Dan

Dan was the fifth son of Jacob, born to Rachel's servant Bilhah, who gave him to Jacob to claim children through her (Genesis 30:1–6). His name means 'he judged' or 'he vindicated,' reflecting Rachel's sense of divine justice in giving her a son through her servant. Jacob's blessing in Genesis 49:16–18 describes Dan as a 'judge of his people' and cryptically compares him to 'a serpent in the way, a viper by the path.' The tribe of Dan occupied territory on the Mediterranean coast but struggled to hold it against the Philistines (Judges 18), and a remnant migrated north to capture Laish, renaming it Dan—the northernmost city of Israel. The judge Samson was from the tribe of Dan. Dan is notably absent from the list of tribes in Revelation 7:4–8.