What Does Genesis 49:16 Mean in the King James?

Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.

Genesis 49:16 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

The name Dan and the verb “judge” grow from the same Hebrew root, so his role is already held in his name.

THE MEANING

This verse places judgment within the shared life of a people: discernment belongs to the community that bears a common identity. For the reader now, it presents judgment as part of how people live and are ordered together.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It loosens the belief that judgment is only condemnation from outside; here it is a role woven into the people’s own shared identity.

THE ROOT

יָדִין

yadin

GROWS FROM

דין

din

To judge, decide, or weigh a case.

“judge” in this verse is yadin. The verb yadin echoes the root carried in Dan’s name: the tribe’s name and its role share the same seed. English makes the name and the act look separate, while Hebrew brings them together.

ALSO GROWS

din: Judgment; a case to be decided.

דִּין

This noun from the same root links the act of judging to the matter being weighed.

Dan: Dan; “he judged.”

דָּן

The name echoes the verb in this verse, holding the tribe’s role within its name.

THE PATTERN

Judgment is woven into the life and ordering of a people.

For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.

Deuteronomy 32:36 · KJVJudgment is shown as an act within the life of the people, responding to their condition.

He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.

Psalm 72:2 · KJVJudgment orders the people by attending to what is due among them.

And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Matthew 19:28 · KJVJudgment appears as part of the shared ordering of the tribes, linking discernment with communal identity.

THE THREAD

And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan.

Genesis 30:6 · KJV

Here Leah explicitly connects Dan’s name with God having judged her. The same root echoes in “Dan shall judge,” so the name and the tribe’s role illuminate one another.

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