Bible Questions and Answer

Dan was the northernmost city of Israel, so the Bible often describes the whole land as stretching "from Dan to Beersheba." It was originally a quiet town called Laish. In Judges 18, the tribe of Dan, unable to hold its land in the south, sent spies north, found Laish peaceful and unprotected, and conquered it, renaming it Dan. On the way they stole a household idol and hired a priest, starting a shrine that lasted for generations. After the kingdom split, Jeroboam set up one of his two golden calves at Dan. The city sits by one of the main springs of the Jordan River, in a green area at the foot of Mount Hermon. Excavations at Tel Dan uncovered a mud-brick city gate with an arch from Abraham's era. In 1993 and 1994, archaeologists found pieces of a stone inscription mentioning "the house of David," the first reference to King David found outside the Bible.