — a hapax; its very obscurity is data. The roll of inheritance is honest enough to record towns that vanish from the record.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

and Shaalabbin, and Aijalon, and Ithlah,

Where the English smooths the original

וְשַֽׁעֲלַבִּ֥ין wə·ša·‘ă·lab·bîn (H8169) — the Cambridge Bible glosses it "the place of foxes," linking it to the foxes of Samson's revenge (Judges 15:4). BSB simply transliterates the name; the buried animal-image, if the etymology holds, foreshadows the tribe's most famous son before he appears.
וְאַיָּל֖וֹן wə·’ay·yā·lō·wn (H357), "Aijalon," is built on the root for "deer/hart" — and is the valley where the moon "stood still" at Joshua's command (Joshua 10:12). The transliteration in BSB severs the town from that earlier miracle that the Hebrew name silently recalls.
וְיִתְלָֽה׃ wə·yiṯ·lāh (H3494), "Ithlah/Jethlah," occurs only here in all of Scripture. BSB reads it as one more name in a list; the Hebrew records a place so obscure that, as Keil notes, it "has not yet been discovered." The inheritance includes the unfindable.

Elon, Timnah, Ekron,

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·’ê·lō·wn wə·ṯim·nā·ṯāh wə·‘eq·rō·wn

Word by word3 · parsed

וְאֵיל֥וֹןwə·’ê·lō·wnElonH356

√ ʼÊylôwn — Elon, the name of a place in Palestine, and also of one Hittite, two IsraelitesConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

’ê·lō·wn (H356), "Elon" — site undiscovered; mentioned again with "Beth-hanan" at 1 Kings 4:9. Cambridge: "The site of this place is still undiscovered."

וְתִמְנָ֖תָהwə·ṯim·nā·ṯāhTimnahH8553

√ Timnâh — Timnah, the name of two places in PalestineConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singularthird person feminine singular

ṯim·nā·ṯāh (H8553), "Timnah" — distinct, says Gill, from the Timnah of Judah (Joshua 15:10). It becomes the stage of Samson's first entanglement with Philistia.

וְעֶקְרֽוֹן׃wə·‘eq·rō·wnEkronH6138

√ ʻEqrôwn — Ekron, a place in PalestineConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

‘eq·rō·wn (H6138), "Ekron" — northernmost of the Philistine pentapolis. Allotted to Judah first (Joshua 15:45), then to Dan, but held by neither; the seam between promise and possession runs straight through this name.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

and Elon, and Timnah, and Ekron,

Where the English smooths the original

וְאֵיל֥וֹן wə·’ê·lō·wn (H356), "Elon," is built on the word for "oak/terebinth" — a tree-name, like Aijalon's deer and Shaalabbin's foxes. BSB transliterates; the Hebrew place-names quietly form a landscape of oaks, harts, and foxes that English readers never glimpse.
וְתִמְנָ֖תָה wə·ṯim·nā·ṯāh (H8553) carries the directional -āh suffix ("toward Timnah"), a Hebrew case-ending of motion. BSB renders the bare name "Timnah"; the original still bears the trace of approach — the Timnah that will draw Samson down to his Philistine bride (Judges 14:1).
וְעֶקְרֽוֹן׃ wə·‘eq·rō·wn (H6138), "Ekron," is named as Dan's inheritance — yet it was one of the five Philistine capitals, never conquered. Gill: it "was never possessed by the Israelites." The list deeds to Dan a city Dan will never hold; the gift and the failure sit in one word.

Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath,

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·’el·tə·qêh wə·ḡib·bə·ṯō·wn ū·ḇa·‘ă·lāṯ

Word by word3 · parsed

וְאֶלְתְּקֵ֥הwə·’el·tə·qêhEltekehH514

√ ʼEltᵉqêʼ — Eltekeh or Elteke, a place in PalestineConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

’el·tə·qêh (H514), "Eltekeh" — given to the Kohathite Levites (Joshua 21:23). A near-unique word: its co-occurrence with Joshua 21:23 is a genuine verbal fingerprint, not a generic theme.

וְגִבְּת֖וֹןwə·ḡib·bə·ṯō·wnGibbethonH1405

√ Gibbᵉthôwn — Gibbethon, a place in PalestineConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

ḡib·bə·ṯō·wn (H1405), "Gibbethon" — Levitical on paper, Philistine in fact for generations. Keil: "Under the earliest kings of Israel, Gibbethon was in the hands of the Philistines."

וּבַעֲלָֽת׃ū·ḇa·‘ă·lāṯBaalathH1191

√ Baʻălâth — Baalath, a place in PalestineConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

ba·‘ă·lāṯ (H1191), "Baalath" — fortified by Solomon (1 Kings 9:18); per Keil, Josephus's "Baleth in the neighbourhood of Geser." The Talmudists, Gill reports, said its "houses belonged to Judah, and their fields to Dan" — even the property lines were divided.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

and Eltekeh, and Gibbethon, and Baalath,

Where the English smooths the original

וְאֶלְתְּקֵ֥ה wə·’el·tə·qêh (H514), "Eltekeh," appears in only two verses of the Hebrew Bible — here and Joshua 21:23, where it is set apart for the Levites. The bare BSB name conceals how rare the word is; that rarity is precisely what binds this verse to the Levitical-city list.
וְגִבְּת֖וֹן wə·ḡib·bə·ṯō·wn (H1405), "Gibbethon," likewise occurs in only five verses, and three of them describe it as a Philistine stronghold Israel besieges in vain (1 Kings 15:27; 16:15,17). BSB lists a name; the Hebrew names a fortress that defies the very tribe it is deeded to.
וּבַעֲלָֽת׃ ū·ḇa·‘ă·lāṯ (H1191), "Baalath," carries the divine title Baal ("lord/owner") in its very name. BSB transliterates; the Hebrew names a town for a Canaanite deity — later fortified by Solomon (1 Kings 9:18), the pagan name surviving inside Israel's own building program.

Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon,

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wî·huḏ ū·ḇə·nê- ḇə·raq wə·ḡaṯ- rim·mō·wn

Word by word5 · parsed

וִיהֻ֥דwî·huḏJehudH3055

√ Yᵉhud — Jehud, a place in PalestineConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

yə·huḏ (H3055), "Jehud" — mentioned nowhere else; Keil locates it at "Jehudieh, two hours to the north of Ludd."

וּבְנֵֽי־ū·ḇə·nê-vvvH1139

√ Bᵉnêy-Bᵉraq — sons of lightning, Bene-berak, a place in Palestine

בְרַ֖קḇə·raqBene-berakH1139

√ Bᵉnêy-Bᵉraq — sons of lightning, Bene-berak, a place in PalestineConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

ḇə·raq (H1139), "Bene-berak" — "sons of lightning." Later, says Gill, the seat of Rabbi Akiba's school. The luminous name belongs to a town that becomes a center of later Jewish learning.

וְגַת־wə·ḡaṯ-vvvH1667

√ Gath-Rimmôwn — Gath-Rimmon, a place in Palestine

רִמּֽוֹן׃rim·mō·wnGath-rimmonH1667

√ Gath-Rimmôwn — Gath-Rimmon, a place in PalestineConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

rim·mō·wn (H1667), "Gath-rimmon" — given to the Kohathite Levites (Joshua 21:24; 1 Chronicles 6:69), site now unknown. Its appearance in the Levitical list is what ties this verse verbally to that catalogue.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

and Jehud, and Bene-berak, and Gath-rimmon,

Where the English smooths the original

וִיהֻ֥ד wî·huḏ (H3055), "Jehud," shares the root hôd/yāḏâ ("praise") family of names; BSB transliterates. Cambridge still traces it in "El-Yehudiyeh" near Lydda — a name that outlived the tribe that was given it.
וּבְנֵֽי־ ū·ḇə·nê ḇə·raq (H1139), the compound וּבְנֵֽי־בְרַ֖ק, literally means "sons of lightning" (Bene-berak). BSB keeps the place-name opaque; the Hebrew is vivid — a town called Lightning-sons, which Gill even ties to the "Boanerges, sons of thunder" idiom of Mark 3:17.
וְגַת־ wə·ḡaṯ rim·mō·wn (H1667), the compound וְגַת־רִמּֽוֹן, means "winepress of the pomegranate" (Gath-rimmon). BSB transliterates the compound; the Hebrew names a place of pressed fruit — a Levitical city (Joshua 21:24) whose agrarian name survives the loss of its location.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

Me-jarkon, i.e., aquae flavedinis, and Rakkon, are unknown; but from the clause which follows, "with the territory before Japho," it must have been in the neighbourhood of Joppa (Jaffa). "The territory before Japho" includes the places in the environs of Joppa. Consequently Joppa itself does not appear to have belonged to the territory of Dan

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

The name signifies "beauty," though Joppa does not seem to be distinguished above all other places in Palestine by the beauty of its situation. But according to Hovers, Japho signifies in Phoenician, "high place."

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and CollegesMarginal/exegetical notes1880s

where Jonah took ship to flee “from the presence of the Lord” ( Jonah 1:3 ); ( d ) where Jonathan Maccabæus met Ptolemy ( 1Ma 11:6 ); ( e ) where St Peter had the vision on the housetop of Simon the tanner ( Acts 10:9-18 ).

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Me-jarkon, and Rakkon, including the territory across from Joppa.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ū·mê hay·yar·qō·wn wə·hā·raq·qō·wn ‘im- hag·gə·ḇūl mūl yā·p̄ōw

Word by word7 · parsed

וּמֵ֥יū·mêvvvH4313

√ Mêy hay-Yarqôwn — Me-haj-Jarkon, a place in Palestine

הַיַּרְק֖וֹןhay·yar·qō·wnMe-jarkonH4313

√ Mêy hay-Yarqôwn — Me-haj-Jarkon, a place in PalestineConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

וְהָֽרַקּ֑וֹןwə·hā·raq·qō·wnand RakkonH7542

√ Raqqôwn — Rakkon, a place in PalestineConjunctive waw, ArticleNounproperfeminine singular

עִֽם־‘im-includingH5973

√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPreposition

‘im (H5973), "with" — the preposition gathering the coastal district to the list: not the city of Joppa but "the territory before" it. The boundary touches the sea here, Dan's only frontage on the Mediterranean.

הַגְּב֖וּלhag·gə·ḇūlthe territoryH1366

√ gᵉbûwl — properly, a cord (as twisted), iArticleNounmasculine singular

hag·gə·ḇūl (H1366), "the border/territory" — the same boundary-rope word as v. 41, now describing the seaward strip opposite Joppa.

מ֥וּלmūlacross fromH4136

√ mûwl — properly, abrupt, iPreposition

יָפֽוֹ׃yā·p̄ōwJoppaH3305

√ Yâphôw — Japho, a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

yā·p̄ōw (H3305), "Joppa" — port of Jerusalem across all of biblical history: whence Jonah fled (Jonah 1:3), whither cedar floated for the temple (2 Chronicles 2:16; Ezra 3:7), where Peter saw the sheet let down (Acts 10). A single word opening onto the whole canon's coastline.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

and Me-jarkon, and Rakkon, with the territory over against Joppa.

Where the English smooths the original

וּמֵ֥י הַיַּרְק֖וֹן ū·mê hay·yar·qō·wn (H4313) literally means "the waters of the yellow / yellow-green" — Me-jarkon, "yellow water," likely a stream. BSB transliterates it as a town-name; the Hebrew names a colored river, the only watercourse in this otherwise dry city-roll.
מ֥וּל mūl (H4136) is "in front of / opposite," properly "abrupt, facing." BSB's "across from" is fair, but the Hebrew is precise about geography of confrontation: Dan's land runs up to Joppa but stops facing it. Keil infers "Joppa itself does not appear to have belonged to the territory of Dan."
יָפֽוֹ׃ yā·p̄ōw (H3305), "Japho," is the Hebrew form whose root means "beauty" (Cambridge) — the Joppa of Jonah and of Peter's vision (Acts 10). BSB uniquely keeps "Joppa" here while the Hebrew says Yāphô; the Pulpit Commentary calls the inconsistency "unfortunate."

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

The words “too little” are not in the original; and it seems better to translate literally: And the coast of the children of Dan went out from them — i.e., their territory was partly re-conquered by the Philistines.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

no more can fairly be inferred, than that, in after times, Ezra, or some other, thought good to insert this verse here, in order to complete the account of the Danites’ possessions.

Benson raises, then limits, the authorship question — granting the verse narrates events after Joshua's death without conceding the book is non-Joshuan.

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

the Danite expedition (see the marginal reference), which surprised the Sidonion inhabitants of Leshem, an unwarlike and peaceable race, exterminated them, and annexed their city and territory to the portion of Dan.

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

Went out too little for them, Heb. went out from them , to wit, out of their hands or possession; for so this Hebrew word is used concerning those lands, which in the year of the jubilee are said to go out , Leviticus 25:28

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(Later, when the territory of the Danites was lost to them, they went up and fought against Leshem, captured it, and put it to the sword. So they took possession of Leshem, settled there, and renamed it after their father Dan.)

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ḡə·ḇūl- bə·nê- ḏān mê·hem way·yê·ṣê ḇə·nê- ḏān way·ya·‘ă·lū way·yil·lā·ḥă·mū ‘im- le·šem way·yil·kə·ḏū ’ō·w·ṯāh way·yak·kū ’ō·w·ṯāh lə·p̄î- ḥe·reḇ way·yir·šū ’ō·w·ṯāh way·yê·šə·ḇū ḇāh way·yiq·rə·’ū lə·le·šem kə·šêm ’ă·ḇî·hem dān dān

Word by word27 · parsed

גְבוּל־ḡə·ḇūl-Later, when the territoryH1366

√ gᵉbûwl — properly, a cord (as twisted), iNounmasculine singular construct

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-of the DanitesH1121

דָ֖ןḏān. . .H1835

√ Dân — Dan, one of the sons of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

מֵהֶ֑םmê·hem. . .

Preposition-mPronounthird person masculine plural

וַיֵּצֵ֥אway·yê·ṣêwas lostH3318

√ yâtsâʼ — to go (causatively, bring) out, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively, direct and proximConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

way·yê·ṣê (H3318), "went out" — the crux of the verse. Poole: "went out from them, to wit, out of their hands or possession," comparing the jubilee idiom of land that "goes out" (Leviticus 25:28). Barnes reads the opposite — "the children of Dan enlarged their border." The Hebrew itself is terse enough to bear both, and the unit records both honestly.

בְנֵֽי־ḇə·nê-[to them]H1121

דָ֠ןḏān. . .H1835

√ Dân — Dan, one of the sons of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

וַיַּעֲל֣וּway·ya·‘ă·lūthey went upH5927

√ ʻâlâh — to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

וַיִּלָּחֲמ֨וּway·yil·lā·ḥă·mūand foughtH3898

√ lâcham — to feed onConjunctive wawVerbNifalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

way·yil·lā·ḥă·mū (H3898), Niphal "and they fought" — Dan's self-initiated war, narrated in full only in Judges 18. The event lies after Joshua's death; Benson and Gill hold the verse "inserted by another hand" to complete the record.

עִם־‘im-againstH5973

√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPreposition

לֶ֜שֶׁםle·šemLeshemH3959

√ Leshem — Leshem, a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

le·šem (H3959), "Leshem" — called Laish in Judges 18. Keil identifies it with Tell el-Kadi, a source of the Jordan, later the site where "Jeroboam set up the golden calves" (1 Kings 12:29). The renamed city becomes Israel's northern byword "from Dan to Beersheba" — and its first shrine of idolatry.

וַיִּלְכְּד֥וּway·yil·kə·ḏūcaptured itH3920

√ lâkad — to catch (in a net, trap or pit)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

אוֹתָ֣הּ׀’ō·w·ṯāhH853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object markerthird person feminine singular

וַיַּכּ֧וּway·yak·kūand put itH5221

√ nâkâh — to strike (lightly or severely, literally or figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbHifilConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

way·yak·kū (H5221), "and they struck" — Hiphil of nâkâh; with "mouth of the sword," the standard ḥērem-formula of total conquest carried over from Joshua's own campaigns (e.g. Joshua 10:28, 32, 35). Barnes notes Leshem's people were "an unwarlike and peaceable race" — the same "quiet and secure" people of Judges 18:7 whom Dan exterminated. The irony is sharp: the holy-war formula reserved for the Canaanites Dan could not drive out of its own valley (Judges 1:34) is turned, after Joshua's death and on Dan's own initiative, against a distant town it was never commanded to take.

אוֹתָ֣הּ’ō·w·ṯāhH853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object markerthird person feminine singular

לְפִי־lə·p̄î-vvvH6310

√ peh — the mouth (as the means of blowing), whether literal or figurative (particularly speech)Preposition-lNounmasculine singular construct

חֶ֗רֶבḥe·reḇto the swordH2719

√ chereb — droughtNounfeminine singular

וַיִּֽרְשׁ֤וּway·yir·šūSo they took possessionH3423

√ yârash — to occupy (by driving out previous tenants, and possessing in their place)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

way·yir·šū (H3423), "and they took possession" — Qal of yârash, "to occupy by dispossessing the previous tenants." This is the great covenant verb of the conquest: Israel is to yārash the land Yahweh gives (Deuteronomy 1:8; Joshua 1:11). Here the verb appears not of the allotted inheritance — which Dan signally failed to possess (Judges 1:34) — but of a self-chosen northern city seized by the sword. Dan finally possesses, but the wrong land, won the wrong way.

אוֹתָהּ֙’ō·w·ṯāhof [Leshem]H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object markerthird person feminine singular

וַיֵּ֣שְׁבוּway·yê·šə·ḇūsettledH3427

√ yâshab — properly, to sit down (specifically as judgeConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בָ֔הּḇāhthere

Prepositionthird person feminine singular

וַיִּקְרְא֤וּway·yiq·rə·’ūand renamedH7121

√ qârâʼ — to call out to (iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

way·yiq·rə·’ū (H7121), "and they called" — the naming verb that re-stamps a Canaanite/Sidonian town with the patriarch's name. The renaming is an act of possession: the land is owned by being re-named after the father. The same qārâʼ + shêm + ʼâb formula recurs almost verbatim in Judges 18:29, marking the two passages as twin tellings of one event.

לְלֶ֙שֶׁם֙lə·le·šem[it]H3959

√ Leshem — Leshem, a place in PalestinePreposition-lNounproperfeminine singular

כְּשֵׁ֖םkə·šêmafterH8034

√ shêm — an appellation, as amark or memorial of individualityPreposition-kNounmasculine singular construct

אֲבִיהֶֽם׃’ă·ḇî·hemtheir fatherH1

√ ʼâb — father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote applicationNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine plural

דָּ֔ןdānDanH1835

√ Dân — Dan, one of the sons of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

דָּ֥ןdān. . .H1835

√ Dân — Dan, one of the sons of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And the border of the sons of Dan went out from them; so the sons of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and captured it, and struck it with the mouth of the sword, and took possession of it, and settled in it, and called Leshem Dan, after the name of Dan their father.

Where the English smooths the original

וַיֵּצֵ֥א The Hebrew reads way·yê·ṣê ḡə·ḇūl bə·nê dān mê·hem — "the border of the sons of Dan went out from them." BSB's "the territory of the Danites was lost to them" is an interpretation, not the words. Ellicott, Barnes, Benson, the Pulpit Commentary and Cambridge all flag that the KJV's "too little" is not in the Hebrew; the verb is simply yā·ṣā (H3318), "went out" — the very verb that brought the lot "out" in v. 40.
לְפִי־ lə·p̄î ḥe·reḇ, the phrase לְפִי־חֶ֗רֶב, is literally "to the mouth of the sword" (peh, H6310, + chereb, H2719). BSB's "put it to the sword" is idiomatic; the Hebrew idiom personifies the blade as a devouring mouth. This is the same phrase by which Joshua's own conquests were narrated — now wielded by a tribe acting on its own after his death.
וַיִּקְרְא֤וּ way·yiq·rə·’ū ... kə·šêm ’ă·ḇî·hem dān — "and they called [it] after the name of their father, Dan." BSB's "renamed it after their father Dan" is accurate, but the Hebrew formula qârâʼ + shêm + ʼâb is the same naming-formula repeated almost verbatim in Judges 18:29, marking these as two tellings of one event.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Cambridge Bible for Schools and CollegesMarginal/exegetical notes1880s

The dying Jacob had said of the tribe ( Genesis 49:16 ): “Dan shall judge his people, As one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way , An adder in the path, That biteth the horse heels , So that his rider shall fall backward;”

Cambridge here quotes Genesis 49:16-17 (Jacob's blessing) and Deuteronomy 33:22 (Moses' blessing) to read Dan's small, fierce, frontier character into its allotment.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

We read little of Dan in the after history of Israel. Samson is the only hero this tribe produced, and his exploits were limited to a very narrow area, and his influence apparently to his own tribe.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

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.

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This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Dan, including these cities and their villages.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

zōṯ na·ḥă·laṯ lə·miš·pə·ḥō·ṯām maṭ·ṭêh ḇə·nê- ḏān hā·’êl·leh he·‘ā·rîm wə·ḥaṣ·rê·hen

Word by word9 · parsed

זֹ֗אתzōṯThisH2063

√ zôʼth — this (often used adverb)Pronounfeminine singular

zōṯ (H2063), "this" — the recapitulating demonstrative that ends Dan's section and, with it, the second great distribution of the land at Shiloh.

נַחֲלַ֛תna·ḥă·laṯwas the inheritanceH5159

√ nachălâh — properly, something inherited, iNounfeminine singular construct

na·ḥă·laṯ (H5159), "inheritance" — bracketing the unit with v. 41. Cambridge calls Dan's land "one of the most fertile tracts in the land, the cornfield and garden of southern Palestine," though only fourteen miles long.

לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֑םlə·miš·pə·ḥō·ṯāmof the clansH4940

√ mishpâchâh — a family, iPreposition-lNounfeminine plural constructthird person masculine plural

מַטֵּ֥הmaṭ·ṭêhof the tribeH4294

√ maṭṭeh — a branch (as extending)Nounmasculine singular construct

בְנֵי־ḇə·nê-vvvH1121

דָ֖ןḏānof DanH1835

√ Dân — Dan, one of the sons of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

הָאֵ֖לֶּהhā·’êl·lehincluding theseH428

√ ʼêl-leh — these or thoseArticlePronouncommon plural

הֶֽעָרִ֥יםhe·‘ā·rîmcitiesH5892

√ ʻîyr — a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)ArticleNounfeminine plural

he·‘ā·rîm (H5892), "the cities" — "a place guarded by waking or a watch." The inheritance is counted in watched cities and their unwalled ḥăṣêrîm (villages): the fortified and the open together.

וְחַצְרֵיהֶֽן׃פwə·ḥaṣ·rê·henand their villagesH2691

√ châtsêr — a yard (as inclosed by a fence)Conjunctive wawNouncommon plural constructthird person feminine plural

wə·ḥaṣ·rê·hen (H2691), "and their villages" — the closing tally. The Pulpit Commentary observes, soberly, "We read little of Dan in the after history of Israel. Samson is the only hero this tribe produced."

Literal — word-for-word from the original

This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Dan, according-to-their-clans — these cities and their villages.

Where the English smooths the original

זֹ֗את zōṯ (H2063) is the feminine demonstrative "this" — agreeing with feminine na·ḥă·laṯ ("inheritance"). BSB's "This was the inheritance" is right, but the bare summarizing pronoun is the closing formula that seals every tribe's allotment in chs. 13–19, a liturgical full-stop.
נַחֲלַ֛ת na·ḥă·laṯ (H5159), "inheritance," in construct — the keyword that opened the unit (v. 41) now closes it, framing the whole roll. The land Dan could not fully hold is still, by the word, Dan's na·ḥălâh: an estate granted, whatever the failure to occupy it.
וְחַצְרֵיהֶֽן׃פ wə·ḥaṣ·rê·hen (H2691), "and their villages," is properly "their enclosed courts / settlements" — unwalled hamlets around the named towns. BSB's "villages" is fine; the trailing Masoretic פ (pe) on the form marks a closed paragraph — the scribal seal on Dan's portion and the southern tribes' allotments.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The seventh and smallest: a pebble for the most numerous tribe — Joshua 19:40

The unit opens with a paradox the commentators cannot miss. The seventh and final lot (hag·gō·w·rāl, H1486 — properly a thrown pebble) falls to Dan, and Cambridge calls it "the smallest of all the tribes." Yet Ellicott insists from the census lists that "Dan was the most numerous tribe, next to Judah," and notes its "post of honour in being commander of the rear-guard during the march." The most populous tribe draws the least land. Keil & Delitzsch explain the geography: Dan's portion "was formed by Judah giving up some of its northern towns, and Ephraim some of its southern towns" — a tribe wedged, in Ellicott's phrase, between "the powerful tribes of Judah and Ephraim, the unconquered Philistines, and the sea." The placement is strategic, not accidental: the two strongest tribes guard the Philistine frontier. The text does not editorialize; it simply lets the number "seventh" and the smallness sit beside the greatness of the tribe.

