Samson the faithful servant of Jehovah as judge of Israel for 20 years proved true both Jacob’s deathbed prophecy (“Dan will judge his people”) and Moses’ prediction (“Dan is a lion cub”). (Ge 49:16; De 33:22; Jg 13:2, 24, 25; 15:20)

Seventeen years later, when dying Jacob called his sons to his bedside, Dan had full legal status along with the other 11 as family heads of the 12 tribes of Israel. In blessing him, Jacob said: “Dan will judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Let Dan prove to be a serpent by the roadside, a horned snake at the wayside, that bites the heels of the horse so that its rider falls backward. I shall indeed wait for salvation from you, O Jehovah.”​—Ge 49:16-18.