Judges 18:30

And the children of Dan set up the graven image,.... In their new city Dan, and very probably had a house built for it, peculiar to it, in the same place where Jeroboam, in later times, set up one of his golden calves.

And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.

Having succeeded in their expedition according to the prediction which, as they supposed, they had from this image, they had a great veneration for it. Until the day of the captivity of the land; either, 1. When the ark and the Israelites were taken captives by the Philistines, ,11; though there is no mention of any who were then taken captives, or that the Philistines did pursue the victory, and conquer the land at that time, for their victory was quickly damped, and turned to mourning, 1 Samuel 5. Or, 2. After that time, when the Philistines slew Saul and Jonathan, and discomfited the whole host of Israel, and made the rest of the people flee out of their cities, and took possession of their cities and land. Or, 3. When the whole land of the ten tribes, whereof Dan was one, was conquered, and the people carried captive by the Assyrian, ,23. which is called by way of eminency the captivity, . But against this it is objected, that it is not probable that this idolatry should continue so long in such a public place and manner; or that David and Solomon would suffer it. Answ. It is not said that the graven image was there so long, for that is restrained to a shorter date, even to the continuance of the ark in Shiloh, , which was removed thence, 1 Samuel 4; but only that Jonathan’ s posterity were priests to this tribe or family of Dan, which they might be under all the changes, even till the Assyrian captivity, sometimes more openly and allowedly, sometimes more cunningly, sometimes more secretly, sometimes in one way of superstition or idolatry, and sometimes in another; and in and after Jeroboam’ s time, in the worship of the calves, for which service, though he did make priests of the meanest of the people, , yet that was not by choice, but out of necessity, because the priests and Levites generally forsook him, ,14; and therefore when he could engage any of the priests or Levites in that service, he was doubtless very glad of them to gain reputation to his impious and absurd device.

Judges 18:30 And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.Ver. 30. And the children of Dan set up the graven image.] Animated, doubtless, by their good success against Laish, foretold them by that oracle. See 2 Thessalonians 2:10. And Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh.] Of Moses by nature, but of Manasseh that notorious idolater, by imitation: In accuratissimis libris Nun in "Manasseh" suspensum est supra alias literas, saith learned Buxtorf. To save the honour of Moses; lest it should reflect upon so good a man to have so bad a grandson, as would rather have beseemed Manasseh than Moses. Manasseh is written in the Hebrew here with Nun elevated above the other letters, and this mark, o, upon the top, and a note in the margin. Until the day of the captivity of the land,] viz., By the Philistines, when the ark was taken. Compare Psalms 78:60-62; Psalms 78:66. In signum eam adesse vel abesse posse ut sit et filius îשׁä et îðשׁä, istius prosapia, huius imitatione. - Buxtorf.

(30) Set up the graven image.—If this pesel was in the form of a calf, the tradition of this cult may have given greater facility to the daring innovation of Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:30). In any case, it would make the inhabitants more ready to accept a cherubic symbol of Jehovah; for we may fairly assume that the “image” was not dissociated from the worship of God, whether as Elohim or Jehovah. Jonathan and the Danites both acknowledged Him under the name Elohim (Judges 18:5; Judges 18:10), and Micah, in spite of his images, acknowledged God as Jehovah (Judges 17:2; Judges 17:13; Judges 18:6), to whom, indeed, the very name of Jonathan (“gift of Jehovah”) bore witness. Whether this, or rather the smallness of Dan, is the reason for its exclusion from Revelation 7:4 must remain uncertain. The Fathers thought, for this reason, that Antichrist would spring from the tribe of Dan. Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh.—The extreme reluctance to admit this fact—the disgrace involved against the memory of Moses by this rapid and total degeneracy of his grandson—is probably the reason why up to this point in the narrative the name has been withheld. There can, however, be no doubt that Jonathan was the young Levite who has all along been spoken of. The reading of for MOSES is by the confession of the Jews themselves due to the same cause. Moses is in Hebrew ξֹ ?ωֶׁ ?δύ, Manasseh is ξְ ?πַ ?ωֶּׁ ?δ. It will thus be seen that (without the points) the names only differ by the letter n (π). But in what is called the Masoretic text—i.e., the text edited by the Jewish scribes—the π is not boldly inserted, but is timidly and furtively suspended—thus MSSH—and is called nun thaξϋyah (n suspended). This was done to conceal from the uninitiated the painful fact. It was known to St. Jerome, and accordingly the Vulg. reads “son of Moses,” which is also found in some MSS. of the LXX. Theodoret has “son of Manasseh, son of Gershom, son of Moses.” The Jews distinguish between the “text” (Kethib “written”) and the margin (Keri “read”), and Rabbi Tanchum admits that here “Moses” is written, though “Manasseh” is read. The Talmud says that he was grandson of Moses; but “because he did the deeds of Manasseh” (the idolatrous king, 2 Kings 21), “the Scripture assigns him to the family of Manasseh” (Babha Bathra, f.

