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The House of Israel 75

instruments of cruelty are in their habitations...in their an- pent and the White Horse remained the emblems of the
ger they slew a man.” Tribe of Dan.

Here we should note that the marginal rendering of the The blessing of Naphtali is short and promises him
words “instruments of cruelty” reads “their swords are nothing. As recorded in verse 21 it says: “Naphtali is a
weapons of violence.” We should also note that in the re- hind let loose; he giveth goodly words.” Naphtali is
cord of their slaying of the man mentioned above we read: here likened to a freed Hind and so his emblem became
“Simeon and Levi...took each man his sword, and came a Leaping Hind. This was Naphtali’s official emblem
upon the city boldly and slew all the males. And they slew as used in ancient Israel. However, there are some indi-
Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword” cations that in the course of time this female deer was
(Genesis 34:25-26). gradually replaced by the male, so that today a Stag is
the equivalent of Naphtali’s emblem, the Hind.
As we read Jacob’s blessing of his fourth son, Judah, we
see that he is given a special blessing, in that from among The blessing of Gad, as recorded in verse 19 is also
his descendants is to come the future Royal House of the very short. It simply says: “Gad, a troop shall over-
Israel nation. In this blessing he is likened or related to come him: but he shall overcome at the last.” This does
four things, as we read in verses 9-11: “Judah is a lion’s not promise him very much in a material sense, but it
whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped does show a definite relationship between him and a
down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall Troop of Horsemen. Then, in Deuteronomy 33:20,
rouse him up? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor Moses likens Gad to a Lion. As in the case of Dan, and
a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh for the same reason, this Lion to which Moses likened
come;...Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt Gad was never used, leaving him with one usable em-
unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and blem, a Troop of Horsemen. However, as a Troop of
his clothes in the blood of grapes.” Horsemen would be difficult to portray on an ensign,
Gad’s emblem was usually shown as the mounted
Here we see that Judah is declared to be a Lion’s Whelp Leader of the Troop holding aloft a pennant.
and, in the same verse, he is likened to a Lion, twice more.
Thus Judah is likened to a Lion and also to Three Lions. -- W.H. Bennett
Then in the next verse he is stated to be in possession of a
Sceptre. Finally, he is associated with a Grape Vine. Con- Israel In the Dells
sequently, these four devices, a Lion, Three Lions, a Scep-
tre and a Grape Vine, became the emblems of Judah and of From the geographical point of view it is true to say
his descendants, the Tribe of Judah. that many Christian Israelites look to the South-west of
England, and to Glastonbury and its traditions, when
In considering the blessing of Dan we see that he is likened considering the evidence for their beliefs.
to two objects. These are stated in verse 17, where we read:
“Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, The purpose of this article is to draw the reader’s atten-
that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall back- tion much further north, to the Yorkshire Dales, and in
ward.” The first object to which Dan is likened is defi- particular to the pretty little village of Giggleswick,
nitely stated to be a Serpent. The second is implied, being near Settle. It is so old that its origins are lost in the
mentioned in relation to the first. It is a Horse, or a Horse mists of time, but it is thought that “Gigel” was the
and Rider, the Horse usually being white. Later, in Deuter- name of a Scandinavian chieftain, and “Wic” certainly
onomy 33:22, Moses likened Dan to a Lion. As this Lion means village.
was a secondary emblem only and the same as Judah’s of-
ficial emblem, it was never used. Consequently, the Ser-

The Berean Voice November-December 2002