Understanding Dan

An Exegetical Study of a Biblical City, Tribe and Ancestor

Mark Walter Bartusch

• Publisher: Continuum
• Year: 2003
• Print ISBN: 9780826466570
• eBook ISBN: 9780826439758
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

This book investigates the Dan/Danite tradition in the Hebrew Bible to determine not only what the Bible tells us about Dan, but also how far traditions about the territory, city, ancestor and tribe may have influenced each other. Bartusch argues that the political and theological interests reflected in the relatively late work of the Deuteronomistic Historian have cast a shadow over some earlier traditions, and that by combining social-science models and newer literary criticism with the more traditional historical-critical methodologies, the original meaning of the traditions of Dan may be recovered and clarified. The conclusion of such a study is that the Hebrew Bible as a whole does not entirely support the negative portrayal of Dan in its later traditions.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION
• Chapter 2 INTERPRETING DAN IN THE PENTATEUCH
• Chapter 3 INTERPRETING DAN IN THE FORMER PROPHETS
• Chapter 4 INTERPRETING DAN IN THE LATTER PROPHETS
• Chapter 5 INTERPRETING DAN IN THE BOOKS OF CHRONICLES
• Chapter 6 CONCLUSIONS AND FINAL REMARKS
• Bibliography
• Index of References
• Index of Authors