“Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel.
16. Dan shall judge his people. In the word judge there is an allusion to his name: for since, among the Hebrews, דון (din) signifies to judge, Rachel, when she returned thanks to God, gave this name to the son born to her by her handmaid, as if God had been the vindicator of her cause and right.
Here we have Jacob's prophecy concerning six of his sons. I. Concerning Zebulun (Gen 49:13), that his posterity should have their lot upon the seacoast, and should be merchants, and mariners, and traders at sea. This was fulfilled when, two or three hundred years after, the land of Canaan was divided by lot, and the border of Zebulun went up towards the sea, Jos 19:11.
Commenting on Genesis 49:13-21
Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. There is an elegant paronomasia, or an allusion to the name of Dan in those words, which signifies to judge, and the sense of them is, there should be heads, rulers, and judges of it, as the other tribes had; and this is the rather mentioned of him, because he is the first...