Dan is a lion’s whelp. But in Jacob’s blessing “Judah is a lion’s whelp”! (Gen 49:9). Why are these two tribes described this way? Dan is the northernmost tribe, and Judah is the southernmost. So this produces an image of Israel protected by lions on either side. (Actually, Simeon is the southernmost tribe, but Simeon is unaccountably left out of this song.)
