Dan Warns His Children That Anger Opens the Door to Beliar

Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha Testament of Dan
Curated by The Jewish Mythology Team ·

Dan, seventh son of Jacob, born of Bilhah, called his family together in the hundred and twenty-fifth year of his life. He had proved something in his heart through his entire existence, and now he would speak it: "Truth with just dealing is good and well pleasing to God. Lying and anger are evil, because they teach a man all wickedness."

Then the confession.

"In my heart I resolved on the death of Joseph my brother, the true and good man." Dan rejoiced when Joseph was sold, because their father loved Joseph more than the rest. The spirit of jealousy whispered: "You are his son too." One of the spirits of Beliar stirred him further: "Take this sword, and with it slay Joseph; so shall your father love you when he is dead." It was the spirit of anger that urged Dan to crush Joseph as a leopard crushes a kid.

But the God of his fathers did not allow it. Dan never found Joseph alone. A second tribe was not destroyed in Israel.

"Unless you keep yourselves from the spirit of lying and of anger," Dan warned, "you shall perish." Then he delivered the most penetrating analysis of anger in all the testaments:

"Anger is blindness. It does not suffer one to see the face of any man with truth. Though it be a father or mother, it treats them as enemies. Though it be a brother, it does not recognize him. Though it be a prophet of the Lord, it disobeys him. Though it be a righteous man, it disregards him. Though it be a friend, it refuses to acknowledge him." The spirit of anger encompasses a man with the net of deceit, blinds his eyes, darkens his mind through lying, and gives him its own twisted vision. Its weapon is hatred of heart, breeding envy of one's own brother.

"Anger is an evil thing," Dan continued, "for it troubles even the soul itself. It takes mastery over the soul and bestows upon the body power to work all iniquity. And when the body does these things, the soul justifies them, since it cannot see aright." A mighty man in anger has threefold power: through servants, through wealth used to persuade and overwhelm, and through his own natural strength turned to evil. Even a weak man gains double power through wrath, for anger always aids lawlessness.

The cycle was precise: first provocation by word, then strengthening by deeds, then sharp disturbance of the mind, then great wrath stirred in the soul. Dan warned against the two-fold trap: "A twofold mischief is wrath with lying; they assist one another in order to disturb the heart. And when the soul is continually disturbed, the Lord departs from it, and Beliar rules over it."

"Observe the commandments of the Lord," Dan commanded. "Keep His law. Depart from wrath and hate lying, that the Lord may dwell among you and Beliar may flee from you. Speak truth each one with his neighbor, so shall you not fall into wrath and confusion, but you shall be in peace, having the God of peace, so shall no war prevail over you. Love the Lord through all your life, and one another with a true heart."

He foresaw that his sons would depart from the Lord and provoke Levi and fight against Judah, but they would not prevail, for an angel of the Lord would guide both tribes. Dan directed his sons to draw near to God and to the angel that intercedes for Israel, standing against the kingdom of the enemy. "The enemy is eager to destroy all who call upon the Lord," Dan said, "for he knows that on the day Israel repents, the kingdom of the enemy shall be brought to an end."

The angel of peace would strengthen Israel. The Lord would not depart from them, but would transform them into a nation that does His will.

"Keep yourselves from every evil work," Dan concluded. "Cast away wrath and all lying. Love truth and long-suffering." He kissed his sons and fell asleep at a good old age. They buried him and later carried his bones to rest near Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Themes

Twelve patriarchs Dan Anger Beliar Ethics Hatred Repentance

Biblical References

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