ii. A roll of names that betrays its own incompleteness — Joshua 19:41–46

Unlike the other tribes, Dan is described "not by its borders, but by its cities" (Matthew Poole; Gill). And the city-roll is honest to the point of self-indictment. Several towns — Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh, Ekron — "had been originally assigned to Judah" (Ellicott), so that Dan's inheritance is in part Judah's surplus. More tellingly, the list names places Dan never held: Ekron, says Gill, "was never possessed by the Israelites"; of Ir-shemesh and others Keil writes plainly, "the Danites did not take possession." The names themselves carry buried meaning the BSB transliterates away — Ir-shemesh, "city of the sun" (Gill, the Pulpit Commentary: "another sign of sun-worship"); Shaalabbin, "the place of foxes" (Cambridge); Bene-berak, "sons of lightning" (Gill); Japho, "beauty" (Cambridge, Pulpit). The roll closes at the sea, "the territory before Joppa" — and even there Keil concludes "Joppa itself does not appear to have belonged to the territory of Dan." The deed is generous; the possession is partial.

iii. "Went out from them": the verse the translators bent — Joshua 19:47

The hinge of the unit is a single verb. The KJV's "the coast of the children of Dan went out too little for them" rests on words that, as a chorus of commentators agree, are simply not in the Hebrew. Ellicott: "The words 'too little' are not in the original." Benson: "The words too little are not in the Hebrew, where there is nothing that corresponds with them." Cambridge and the Pulpit Commentary say the same; the Hebrew reads only way·yê·ṣê (H3318) — "the border of the sons of Dan went out from them." And the bare verb is genuinely ambiguous. Poole reads it as loss — the land "went out... out of their hands or possession," on the model of jubilee land that "goes out" (Leviticus 25:28). Barnes reads it as the opposite — "the children of Dan enlarged their border." The unit refuses to flatten the ambiguity, because the narrative bears both: pressed out of the valley by the Amorites (Judges 1:34), Dan goes out from its allotted coast to seize Leshem in the far north. What follows is told in the conquest-formula of Joshua's own wars — they "struck it with the mouth of the sword" (lə·p̄î ḥe·reḇ) — yet Barnes notes the victims were "an unwarlike and peaceable race," the "quiet and secure" people of Judges 18:7. The renaming "after the name of Dan their father" repeats, almost verbatim, the formula of Judges 18:29.

iv. The serpent in the path: Jacob's word and Dan's character — Joshua 19:48

The closing formula "this is the inheritance" (zōṯ na·ḥă·laṯ) seals a portion fourteen miles long that Cambridge calls "one of the most fertile tracts in the land, the cornfield and garden of southern Palestine." But Cambridge reaches past the land to the patriarchal word, quoting Jacob's blessing: "Dan shall judge his people... Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels" (Genesis 49:16-17), and Moses' "a lion's whelp" (Deuteronomy 33:22). The character fits the allotment: a small, fierce, frontier tribe "to lie in wait for the invader from the south or from the north." Yet the Pulpit Commentary records the cost soberly: "We read little of Dan in the after history of Israel. Samson is the only hero this tribe produced." The same tribe that names a city for its father will, at that very Leshem-now-Dan, become the site of Jeroboam's golden calf (1 Kings 12:29 — so Keil). The serpent in the path was also a serpent in Israel's own house.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

Reading this dry city-list under Sola Scriptura — letting it test itself against the rest of the canon — what stands out is the gap between deed and possession. Twice the text frames Dan's portion as na·ḥălâh, "inheritance" (vv. 41, 48): a settled, granted estate. Yet the same passage names Ekron, Gibbethon, Aijalon, Shaalabbin as towns Dan never cleared, and v. 47 shows Dan's own border "going out from them." The land is fully given and only partly taken. This is not a contradiction the text hides; it is the text's own theology of inheritance — the gift is secure in God's word and incomplete in Israel's hand. The tragedy is not that Dan received too little, but that, squeezed and impatient, it abandoned the frontier it was placed to hold and carved out a new home by the sword against "a people quiet and secure" — and then enshrined idolatry there. The smallest inheritance was not the failure; the restless refusal to wait on the giver was. The land was always enough; the heart was not.

Dan's portion was given in full and held in part — the gap between the deed and the dwelling is the whole drama of the tribe. (An interpretive line from the synthesis layer, not a verse of Scripture.)

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

Eltekeh and Gibbethon: the same two towns handed to the Levites verbal / quotation — confirmed

Joshua 19:44's "Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath" re-appears almost intact in the Levitical-city roll of Joshua 21:23, where Eltekeh and Gibbethon are set apart for the Kohathites. The decisive link is ’Eltᵉqêʼ (H514), a place-name found in only two verses of the entire Hebrew Bible — these two — joined by Gibbᵉthôwn (H1405, only five verses). The extreme rarity makes this a genuine verbal dependence, not a thematic coincidence: the same near-unique names are deliberately carried from Dan's allotment into the Levitical apportionment. The Verifier returns this pairing on those shared rare lexemes.

Joshua 19:44 · Joshua 21:23

basis: shared rare lexemes H514 ʼEltᵉqêʼ (2 vv) and H1405 Gibbᵉthôwn (5 vv) — Verifier-computed; freq-2 lexeme confirms verbal link, not theme

Zorah and Eshtaol: from Dan's roll to Samson's cradle and grave verbal / quotation — confirmed

The first two towns of Dan's inheritance, Zorah and Eshtaol (Joshua 19:41), reappear together as the birthplace and burial-region of Samson (Judges 13:25; 16:31) and as the launching-point of the Danite migration (Judges 18:11). The link rests on two rare place-names shared verbatim: ʼEshtâʼôl (H847, 7 verses) and Tsorʻâh (H6881, 10 verses). The Pulpit Commentary already draws the line on this very verse, naming these hills "the fastnesses in which Samson was born." The one deliverer Dan produced rises from the two towns that head its allotment — and from those same towns the 600 warriors march north to Leshem.

