דַּנָּה
Dannah, a place in Palestine
Definition
Dannah is a proper noun referring to a specific location in the ancient territory of Judah. It is identified as a town within the hill country allotment given to the tribe of Judah, as recorded in the list of cities in Joshua 15:49. The exact location and significance of Dannah remain uncertain, as it is mentioned only once in the biblical text and its precise geographical site is not definitively known from archaeological evidence. This single reference places it among the settlements that comprised the tribal inheritance following the Israelite conquest of Canaan.
Biblical Usage
The word Dannah is used exactly once in the Old Testament, in Joshua 15:49, within a detailed inventory of cities allotted to the tribe of Judah. Its usage is purely geographical and administrative, serving to document the territorial boundaries and settlements of the tribe. There are no patterns of usage or contextual variations, as it appears solely in this catalog of places.
Etymology
The etymology of Dannah (דַּנָּה) is uncertain, as noted by most lexicons. It may be derived from the Hebrew root דִּין (dîn, H1777), meaning 'to judge' or 'to contend,' which could suggest a place associated with judgment or justice. However, this connection is speculative. The name could also be related to a personal name or a geographical feature now lost to history. Its derivation remains a matter of scholarly conjecture without definitive evidence.
Semantic Range
As a place name in a tribal allotment list, Dannah reflects the Israelite practice of systematically distributing the Promised Land among the twelve tribes, a fulfillment of God's covenant with Abraham. Its inclusion, even as a minor location, underscores the biblical theme that every part of the inheritance was accounted for and valued. For the original audience, such lists affirmed tribal identity, land rights, and God's faithfulness in providing a homeland.
None directly applicable for a unique proper noun. Geographically, it is one among many city names in Judah like Debir (Dəḇîr, H1688) or Eshtemoa (’Eštəmōaʿ, H851).
Word Details
How this works
Hebrew definitions are from Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906) and Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (1890), both public domain. BDB was groundbreaking for its era but reflects 19th-century assumptions about Semitic etymology. Modern scholarship (HALOT, DCH) has revised many entries. Use these definitions as a starting point for exploration, not as the final word on a term's meaning in context.
Full methodology & sources →