Joshua 19:40

DAN

"The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families. And the border of their inheritance was Zorah, and Eshtaol, and Irshemesh, and Shaalabbin, and Aijalon, and Ithlah, and Elon, and Timneh, and Ekron, and Eltekeh, and Gibbethon, and Baalath, and Jehud, and Bene-berak, and Gath-rimmon, and Mejarkon, and Rakkon, with the border over against Joppa. And the border of the children of Dan went out beyond them; for the children of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after their name of Dan their father. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families, these cities and their villages."

The mention here of Dan's fighting against Leshem is a reference to a later apostasy of that tribe (Judges 17-18). Dan proved to be unable to wrest the coastal cities away from the Philistines. "This inheritance assigned to Dan was extremely small, but it was also extremely fertile."[13] This area was described as "too small for Dan," but, in reality, Dan simply preferred to live somewhere else. A full description of Dan's northward migration is found in Judges 18. This tribe did not figure significantly in the subsequent history of Israel. They had only one hero, Samson; and his exploits seem to have been limited to a small area and to his own tribe alone.