Joshua 19:41 · Judges 13:25 · Judges 16:31 · Judges 18:11

basis: shared rare lexemes H847 ʼEshtâʼôl (7 vv) and H6881 Tsorʻâh (10 vv) — Verifier-computed; low-frequency place-name pair confirms verbal link

Shaalabbin and Aijalon: towns Dan held on paper, Amorites held in fact verbal / quotation — confirmed

Joshua 19:42 deeds Shaalabbin and Aijalon to Dan; Judges 1:35 reports that "the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim" — the very towns Dan could not take. The verbal tie is the shared place-names Shaʻalbîym (H8169, 3 verses) and ʼAyâlôwn (H357, 10 verses). Keil & Delitzsch note on this verse that both "remained in the hands of the Canaanites (Judges 1:35)." This is the canon's own footnote to the unit's central tension: the inheritance list and the conquest record disagree, and Scripture preserves both.

Joshua 19:42 · Judges 1:35

basis: shared rare lexemes H8169 Shaʻalbîym (3 vv) and H357 ʼAyâlôwn (10 vv) — Verifier-computed; the freq-3 name confirms a verbal link

Gath-rimmon: deeded to Dan, set apart for the Levites verbal / quotation — confirmed

Gath-rimmon, the last of the inland towns in Dan's roll (Joshua 19:45), recurs in the Levitical-city catalogue of Joshua 21:24 (and again 1 Chronicles 6:69), where it is assigned to the Kohathite Levites. The tie rests on the rare compound place-name Gath-Rimmôwn (H1667), which occurs in only four verses of the entire Hebrew Bible. Cambridge draws the line on this verse: "Gath-rimmon we find (ch. Joshua 21:24) given to the Levites, but the site is unknown." Like Eltekeh and Gibbethon, this is a town Dan holds on the deed only to surrender it again — here not to Canaanites but to the Levites, who have no tribal inheritance of their own. The low frequency makes this a genuine verbal dependence, the same near-unique name carried from Dan's list into the Levitical apportionment.

Joshua 19:45 · Joshua 21:24 · 1 Chronicles 6:69

basis: shared rare lexeme H1667 Gath-Rimmôwn (4 vv) — Verifier-computed; freq-4 place-name confirms a verbal link, not a theme

Baalath: Dan's pagan-named town fortified by Solomon verbal / quotation — confirmed

Baalath (Joshua 19:44) — a town whose very name carries the Canaanite divine title Baʻal, "lord/owner" — reappears among the store-cities Solomon fortified (1 Kings 9:18; 2 Chronicles 8:6). The link is the rare place-name Baʻălâth (H1191), found in only three verses of the Hebrew Bible. Keil & Delitzsch note on this verse that "Baalath was fortified by Solomon," identifying it with Josephus's "Baleth in the neighbourhood of Geser." The Verifier returns the pairing on this single rare lexeme. The thread quietly tracks a pagan-named place from the inheritance-roll into Israel's own royal building program — the name of the Canaanite "lord" surviving inside the cities of the king who would later build high places for foreign gods.

Joshua 19:44 · 1 Kings 9:18 · 2 Chronicles 8:6

basis: shared rare lexeme H1191 Baʻălâth (3 vv) — Verifier-computed; freq-3 place-name confirms a verbal link

Leshem renamed Dan: the same renaming-formula in Judges 18 — flagged for provenance flagged — verify source

Joshua 19:47 tells, in compressed form, the conquest of Leshem and its renaming "Dan, after the name of Dan their father" — the event narrated at full length in Judges 18, where the city (there called Laish) is renamed in nearly identical words (Judges 18:29). The renaming-formula shares qârâʼ (H7121, "call"), shêm (H8034, "name"), ʼâb (H1, "father") and Dân (H1835), and the conquest is told in the shared "mouth of the sword" formula (Joshua 19:47 ↔ Judges 18:27: chereb H2719, peh H6310, nâkâh H5221). These are common lexemes, so the link is structural, not a rare-word quotation — and the provenance is genuinely debated. Benson grants the verse records events "after Joshua's death" and may have been "inserted... by Ezra, or some other... to complete the account"; Gill and Barnes agree it postdates Joshua. Because the relationship between this verse and Judges 18 (priority, authorship, insertion) is contested in the sources themselves, this thread is flagged.

