Joshua - 19:47



47 The border of the children of Dan went out beyond them; for the children of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and took it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and lived therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father.

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of Joshua 19:47.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
And the coast of the children of Dan went out too little for them: therefore the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father.
And is terminated there. And the children of Dan went up and fought against Lesem, and took it: and they put it to the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt in it, calling the name of it Lesem Dan, by the name of Dan their father.
And the border of the children of Dan ended with these; and the children of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and took possession of it, and dwelt in it, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father.
And the border of the children of Dan, went out too little for them: therefore the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt in it, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father.
And the border of the sons of Dan goeth out from them, and the sons of Dan go up and fight with Leshem, and capture it, and smite it by the mouth of the sword, and possess it, and dwell in it, and call Leshem, Dan, according to the name of Dan their father.
And the coast of the children of Dan went out too little for them: therefore the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelled therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father.
(But the limit of the children of Dan was not wide enough for them; so the children of Dan went up and made war on Leshem and took it, putting it to the sword without mercy, and they took it for their heritage and made a place for themselves there, giving it the name of Leshem-dan, after the name of their father, Dan.)
And the border of the children of Dan was too strait for them; so the children of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father.
And the border of the children of Dan slipped out of their control, so the children of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and after capturing it and striking it with the sword they took possession of it and dwelt in it, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor.
and there the last part is concluded. And the sons of Dan ascended and fought against Leshem, and they seized it. And they struck it with the mouth of the sword, and they possessed it, and they lived in it, calling it by the name of Leshem-Dan, according to the name of their father Dan.
Et exivit terminus filiorum Dan ab eis ascenderuntque filii Dan, et pugnaverunt cum Lesem, ceperuntque eam, ac percusserunt eam acie gladii, et haereditate acceperunt eam, habitaveruntque in ea: et vocaverunt Lesem Dan, secundum nomen Dan patris sui.

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

The words "too little" are an insertion of the King James Version Render rather, "the border of the children of Daniel was extended." The Hebrew appears to mean "the children of Daniel enlarged their border because they had not room enough."
The reason of this was that the Danites, a numerous tribe (Numbers 26:5 note), found themselves Judges 1:34-35 cooped up among the hills by the powerful and warlike Amorites. Hence, 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 Daniel.

Went out too little for them - This is certainly the meaning of the passage; but our translators have been obliged to add the words too little to make this sense apparent. Houbigant contends that an ancient copyist, meeting frequently with the words ויצאהגבול vaiyetse haggebul, in the preceding history, became so familiarized to them that he wrote them here instead of ויאץ הגבול vaiyaats haggebul, and the border of the children of Daniel was Strait for them. It was on this account that they were obliged to go and fight against Leshem, and take and possess it, their former inheritance being too strait for their increasing population.
And called Leshem, Daniel - This city was situated near the origin of Jordan, at the utmost northern extremity of the promised land, as Beer-sheba was at that of the south; and as after its capture by the Danites it was called Daniel, hence arose the expression from Daniel even to Beer-sheba, which always signified the whole extent of the promised land. Some suppose that Leshem was the same with Caesarea Philippi, but others with reason reject this opinion. It must be granted that the whole account given in this verse refers indisputably to a fact which did not take place till after the death of Joshua. It is another of the marginal or explicative notes which were added by some later hand. The whole account of this expedition of the Danites against Leshem is circumstantially given in the book of Judges, chapter 18, and to that chapter the reader is referred.

And the coast of the children of Daniel went out [too little] for them: therefore the children of Daniel went up to (l) fight against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Daniel, after the name of Daniel their father.
(l) According as Jacob had prophesied in (Genesis 49:17).

And the coast of the children of Daniel went out too little for them,.... Being a very numerous tribe, the cities allotted them were not sufficient for them; or rather, leaving out the supplement "too little", the words will run, it "went out from them"; they lost part of it, being driven out of the valley into the mountain by the Amorites, Judges 1:34; which obliged them to seek out elsewhere for habitations:
therefore the children of Daniel went out to fight against Leshem; called Laish, Judges 18:1, where the whole story is related of their lighting against this place and taking it; which, though some time after the death of Joshua, is here recorded to give at once an account of the inheritance of Daniel; and which is no argument against Joshua's being the writer of this book, as is urged; since it might be inserted by another hand, Ezra, or some other inspired man, for the reason before given:
and took and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it,
and dwelt therein; being a Canaanitish city, they put all in it to the sword, as the Lord had commanded, and took possession of it for an habitation:
and called Leshem Daniel, after the name of Daniel their father; this is the place which is always meant, where the phrase is used "from Daniel to Beersheba", Judges 20:1, this being at the utmost northern border of the land of Canaan, as Beersheba was at the further part of the southern coast of it. It was, according to Jerom (c), situated near Paneas, out of which the river Jordan flowed; and Kimchi on the text observes, their Rabbins (d) say, that Leshem is Pamias (i.e. Paneas), and that Jordan flows from the cave of Pamias, and had its name because it descended from Daniel; and so Josephus (e) says, that Panium is a cave under a mountain, from whence rise the springs of Jordan, and is the fountain of it; and Pliny also says (f), the river Jordan rises out of the fountain Paneas. This city was enlarged and beautified by Philip Herod, and he called it by the name of Caesarea Philippi, both in honour of Tiberius Caesar (g) and after his own name, by which name it goes in Matthew 16:13; and is called in the Jerusalem Targum on Genesis 14:14, Daniel of Caesarea.
(c) De loc. Hebrews. fol. 93. A. (d) T. Bab. Megillah, fol. 6. 1. & Bava Bathra, fol. 74. 2. (e) Antiqu. l. 15. c. 10. sect. 3. De Bello Jude. l. 1. c. 21. sect. 3. & l. 3. c. 9. sect. 7. (f) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 15. (g) Joseph. Antiqu. l. 18. c. 2. sect. 1.

the children of Daniel went up to fight against Leshem--The Danites, finding their inheritance too small, decided to enlarge its boundaries by the sword; and, having conquered Leshem (Laish), they planted a colony there, calling the new settlement by the name of Daniel (see on Judges 18:7).

Went up to fight - This was done after Joshua's death, and seems to be here inserted, that all the chief places where the Danites dwelt, tho' far distant, might be mentioned together; and to give an account of this strange accident, why they removed from their appointed portion to so remote a place; which may be this, that being much molested by their bad neighbours, they thought fit to go to some place remote from them, which also they were in a manner constrained to do, because otherwise they must have taken some part of the portions of other tribes, whereas now going to the very utmost northern point of the land, they took that which did not belong to any other tribe.

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