Joshua 19:40-48·~1 min

Dan’s Inheritance

The seventh lot assigns Dan a set of towns and territory near Joppa, following the chapter’s usual pattern of listing places within an allotted share.

T⁴⁰he seventh lot came out for the clans of the tribe of Dan: ⁴¹The territory of their inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh, ⁴²Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah, ⁴³Elon, Timnah, Ekron, ⁴⁴Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, ⁴⁵Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon, ⁴⁶Me-jarkon, and Rakkon, including the territory across from Joppa.

A later note explains that Dan loses its allotted territory, captures Leshem, settles there, and names it after Dan before the formal close of the section.

⁴⁷(Later, when the territory of the Danites was lost to them, they went up and fought against Leshem, captured it, and put it to the sword. So they took possession of Leshem, settled there, and renamed it after their father Dan.) ⁴⁸This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Dan, including these cities and their villages.

Section summaryDan receives its allotted towns near the coast, but the section also remembers a later struggle in which the Danites lose that territory and seize Leshem instead. The inheritance is thus named both as given and as contested before it is finally possessed elsewhere.

Role in the chapterThis section breaks the chapter’s steady pattern with a brief narrative note, showing that possession does not unfold as smoothly for every tribe. It adds tension before the chapter closes with Joshua and the finished division of the land.