Bible Encyclopedias
Dedan; Dedanites

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

dē´dan , dē´dan -ı̄ts (the King James Version Dedanim , ded´a -nim; דּדן , dedhān , "low," דּדנים , dedhānı̄m ): An Arabian people named in Genesis 10:7 as descended from Cush; in Genesis 25:3 as descended from Keturah. Evidently, they were, like the related Sheba (Sabaeans), of mixed race (compare Genesis 10:7 , Genesis 10:28 ). In Isaiah 21:13 allusion is made to the "caravans of Dedanites" in the wilds of Arabia, and Ezek mentions them as supplying Tyre with precious things ( Ezekiel 27:20; in Ezekiel 27:15 , "Dedan" should probably be read as in Septuagint, "Rodan," i.e. Rhodians). The name seems still to linger in the island of Dadan, on the border of the Persian Gulf. It is found also in Min. and Sab. inscriptions (Glazer, II, 392ff).