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Dan is city in the most northern part of Israel, at the border of Lebanon.
Dan was a Canaanite city named Laish before it was taken, and renamed by the tribe of Dan (Judges 18:27-29).
Dan became part of the popular phrase "from Dan to Beersheba," which is used several times in the Bible, describing the full length of the territory of Israel.
About 2900 years ago, when Israel split up into two kingdoms, King Jeroboam I set up a temple with a golden calf in the towns of Dan and Bethel, for the people of the Northern Kingdom to worship, in an attempt to keep them from traveling to the Temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:28-30), which was located in the Southern Kingdom, which was called Judah.
When King Asa of Judah was at war with King Baasha of Israel, he made an alliance with King Benhadad in Damascus, who sided with Asa and captured Dan along with other northern cities.
Excavations at Dan have uncovered the remains of the temple set up by Jeroboam, and a 4-horned altar.
Dan appears in 20 Bible verses: Gen 14:14, Josh 19:47, Judg 18:29, Judg 20:1, 1 Sam 3:20, 2 Sam 3:10, 2 Sam 17:11, 2 Sam 24:2, 2 Sam 24:6, 2 Sam 24:15, 1 Kgs 4:25, 1 Kgs 12:29, 1 Kgs 12:30, 1 Kgs 15:20, 2 Kgs 10:29, 1 Chr 21:2, 2 Chr 16:4, 2 Chr 30:5, Jer 4:15 and Jer 8:16.
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