Hebrew word · H3919

לַ֫יִשׁ

layish

Laish

As a place name it is Laish, which Joshua 19:47 calls Leshem. As an ordinary noun, layish is a poetic word for 'lion' (Job 4:11; Proverbs 30:30; Isaiah 30:6).

Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

Laish = "lion"

an early name for Dan, a town in northern Israel

Another name of dan (דָּן "Dan" H1835G)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Judges 18:29

Range of meaning

As a place name it is Laish, which Joshua 19:47 calls Leshem. As an ordinary noun, layish is a poetic word for 'lion' (Job 4:11; Proverbs 30:30; Isaiah 30:6).

Against the English

Translations simply write the name. The 'lion' meaning is lost, though it may be a further irony: the 'lion' city was taken easily, and Moses' blessing calls Dan 'a lion's cub' (Deuteronomy 33:22).

Used elsewhere in the period

The city appears outside the Bible long before Israel: Laish is generally identified with the Lus/Layishum of the 18th-century BC Mari letters and with Egyptian lists (the Execration Texts and Thutmose III's list of conquered towns). It was an old Canaanite city with ties to the Phoenician coast (v. 7, 28).

Similar words

Where it appears

Judges · 4

  1. Judges 18:7 לָ֑יְשָׁה Laish towards

    So the five men departed and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living securely, like the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting. There was nothing lacking in the land and no oppressive ruler. And they were far away from the Sidonians and had no alliance with anyone.

    Here: Laish, a city at the far north at the foot of Mount Hermon, later renamed Dan (18:29). The ending -â means 'toward'. The name may mean 'lion'.

  2. Judges 18:14 לַיִשׁ֒ Laish

    Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land of Laish said to their brothers, “Did you know that one of these houses has an ephod, household gods, a graven image, and a molten idol? Now think about what you should do.”

  3. Judges 18:27 לַ֗יִשׁ Laish

    After they had taken Micah’s idols and his priest, they went to Laish, to a quiet and unsuspecting people, and they struck them with their swords and burned down the city.

    Here: A city in the far north, at the springs of the Jordan below Mount Hermon. The name sounds like the word for 'lion'. It was later renamed Dan (18:29) and is modern Tel Dan.

  4. Judges 18:29 לַ֥יִשׁ [was] Laish

    They named it Dan, after their forefather Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city was formerly named Laish.

    Here: The city's older name. As an ordinary word, layish means 'lion' (Job 4:11; Isaiah 30:6). It is the city of 'quiet and secure' people that the Danites attacked (v. 7, 27).

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 25:44 לַ֖יִשׁ Laish

    But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from Gallim.

    Here: Palti's father. The name is the same as a poetic word for 'lion'. Nothing else is known of him.

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 3:15 לָֽיִשׁ׃ Laish

    So Ish-bosheth sent and took Michal from her husband Paltiel son of Laish.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 10:30 לַ֖יְשָׁה O Laishah

    Cry aloud, O Daughter of Gallim! Listen, O Laishah! O wretched Anathoth!

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.