VEDAN

ve'-dan (wedhan): A place-name occurring only in Ezekiel 27:19, "Vedan and Javan traded with yarn for thy wares." the King James Version, taking the syllable we as the Hebrew conjunction, renders "and Dan also." The text is in bad condition. Some read "Dedan," but Dedan is spoken of separately in the following verse. Assuming that Vedan is the correct reading, an identification may be conjectured with Waddan, also called al-`Abwa`, between Mecca and Medina. It was the object of Mohammed's first expedition (Ibn Hisham, 415). The name contains that of the god Wadd who was worshipped chiefly by the Arab tribe Kalb.

A. S. Fulton

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.