The traditions associating certain spots with Abraham, Naaman, and Elisha are of the most shadowy character. Hardly more reliable are those relating to the experiences of St. Paul. A spot about half a mile E. of the city is shown as the scene of his conversion. It is now the Christian burying-ground. But tradition has several times contradicted itself as to the scene of this miracle : in any case it could not be here, as the traveller from the S. would not enter the city from the E. Between this and the gate is the grave of St. George, the kindly porter who connived at St. Paul's escape, and suffered martyrdom. The spot where the apostle was let down over the wall in a basket, ' the house of Judas ' in Straight street, and also the house of Ananias, are pomted out ; but considerable uncertainty attaches to them all. W. EwiNG.
DAMN, DAMHABLE, DAMNATION. — These words have in the course of time suffered a process of degeneration, for which, says Bishop Sanderson, ' we are not so much beholden to good acts as to bad manners.' The Lat. damnare signified 'to inflict loss on one,' 'to condemn.' But, under the influence of theology, the Eng. words thence derived soon acquired the sense of ' condemnation to eternal punishment ' j and this special appli- cation ran alongside the orig. meaning from the 14th cent, to the 18th. In the 1619 ed. of the Bishops' NT, the translation of 1 Ti 5'^ is ' having damnation, because they have cast away their first faith ' ; and there is added this note : ' S. Paul doth not here speake of the everlasting damnation, but by this word damnation, doeth rather understand the shame that those wanton widowes shall have in the world for breaking their promise.' Thus even then the sense to which the words are now wholly confined was the most familiar. But in earlier English it was not so. To Wyclif's ear the words must have had a veir different suggestion, for he not only uses 'damn freely in the sense of ' condemn,' as in his tr. of Job 9*° ' If I wole make me iust, my mouth shall dampne me,' but even uses it of our Lord Himself, as in Mk U*" ' For lo ! we stien to Jerusalem, and mannns sone schal be bitraied to the princis of prestis, and to scribis, and to the eldre men ; and thei schulen dampne hym hi delli.'
In AV 'damned' occurs u tr. of »«t««^;.» Mk 16i«, Ro 1428 (RV ' condemned '), ot ufi.i 2 Th 2ia(RV 'judged '). ' Damnable ' IS found only 2 P 21 'damnable heresies,' Or. aufiivttt itriuiat, KV 'deatructlve heresies,' RVm 'sects of perdition.' ' Damnation'
is the tr. of xa-ratiixri Wis 1227 (RV • condemnation ') ; of m.^iiXu» 2 P 28 (RV 'destruction'); of xpurit Mt 23^, Jn 6» (RV 'Judg- ment'), Mk 329 (liV 'sin,' reading i/*it^f>),uoe) ; and of *^j>ot Mk ll^", Lk 2(^', Ro 3», 1 Ti 612 (KV 'condemnation'), Ko 132, l Co 1129 (RV 'judgment'), while Mt 23lJ is omitted from RV. Thus the words are never used in AV in the sense now attaching to them, and thej' are completely banished Irom RV. See more fully Roberts in Expos. Tijruis, iii. &4dff., and the art. JuDO.Ma.NT,
J. HA.STINOS.
DAMSEL, now archaic or poetical, is freely used in AV ; and it is retained in RV, except where the Or. is waiSLov (Mk 539-«M'.« 'child') or iraidt<rKv (Mt 26«», Jn 18", Ac 12" 16" ' maid ').* In Gn 34« one word (thj na'dn'th) is tivice tr'' in AV ' d.,' in v.* another {:r!):yalddh); and again in MkS***"*-" we have one word {iratSioe), in w.^'-** another {Kopdaiov}. RV preserves the distinction in St. Mark. J. Has'HNOS.
DAN (n 'judge,' Mf). — The elder of the two sons borne to Jacob by Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid. The origin of the name, given in Gn 30" (E), is that, after her long barrenness, God had judged Rachel and had given her a son, the son of her handmaid counting as her own. No details of his histoi-y are given in the patriarchal narratives. Modern critics usually regard him as, like the other sons of Jacob, the eponymous ancestor of the tribe of Dan. These tribes are divided into two main branches, the Leah tribes and the Rachel tribes. Dan belongs to the latter ; but the representation of Dan and Naplitali as sons of Bilhah implies that they were inferior members of the Rachel group. That the tribe was quite small appears from various indications. Only one son is men- tioned in Gn 46=^ Hushim (in Nu 26'=^ Shuliam), that is, the tribe consisted of a single clan. It is referred to as a ' family ' in the important narrative of its migration to Laish, Jg 18*- "■ ". The fighting men on this expedition are only 600, and they seem to have been the majority of the tribe. It is unnecessary to attach much importance to the characteristic statement of P, wnich places the fighting men of Dan, during the wilderness wandering, at more than 60,000 (Nu I'" 26").
After tne settlement in Canaan, the clan seems to have broken oft" from the main Joseph CTonp in order to secure a district for itself. In this it was only partially successful. Its territory lay to the S. W. of Ephraim, and joined that of Ben- jamin and Judah. It seems to have stretched forward towards the fertUe lowlands, but whether it ever occupied any portion of them or not is uncertain. "The reference in the Song of Deborah (Jg 5") is itself very obscure, and the chronology of the period so uncertain, that we learn little from it. We do not know whether it refers to the northern or the southern settlements. The most obvious sense of the words is that Dan had pushed forward to the sea. But we have no other evidence that it ever reached the coast. Nor is it certain that the words require this interpretation. Moore translates : ' Dan, why does he live neighbour to ships?' and explains — Why does he live as a de- pendent under the protection of Phoenician sea- farers? He thinks the northern Danites are meant. G. A. Smith thinks Deborah may apeak ' in scorn of futile ambitions westward, which were stirred in Dan by the sight of the sea from the Shephelah,' but admits Uiat Dan may have reached the coast at some time (Hist. Geog. p. 220). RV, 'Dan, why did he remain in ships?' is not satisfactory. It is most probable that the tribe never reached the sea ; but even if it did so, it • The spelling of .\V 1611 is never ' damsel ' ; ' damsell ' occurs in Gn 24. 34, and Damsell Mt 1411, while 'damsels' is found On 246I, Jg 198. ElsewhTe it is either 'damosel' or (most freq.) 'damosell,' with 'damosels' (or plural and possessive, Ttiis is nearer the Lat, doininicftla, dim of doininat 'mistress,' and the Fr, danoUelU.