Who is…
Dedan
Hebrew: דְּדָן —transliteration: Dedan or Dedaneh
This is the name of 2 biblical men and a land.
Descendants of Dedan are called Dedanites (Isaiah 21:13) or Dedanim.
Dedan, a son of Raamah (Ramah, Raama, Rama)
He is a Hamite—a descendant of Noah’s son Ham, through Cush (Genesis 10; 1 Chronicles 1).
His brother is Sheba.
Dedan’s descendants are mentioned in by Isaiah and Ezekiel. They were trading partners of the city of Tyre.
The sons of Dedan were your traders. Many coastlands were customers at your hand; ivory tusks and ebony they brought as your payment. …Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding. —Ezekiel 27:15, 20 NASB
…In the thickets of Arabia you must spend the night, O caravans of Dedanites. —Isaiah 21:13 LSB
They probably settled among the sons of Cush, on the northwest coast of the Persian Gulf (aka Arabian Gulf) and their descendants are likely among the Arabs of today.
Relatives of Dedan, son of Raamah
- His descendants: Dedanites
- Great-Grandfather: Ham, a son of Noah
- Grandfather: Cush
- Father: Raamah (Raama)
- Mother: not named
- Brother: Sheba
The land of Dedan
Caravans came to Israel from Dedan (Isa. 21:13). Their people are called Dedanites and Dedanim.
“Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding.” —Ezekiel 27:20 NASB
“The sons of Dedan were your traders. Many coastlands were your market; ivory tusks and ebony they brought as your payment.” —Ezekiel 27:15 NASB
This land is also mentioned in biblical prophecies.
“The oracle about Arabia. In the thickets of Arabia you must spend the night, O caravans of Dedanites.” —Isaiah 21:13 NASB
“Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will say to you, ‘Have you come to capture spoil? Have you assembled your company to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to capture great spoil?’” —Ezekiel 38:13 NASB
“Flee away, turn back, dwell in the depths,
O inhabitants of Dedan,
For I will bring the disaster of Esau upon him
At the time I punish him.” —Jeremiah 49:8 NASB
“…thus says the Lord God, “I will also stretch out My hand against Edom and cut off man and beast from it. And I will lay it waste; from Teman even to Dedan they will fall by the sword.” —Ezekiel 25:13 NASB
Dedan, a son of Jokshan
Dedan is a descendant Noah’s son, Shem, and therefore a Shemite (Semite).
His father Jokshan is a son of Abraham by Keturah.
The sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine, whom she bore, were Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. And the sons of Jokshan were Sheba and Dedan. —1 Chronicles 1:32 NASB
Dedan’s descendants are the Leummim, the Letushim and the Asshurim (the later is not referring to Shem’s son Asshur) (Genesis 25:3).
His descendants settled on the Syrian borders about the territory of Edom. They probably led a pastoral life.
Relatives of Dedan, son of Jokshan
- Grandfather: Abraham
- Grandmother: Keturah
- Father: Jokshan
- His sons’ descendants: the Asshurim (Ashurites), the Letushim, and the Leummim
- Brother: Sheba
- Uncles: Isaac, Ishmael, Zimran, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah
- Nephews: Nebaioth, Kedar, etc.
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