Gleanings in Genesis

Book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1922. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... 39. JACOB'S PROPHECY, CONTINUED Genesis 49 ' Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse's heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord." (Gen. 49:1618.) With this prophecy of Jacob concerning the tribe of Dan should be compared that of Moses, recorded in Deuteronomy 33:22, "And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion's whelp: he shall leap from Bashan." It is to be seen that both predicted evil of that tribe, around which there seems to be a cloud of mystery. The first thing that Scripture records of Dan is his low birth. (See Gen. 30:1-6.) Next, he is brought before us in Genesis 37:2, though he is not there directly mentioned by name. It is highly significant that of the four sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, Dan was the oldest, being at that time twenty years of age, and so, most likely, the ringleader in the "evil" which Joseph reported to their father. Next, in Genesis 46, reference is made to the children of Jacob's sons: the descendants of Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and the others, being specifically named in order. But when Dan is reached, the names of his sons are not given; instead, they are simply called by the tribal name--Hushim or Shuham. (See 46:23.) This is the more striking, because in Numbers 26 we meet with the same thing again: the children born to each of Jacob's twelve sons are carefully enumerated until Dan is reached, and then, as in Genesis 46, his descendants are not named, simply the tribal title being given. (See Num. 26:42.) This concealment of the names of Dan's children is the first indication of that silent "blotting out' of his name, which meets us in the total omission of this tribe from the genealogies recorded in 1 Ch...