“All these are the tribes of Israel, twelve, and this is what their father spoke to them, and he blessed them; each man in accordance with his blessing he blessed them” (Genesis 49:28). “All these are the tribes of Israel, twelve…” – it is already written: “And he blessed them”; why, then, does the verse state: “Each man in accordance with his blessing he blessed them”? It is because he blessed them [by comparing] Judah to a lion, Dan to a serpent, Naphtali to a doe, Benjamin to a wolf, and he then included them all and rendered them lions and rendered them serpents.
Know that it is so: “Dan will be a serpent” (Genesis 49:17), and he is then called a lion. That is what is written: “Dan is a lion cub” (Deuteronomy 33:22). This is to realize what is stated: “All of you is fair, my love, and there is no blemish in you” (Song of Songs 4:7).