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Laish

Biblical
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A peaceful Canaanite city conquered by the tribe of Dan and renamed Dan.

Detailed Definition
Laish (Judges 18) represents vulnerability and displacement. In poetry, it symbolizes the fragility of peace, the violence of conquest, and the erasure of identity, often evoking themes of cultural destruction and the search for territory.
Example
Example in poetry:
Laish—city renamed Dan—appears in conquest poetry: “Laish slept in peace, but Dan’s tribe took her without warning”; A poem on vulnerability: “Laish trusted her remoteness—yet fell to ambition”; In a lament: “From Laish to Dan, the name changed, but the sin of idolatry remained”; Modern verse: “Our Laish is the secure place that ignores approaching danger.”
Additional Notes
Laish (Judges 18) was a peaceful, isolated Canaanite city conquered by Danites and renamed Dan—the northernmost shrine (“from Dan to Beersheba”). In poetry, Laish symbolizes vulnerability, the shock of invasion, and the transformation of sacred geography through violence and re-naming.
Also Known As
Dan
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