Deuteronomy 33:22

22 And of Dan he said, Dan is a young lion, springing out from Bashan.

Deuteronomy 33:22 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 33:22

And of Dan he said
Of the tribe of Dan, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem:

Dan [is] a lion's whelp;
or like one for boldness, strength, and courage; and was verified in Samson, who was of this tribe; who, when a young lion roared against him, the Spirit of the Lord came on him, and he tore it to pieces, ( Judges 14:5 Judges 14:6 ) ;

he shall leap from Bashan;
not Dan, for he was seated far from that country; but the sense is, he was like to a young lion for its strength, when it leaps from Bashan, as Aben Ezra rightly explains it. Bashan was a mountain in which lions haunted, and from whence they might be said to leap, as they do when they seize on their prey: it may have some respect to the leap of the Danites from the northwest part of the land of Israel, where they were settled, but was not sufficient for them, to the northeast of it, when they went against Leshem, and took it, and called it Dan; see ( Joshua 19:47 ) .

Deuteronomy 33:22 In-Context

20 Of Gad he said, A blessing be on him who makes wide the limits of Gad: he takes his rest like a she-lion, taking for himself the arm and the crown of the head.

21 He kept for himself the first part, for his was the ruler's right: he put in force the righteousness of the Lord, and his decisions for Israel.

22 And of Dan he said, Dan is a young lion, springing out from Bashan.

23 And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, made glad with grace and full of the blessing of the Lord: the sea and its fishes will be his.

24 And of Asher he said, Let Asher have the blessing of children; may he be pleasing to his brothers, and let his foot be wet with oil.