The territory allotted to the tribe of Dan was border land between the hill country of Judah and Benjamin, and the Shephelah or plain of Philistia. It extended from the parallel of Japho or Joppa on the north, to a point some distance south of Beth shemesh. It embraced a large section of the plain, including Ekron, one of the five great cities of the Philistines. Its seventeen cities, however, so far as can now be ascertained, appeared to have been chiefly grouped along the sides and base of the mountains. The valleys that here run far up into the Judan ridge are rich and picturesque ; such as Ajalon, over which Joshua commanded the moon to stand still while Israel smote the Canaan ites (Josh. x. 12), and Sorek (now Wady Surar), the scene of some of the chief events in the life of Samson, and the valley up which the Philistines brought the ark to the fields of Bethshemesh ( Sam. vi. 13). The soil of the valleys and of the whole neighbouring plain, is deep and fertile, ad mirably fitted for the production of grain ; while the declivities above them, and the sides of all the glens, were carefully terraced, and though bare and stony now, were once clothed with the vine and the olive. In fact, the whole territory was rich and pleasant ; but it was `too little' for the numerous tribe (Josh. xix. 40-48). On the east they were hemmed in by Judah and Benjamin, and on the north by Ephraim. It appears that along the whole eastern frontier the boundaries of the tribe were not very definitely settled, as we find the same towns, in different places, assigned to both Judah and Dan. Perhaps they were at first given to Judah, but afterwards transferred to the Danites on account of their narrow limits and great num bers (Josh. xix. 41-44 ; xv. 33, 45). On the west the warlike Philistines rendered a permanent occu pation or regular cultivation of the plain impossible. The Danites were not able to keep them in check, much less to conquer and colonize their territory (Judg. i. 34). Some of the towns allotted to Dan we find afterwards in possession of the Philistines, and indeed they seem never to have been conquered —such as Ekron (I Sam. v. io), and Gibbethon (i Kings xv. 27). Josephus' account of the boundaries of Dan differs materially from that given in the Bible. He says, ' The lot of the Danites included all that part of the valley which lies toward the sun-setting, and is bounded by Azotus (Ashdod) and Dora ; they had likewise all jamnia and Gath.' (Antiq. xv. 1. 22). This embraces, in addition to the northern section of the plain of Philistia, the whole of Sharon as far north as Carmel, at whose base Dora is situated. The discrepancy may be accounted for by supposing that the Danites at some period may have overrun the country so far, when the Philistines were humbled by the powerful Ephraimitcs, and the still more powerful David.
The limited territory of the Danites, their position as borderers, having strongholds in the mountains, and their being constantly compelled to defend their corn-fields and pasture-lands against powerful and bitter foes, sufficiently account for their warlike habits, and their freebooting exploits. Inured
themselves to constant danger, and exposed to the unceasing depredations and oppressions of their neighbours, we need not wonder that they became somewhat loose in their morals and unscrupulous in their acts. It was probably in prophetic allusion to these marked characteristics that Jacob said on his death-bed, ' 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' (Gen. xlix. i7).
Samson was the most celebrated man of the tribe of Dan, and one of the most distinguished of Israelitish warriors. His brilliant exploits, his enthusiastic patriotism, his strange and almost unaccountable moral weakness, his mournful fate, and terrible revenge, make up a tale unsur passed for romantic interest in the regions of fact or fiction. In his days the principal strong hold of the Danites was on the rugged heights of Zorah, not far distant from the town of Kir jath-jearini; and from this the predatory bands were wont to descend through the mountain defiles to the plain of Philistia (Judg. xiii. 25). But even the prowess and military skill of Samson were un able to expel the Philistines from the allotted terri tory of the tribe. After his death they resolved to seek other possessions of easier conquest. Their spies went to the northern border of Palestine. They saw there the rich plain of the upper Jordan round the city of Laish. It was then the granary of the merchant princes of Sidon, whose power was chiefly concentrated in their fleets, and who could therefore make but a feeble defence of their possessions beyond the ridge of Lebanon. An ex pedition was fitted out at the gathering-place near Zorah, and six hundred armed men marched north ward. The incidents of their march shew what a degenerating effect their unsettled mode of life, and their intercourse with Philistia, had both upon their faith and their morals. They carried off by force the images and the priest of Micah; and having captured Laish they set up the gods and established an idolatrous worship there. Moses' prophetic blessing was fulfilled to them when the tribe settled down in their new possessions—' Dan is a lion's whelp; he shall leap from Bashan' (Dent. xxxiii. 22).
It is a remarkable fact that the tribe of Dan is scarcely ever alluded to in the after history of Israel. There is no mention of it either in the genealogies of 1st Chronicles, or in the list of tribes given in the Apocalypse. It seems pro bable that the portion of the tribe which remained in the south was in time amalgamated with Judah and Benjamin ; the northern section united with the northern confederacy, and obtained somewhat more celebrity in connection with their frontier city.