Joshua 19:47 · Judges 18:27 · Judges 18:29

basis: shared lexemes H1835 Dân, H7121 qârâʼ, H8034 shêm, H1 ʼâb (renaming-formula) and H2719 chereb / H6310 peh / H5221 nâkâh (conquest-formula) — all common; tier flagged because the verse's authorship/insertion and its relation to Judges 18 are disputed in the PD sources (Benson, Gill, Barnes)

Joppa: Dan's seaward edge that opens onto Jonah, the temple, and Peter verbal / quotation — confirmed

Dan's territory runs to "the border before Joppa" (Joshua 19:46). The same port, Yâphôw (H3305, only 4 verses in the Hebrew Bible), recurs as the harbor whence Jonah fled "from the presence of the LORD" (Jonah 1:3) and whither cedar was floated for the second temple (Ezra 3:7; 2 Chronicles 2:16). The shared place-name is a verbal link within the Hebrew canon. Cambridge and the Pulpit Commentary extend the line into the New Testament to Acts 10 — Peter's rooftop vision at Joppa — but that link cannot rest on a shared Strong's number, since it crosses from Hebrew to Greek; it is structural/thematic only.

Joshua 19:46 · Jonah 1:3 · Ezra 3:7 · 2 Chronicles 2:16

basis: shared rare place-name H3305 Yâphôw (4 vv) across the Hebrew references — Verifier-computed; this rare lexeme is the real fingerprint (the Verifier also lists the common preposition H5973 ʻim, freq 919, which carries no weight). The Acts 10 resonance is cross-Testament (Greek↔Hebrew), cannot rest on a shared Strong's number, and is named as thematic/typological only

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The inheritance secured though not yet possessed widely-held

Matthew Henry, on this whole section (19:17-51), reads the pattern of allotment-before-possession as a figure of Christ: "Our Lord Jesus came and dwelt on earth, not in pomp but poverty, providing rest for man, yet himself not having where to lay his head... Nor would he enter upon his inheritance, till by his obedience to death he secured the eternal inheritance for all his people; nor will he account his own glory completed, till every ransomed sinner is put in possession of his heavenly rest." The very gap this unit exposes — land fully given yet not fully held — is, in Henry's reading, answered in Christ, who secures an inheritance that cannot "go out from" His people (1 Peter 1:4). This is a widely-held typological reading, not a claim that the Danite text predicts Christ; it is the PD commentator's own figural application.

Joshua 19:41 · Joshua 19:47 · Joshua 19:48

Dan the judge, the serpent, and the tribe that prophesied and fell novel

Jacob's blessing names Dan "a serpent by the way, an adder in the path" (Genesis 49:16-17), and Cambridge draws the whole arc of the tribe out of that word on this very unit. The patriarchal blessing carries a Christward seam: in the midst of the serpent-saying Jacob cries, "I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD" (Genesis 49:18) — read by the ancient church as the longing of the old covenant for the Savior. Dan's own history runs the other way: the city renamed "Dan" in v. 47 becomes (so Keil, on 1 Kings 12:29) the seat of Jeroboam's golden calf, and Dan is conspicuously absent from the sealed tribes of Revelation 7. The tribe whose name means "judge" and whose father's blessing breathes salvation becomes a byword for idolatry — a dark foil that throws the true Judge and true Salvation (Joshua/Jesus, "Yahweh saves") into relief. The Genesis-to-Dan link is verbal (shared H1835); the Christ-application is a novel synthesis offered here for testing, not an ancient consensus.

Joshua 19:47 · Genesis 49:16 · Genesis 49:18 · Deuteronomy 33:22

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, Marginal/exegetical notes (1880s)
Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
Keil & Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1860s)
Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

One thread is flagged on purpose. The Leshem-renamed-Dan link (Joshua 19:47 → Judges 18:27-29) is tiered flagged — verify source — not because the connection is doubtful (it is plainly the same event) but because the provenance of the verse is debated in the very PD sources of this unit. Benson, Gill, and Barnes all note that v. 47 narrates events occurring after Joshua's death and may have been inserted by a later hand "to complete the account"; the direction of literary dependence between Joshua 19 and Judges 18 is genuinely contested. We record the link and the dispute rather than resolving it.

On the translators' "too little." The KJV/older "went out too little for them" (v. 47) rests on words absent from the Hebrew; the BSB's "was lost to them" is one defensible reading of the bare verb yā·ṣā ("went out"), Poole's reading, while Barnes reads the same verb as "enlarged." We have flagged this divergence rather than choosing a side, because the Hebrew sustains both and the narrative needs both.

On cross-Testament links. The Joppa thread's Hebrew references (Jonah 1:3, Ezra 3:7, 2 Chronicles 2:16) are tied to Joshua 19:46 by the rare place-name Yâphôw (H3305, only 4 verses), a true rare-lexeme verbal fingerprint. But the New Testament resonance (Acts 10, Peter's vision) that Cambridge and the Pulpit Commentary note crosses from Hebrew to Greek; it cannot rest on a shared Strong's number and is recorded as thematic/typological only, never "verbal."

On the city-roll. Many notes lean on place-name etymologies (Ir-shemesh = "city of the sun," Bene-berak = "sons of lightning," Japho = "beauty"); these are drawn from the cited PD commentators (Gill, Cambridge, Pulpit) and from the Strong's roots in the parse, not invented. Several identifications (Eltekeh, Ithlah, Me-jarkon, Rakkon) remain unlocated in the sources, and we say so rather than guessing.

Note (Matthew Poole on v. 40). Poole's printed commentary has no note on Joshua 19:40, 19:42–46, or 19:48; his single substantive note in this unit falls on v. 47, which is why his voice appears there and not on the bare city-list verses.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)