3959. Leshem

Lexical Summary

Leshem: Leshem

Original Word: לֶשֶׁם
Part of Speech: Proper Name Location
Transliteration: Leshem
Pronunciation: LEH-shem
Phonetic Spelling: (leh'-shem)
KJV: Leshem
NASB: Leshem
Word Origin: [the same as H3958 (לֶשֶׁם - jacinth)]

1. Leshem, a place in Israel

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

Leshem, a place in Palestine

The same as leshem; Leshem, a place in Palestine:

see HEBREW leshem

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from the same as leshem
Definition
a place in N. Pal., the same as NH3919a
NASB Translation
Leshem (2).

Brown-Driver-Briggs

II. לֶ֫שֶׁם proper name, of a location variant of לַיִשׁ (whence We^{De Gent 37}) Di read לֵשָׁם; Lag^{BN 20 Anm.} thinks ם remnant of Mimmation, לֶשֶׁם from לַיִשׁ = Laišum), old, name of city דָּן (see לַיִשׁ), Joshua 19:47 (twice in verse) (compare Di), ᵐ5^B Λαχεις, לֶשֶׁם דָּן = Λασεννδακ, ᵐ5^A ᵐ5^L Λεσεν.

לשׁן (√ of following; Thes conjectures original meaning lick (compare , , ), so Hup-Now^{Psalm 32:4}).

Topical Lexicon

Name and Identification

Leshem is the ancient northern Canaanite town captured by the tribe of Dan and subsequently renamed “Dan.” It is also known by the variant Laish (Judges 18). Not to be confused with the gemstone of the same English rendering, this Leshem is exclusively a place-name.

Biblical Occurrences

• Joshua 19:47 twice records the conquest and renaming of Leshem.
• Judges 18:7–29 provides the narrative background under the name Laish, detailing reconnaissance, capture, destruction, rebuilding, and renaming to Dan.

Geographic Setting

Situated at the northern extremity of Israel’s later borders, Leshem lay in a fertile valley near the sources of the Jordan River, below Mount Hermon and west of Paneas (Caesarea Philippi). Its remote location—“far from Sidon” and without allies (Judges 18:28)—explains both its vulnerability and its strategic value. Modern Tel Dan preserves abundant remains confirming the town’s prominence.

Historical Context

1. Allocation and Failure: Dan originally received a coastal allotment (Joshua 19:40-46) but struggled against Philistine pressure. Their inability, or unwillingness, to claim that inheritance led a portion of the tribe to seek territory elsewhere.
2. Conquest: Acting on the report of five spies, six hundred Danite warriors attacked the unsuspecting Leshem. “They struck them with the sword, occupied it, and settled there” (Joshua 19:47).
3. Renaming: Renaming the city after their forefather Dan secured tribal identity in a new setting, anchoring the phrase “from Dan to Beersheba” (Judges 20:1) as a shorthand for the whole land.

Spiritual Lessons

• Incomplete Obedience: Dan’s migration underscores the cost of neglecting God-given territory. The Lord had promised victory, yet partial compliance produced displacement and later compromise.
• Influence of Environment: The “quiet and secure” culture of Laish (Judges 18:7) did not restrain violence; security apart from covenant faith is illusory.
• Renaming and Identity: While Dan stamped its name on the city, subsequent idolatry there shows that an outward badge of covenant lineage does not guarantee inward fidelity.

Later History and Prophetic Significance

• Center of Idolatry: Jeroboam placed a golden calf in Dan, luring Israel to sin (1 Kings 12:28-30). “The high places of Dan” became synonymous with apostasy (2 Kings 10:29; Amos 8:14).
• Northern Frontier: Prophetic and historical writers regularly book-end Israel with “Dan to Beersheba,” marking Leshem/Dan as the northern sentinel of the land (2 Samuel 24:2; 2 Chronicles 30:5).
• Eschatological Silence: Strikingly, the tribe of Dan is omitted from the list of sealed tribes in Revelation 7—an omission often linked to its perpetual association with idolatry first rooted at Leshem.

Archaeological Insights

Excavations at Tel Dan reveal fortification walls, a city gate complex, and cultic installations matching biblical descriptions. The ninth-century BC “Tel Dan Stele,” inscribed by an Aramean king, references the “House of David,” providing extra-biblical corroboration for the Davidic dynasty and the biblical record anchored at this site.

Lessons for Ministry Today

1. Possess God’s Promises: Failure to appropriate divine provision breeds restlessness and compromise.
2. Guard Worship Purity: What began as a pragmatic relocation became a hub of counterfeit worship; ministry must resist expedient solutions that erode doctrinal fidelity.
3. Remember Legacy: The renaming of Leshem to Dan illustrates how choices shape the testimony a community leaves for future generations, either as a monument to obedience or a cautionary tale of deviation.

Forms and Transliterations

לְלֶ֙שֶׁם֙ לֶ֜שֶׁם ללשם לשם lə·le·šem le·šem ləlešem leLeshem lešem Leshem

Englishman's Concordance

Joshua 19:47
HEB: וַיִּלָּחֲמ֨וּ עִם־ לֶ֜שֶׁם וַיִּלְכְּד֥וּ אוֹתָ֣הּ ׀
NAS: up and fought with Leshem and captured
KJV: to fight against Leshem, and took
INT: and fought with Leshem and captured struck

Joshua 19:47
HEB: בָ֔הּ וַיִּקְרְא֤וּ לְלֶ֙שֶׁם֙ דָּ֔ן כְּשֵׁ֖ם
NAS: in it; and they called Leshem Dan
KJV: therein, and called Leshem, Dan,
INT: and settled called Leshem Dan the name

2 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 3959
2 Occurrences

lə·le·šem — 1 Occ.
le·šem — 1 Occ.