They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel; however the name of the city used to be Laish.
World English Bible
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They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel; however the name of the city used to be Laish.
World English Bible
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Genesis 14:14 narrates Abraham pursuing raiders 'unto Dan' — during the patriarchal age. Judges 18:29 states that the city was originally named Laish and was only renamed Dan after the Danite conquest of Laish, centuries after Abraham.
Critical scholarship: Widely regarded as a genuine contradiction.
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
Each section sets the viewpoints side by side; you weigh the evidence. Here, "critical scholarship" means academic study, not a value judgment. How this is built →
Within each section, grouped by shared field or question type — not a cross-section comparison.
This citation refers to this GEBible page — the verse and the analysis gathered here. To cite the underlying scholarship, cite those sources directly.
"Judges 18:29 — Scripture Analysis" GEBible, https://gebible.app/analysis/verse/judges/18/29?version=WEB (retrieved 27 August 2026).