Topic
Mahaneh-dan
2 passages cited, from 3 classic reference works.
These works date from 1896–1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- Judges 18:12Easton · ISBE · Nave An encampment of the Danites
And they went up, and pitched in Kirjath-jearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan unto this day: behold, it is behind Kirjath-jearim.
- Judges 13:25ISBE · Nave An encampment of the Danites
And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
In the reference works
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · 3 references
Judg. 18:12 = “camp of Dan” 13:25 (R.V., “Mahaneh-dan”), a place behind (i.e., west of) Kirjath-jearim, where the six hundred Danites from Zorah and Eshtaol encamped on their way to capture the city of Laish, which they rebuilt and called “Dan, after the name of their father” (18:11-31). The Palestine Explorers point to a ruin called ‘Erma, situated about 3 miles from the great corn valley on the east of Samson’s home.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 3 references
ma'-ha-ne-dan (machaneh-dhan; parembole Dan): This place is mentioned twice: in Jud 13:25 (the King James Version "the camp of Dan"), and Jud 18:12. In Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol, the spirit of the Lord began to move Samson. Here the 600 marauders of Dan, coming from Zorah and Eshtaol, encamped behind Kiriath-jearim. It has been thought that these two statements contradict each other; or at least that they cannot both apply to the same place. But if we accept the identification of Zorah with Surah, and of Eshtaol with Eshu`, which there seems no reason to question; and if, further, we identify Kiriath-jearim with Khirbet Erma, which is at least possible, the two passages may be quite reconciled. Behind Kiriath-jearim, that is West of Khirbet Erma, runs the Vale of Sorek, on the north bank of which, about 2 miles apart, stand Zorah and Eshtaol; the former 3 1/2 miles, the latter 2 1/2 miles fron khirbet Erma. No name resembling Mahanehdan has yet been recovered; but the place may have lain within the area thus indicated, so meeting the conditions of both passages, whether it was a permanent settlement, or derived its name only from the incident mentioned in Jud 18:12.
W. Ewing
In the topical indexes
Texts: Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897); International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915); Nave's Topical Bible (1896), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.