DEDAN (M; Sept. AcuSciv). Two persons of this name are mentioned in Scripture ; 1. The son of Raamah, the son of Cush (Gen. x. 7) ; 2. The second son of Jokshan, Abraham's son by Keturah (Gen. xxv. 3). Both were founders of tribes, afterwards repeatedly named in Scripture ; and Gesenius, Winer, and others, are of opinion that these were not really different tribes, but the same tribe derived, according to different traditions, from different progenitors. It seems better, however, to adhere to the usual view, by which they are dis tinguished from each other.
Of the descendants of the Cushite Dedan, very little is known. It is supposed that they settled in southern Arabia, near the Persian Gulf ; hut the existence • in this quarter of a place called Dadan or Dadena, is the chief ground for this conclusion.
The descendants of the Abrahamite Jokshan seem to have lived in the neighbourhood of Idu mma ; for the prophet Jeremiah (xlix. S) calls on
them to consult their safety, because the calamity of the sons of Esau, e., the Idumwans, was at hand. The same prophet (xxv. 23) connects them with Thema and Buz, two other tribes of Arabia Petrxa, or Arabia Deserta, as does Ezekiel (xxv. 13) with Theman, a district of Edom. It is not always clear when the name occurs which of the two Dedans is intended ; but it is probably the Cushite tribe, which is described as addicted to commerce, or rather, perhaps, engaged in the carrying-trade. Its travelling companies,' or caravans, are mentioned by Isaiah (xxi. 13) ; in Ezekiel (xxvii. 2o), the Dedanites are described as supplying the markets of Tyre with flowing riding cloths : and elsewhere (xxxviii. 13) the same pro phet names them along with the merchants of Tarshish.—J. K.