Dan and Naphtali Facts for 9-13 Year Olds

Categories: Jacob

• Rachel is unable to bear children with Jacob.
• She gives her maid, Bilhah, to Jacob so she can have children through her.
• Bilhah has a son, Jacob’s fifth son.
• Rachel names him “Dan,” which means “judgment” or “he has judged me.”
• Little is known about Dan’s activities as one of Jacob’s twelve sons.
• He has one son, Hushim.
• Dan is the founder of the Tribe of Dan.
• The Tribe of Dan is known to be shrewd like a serpent.
• The Tribe of Dan gets bigger during the wilderness years.
• The Danites establish the northernmost city of Israel. They name it Dan.
• Jeremiah associates the northern boundaries with darkness and evil.
• Scholars believe the Danites are instrumental in leading the Israelites into idolatry.
• The Assyrians conquer the territory of Dan in 722 BCE.
• Bilhah’s second son with Jacob is Naphtali, Jacob’s sixth son.
• Naphtali means, “My struggle,” or “I have wrestled.”
• Little is also known about Naphtali as one of Jacob’s twelve sons.
• He and his four sons, Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem, are among those who go to Egypt with Jacob.
• He dies at the age of 137.
• On his deathbed, Jacob said Naphtali is energetic like a deer and able to run swiftly.
• Naphtali is also the ancestor of the Tribe of Naphtali.
• The Tribe of Naphtali gets smaller during the wilderness.
• Most of the stories about the tribe of Naphtali are quite positive.
• Their territory is in the north.
• They are one of the first tribes to be captured by the Assyrians.