Verse 30. The children of Dan set up the graven image] They erected a chapel, or temple, among themselves, as Micah had done before; having the same implements and the same priest. And Jonathan the son of Gershom] Either this was the name of the young Levite; or they had turned him off, and got this Jonathan in his place. The son Manasseh] Who this Manasseh was, none can tell; nor does the reading appear to be genuine. He could not be Manasseh the son of Joseph, for he had no son called Gershom nor could it be Manasseh king of Israel, for he lived eight hundred years afterwards. Instead of מנשה Manasseh, the word should be read משה Mosheh, MOSES, as it is found in some MSS., in the Vulgate, and in the concessions of the most intelligent Jews. The Jews, as R. D. Kimchi acknowledges, have suspended the letter: נ nun, over the word משה, thus, נ משה - which, by the addition of the points, they have changed into MANASSEH, because they think it would be a great reproach to their legislator to have had a grandson who was an idolater. That Gershom the son of Moses is here intended, is very probable. See the arguments urged by Dr. Kennicott, Dissertation I., p. 55, c. and see the Var. Lect. of De Rossi on this place. Until the day of the captivity of the land.] Calmet observes, "The posterity of this Jonathan executed the office of priest in the city of Dan, all the time that the idol of Micah (the teraphim, ephod, c.) was there. But this was only while the house of the Lord was at Shiloh and, consequently, the sons of Jonathan were priests at Dan only till the time in which the ark was taken by the Philistines, which was the last year of Eli, the high priest; for after that the ark no more returned to Shiloh." This is evident; and on this very ground Houbigant contends that, instead of הארץ haarets, the LAND, we should read הארן haaron, the ARK; for nothing is easier than the ו vau and ן final nun to be mistaken for the ץ final tsade, which is the only difference between the captivity of the LAND and the captivity of the ARK. And this conjecture is the more likely, because the next verse tells us that Micah's graven image, c., continued at Dan all the time that the house of God was at Shiloh which was, till the ark was taken by the Philistines. Those who wish to see more on this subject may consult Calmet, and the writers in Pool's Synopsis. This chapter is an important supplement to the conclusion of the 19th chapter of Joshua, on which it casts considerable light. THE Danites were properly the first dissenters from the public established worship of the Jews; but they seem to have departed as little as possible from the Jewish forms, their worship being conducted in the same way, but not in the same place.

30. The object of the whole story has been to trace the origin of the famous sanctuary at Dan. In this and the next verse the setting up of Micah’s image is told twice over, and a double note of time is given. The repetition suggests that we have here the two conclusions of the two narratives which have been woven together in the story. Moore thinks that Judges 18:30 belongs to the narrative which alludes to the man—the Levite—the priest (Judges 17:8; Judges 17:11 a, Judges 18:12 b, Judges 18:3 b, Judges 18:4-6; Judges 18:18 b etc.), whose name now turns out to have been Jonathan, a grandson of Moses, and that Judges 18:31 closes the other document, of which a characteristic feature is the young Levite (Judges 17:7; Judges 17:11 b, 12a, Judges 18:3; Judges 18:15 etc.). This may be so, but no kind of certainty is possible. The name of the Levite comes rather oddly at the end, instead of at the beginning of the story. If the original narrator had wished to mention it, he would have done so at Judges 17:8; the omission is now supplied, apparently by a later hand. Thus the second half of Jdg 18:30 seems to be an editorial addition. the graven image] Only one image is mentioned in the sequel; see on Judges 17:3. Jonathan … Moses] The Levite and his descendants, the priests of Dan, claimed descent from Moses. The margin notes another reading; in the Hebr. text the letter n is ‘suspended,’ or inserted above the line, thus turning Mosheh (ξωδ) into Manasseh (ξπωδ). The Jews admit that the text was altered in order to repudiate the Levite’s claim; he acted, not like a son of Moses, but like the impious king Manasseh, to whom the Rabbis apply the principle, ‘every corruption is fastened upon (i.e. is named after) him who started it’; Talm. Bab. Baba Bathra 109b. Possibly the Jewish scribes had another Manasseh in their minds, the renegade priest who first ministered in the Samaritan temple on Mt Gerizim; Josephus, Ant. xi. 8, 2 ff. The LXX reads Manasseh (a group of cursives both Moses and Manasseh); the Vulgate Moysi; the Syr. Manasseh. For Gershom see Exodus 2:22; Exodus 18:3. until the day of the captivity of the land] Either the captivity of N. Israel under Tiglath-pileser in 734 b.c., 2 Kings 15:29; or the exile after the fall of Samaria in 722 b.c., ib. Judges 17:6 ff.

In the Hebrew text the name here rendered Manasseh is written MN)- SH. Without the “N” (nun) suspended over the line, the word may be read: Moses, whose son was Gershom Exodus 2:22, whose son or descendant Jonathan clearly was.

30. Jonathan, the son of Gershom — Here, at length, comes out the name of the Levite of whom already we have heard so much.