The tribe of Dan was unable to control this territory, so they migrated north all the way to the headwaters of the Jordan, on the east bank (see Judges 18); there they conquered Laish and changed the name to that of their ancestor, Dan.

When the people of Dan lost their land is literally “And the territory of the people of Dan went out from them.” The temporal conjunction When may be translated either “Later” or “Sometime later,” indicating an indefinite period of time. Lost their land implies an agent and may be translated “some enemies (or, some people) capture the territory that belonged to the tribe of Dan.” Finally, Laish should perhaps be identified as a city.

Since the first part of verse 48 refers directly to the cities of verses 41-46, verses 47-48 may be placed together:

• All of these cities, along with their villages, belonged to the tribe of Dan. But later their enemies captured their land, and so the people of Dan went north to the city of Laish and attacked it. They captured the city, killed its people, and claimed it for themselves. Then they named the city after their ancestor Dan.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .