The Tribe of Dan was one of the twelve tribes of Israel, according to the Old Testament. The tribe initially settled in the hills bordering Judah and the Philistines, but eventually migrated north due to pressure of their enemies, settling at Laish (later known as Dan) near Mount Hermon.

According to the Book of Genesis, Dan was Jacob’s fifth son, and the first of the two sons of Jacob and Bilhah. His mother Bilhah was Rachel’s handmaid, who became one of Jacob’s concubines. The name of Dan derives from dananni, meaning “he has judged me”, in reference to Rachel crediting him to the judgment of God.

The Book of Judges, in the account of Micah’s Idol, describes the Tribe of Dan as having used ephod and teraphim in worship, and Samson (a descendant of Dan) is described as failing to adhere to the rules of a Nazarite. Ancient writers concluded that Dan was a black sheep. In the Book of Jeremiah, the north of Canaan is associated with darkness and evil, reflecting Dan as the archetype of wickedness.

The sons of Dan set up for themselves the graven image; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.
Judges 18:30 (NASB)

In the apocryphal “Testaments of the Patriarchs,” Dan is portrayed as having hated Joseph, and having been the one that came up with the idea of deceiving Jacob by smearing Joseph’s coat with the blood of a kid. In the apocryphal “Prayer of Asenath,” Dan is portrayed as plotting with the Egyptian crown prince against Joseph and Asenath. In the “Blessing of Jacob,” Dan is described as a serpent, connecting him to Belial, a connection also made in the apocryphal “Testament of Dan.”

St. John the Apostle omits the Tribe of Dan when mentioning the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel, in regard to the 144,000 sealed Israelites. Instead of Dan, the tribe of Joseph appears twice (being also represented by Manasseh). Early Christian writers such as St. Irenaeus and St. Hippolytus believed that the Antichrist would come from the Tribe of Dan.

A common theme in Scripture is that, not only will evil be judged, but God humiliates evil by using it for good. God uses his “pet leviathan,” the devil, to purify his beloved servant Job. St Paul describes how God uses the devil to correct people who are cast out of the Church, hoping they return. Saints tell us often that without temptations and the demons, we would not have a way to grow strong in our clinging to God. Their pull away from God is like the pull of gravity, and it is the resistance to them by clinging to Christ that makes us spiritually strong. Weightlifting would do very little if there was no gravity! Many Saints describe how every time a demon tempted them, they prayed, and this kept happening until they became holy. In the end of the stories, the demon is always put to shame and leaves angry, having “falling into his own net” as the Psalmist describes.

From this we can see the dual symbolism of Dan as the one who is judged, but also the one God uses to judge. In these situations, the ones who are evil are always revealed in God’s judgment, and the ones who are righteous are revealed also, like Joseph and Job. Scripture and many Saints tell us God allows evil leaders to be elected as a way to correct the nations. Saints also tell us that falls like that of Constantinople and Russia were God correcting these nations, not out of retributive punishment, but because “whom He loves He chastizes” as the Scriptures tell us.

Dan shall judge his people,
As one of the tribes of Israel.
Dan shall be a serpent in the way,
A horned snake in the path,
That bites the horse’s heels,
So that his rider falls backward.
For Your salvation I wait, O LORD
Genesis 49:16-18 (NASB)

The final chastisement that God will send mankind will be the antichrist. He will be the ultimate judgment of mankind (their “self-elected suicide king”), but will also be the final revelation of Christ and His Saints. So, bare minimum symbolically, but quite possibly literally, it seems appropriate to say the antichrist will be of the tribe of Dan.

All of this reminds me of the importance of the prayer before communion: “make not an example of me, thy sinful servant.”

May we have the intercessions of the holy Judge Samson the Nazirite,
redeemed black sheep of the tribe of Dan who points to hope in Christ’s judgment!