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Ancient Mysteries & Interpretations

Did Moses' Grandson Serve an Idol?

Judges 18:30 names the priest of the Danite image "Jonathan son of Gershom son of Manasseh." In the Masoretic manuscripts the nun of Manasseh is written small and above the line. Without it the name is Moses, whose son was Gershom. The Vulgate reads Moses. Rabbinic tradition says the letter was added to protect Moses' honor.

Suspended nun: documented · Earlier reading Moses: supported · Scribal motive: plausible

The Tel Dan Stele
Authentic ancient artifactThe Tel Dan Stele (9th century BC), found at Tel Dan, ancient Laish; it mentions the "house of David." Israel Museum.Image credit

1 What Scripture says

"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" (18:30).

2 What evidence we might expect

  • Signs of scribal alteration in Hebrew manuscripts.
  • Versions reading Moses.

3 What ancient sources survive

Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 109b

Language
Aramaic and Hebrew
Composed
c. AD 500
Oldest surviving copy
Medieval manuscripts
Status
Rabbinic tradition

Explains the nun as a sign that Jonathan acted like Manasseh.

4 What discoveries exist

The suspended nun is one of four suspended letters in the Masoretic Text (with Psalm 80:14 and Job 38:13, 15). Gershom is Moses' son in Exodus 2:22 and 1 Chronicles 23:15. Many modern translations (NRSV, ESV, NIV) read Moses.

5 How interpretations compare

Traditional reading

Gershom is a later descendant

"Son" can mean descendant; Jonathan lived later than Moses' grandson.

6 The strongest supported reconstruction

The earlier reading was very probably Moses. The marked nun is a scribal device that both changed the name and preserved a record of the change.

7 What remains possible or unknown

  • When the nun was added.
  • How Greek A and B read in their oldest manuscripts (not checked here).

8 How this material came to us

Hebrew: Manasseh with suspended nun. Library's Greek: Manasseh. Vulgate and Douay-Rheims: Moses. KJV: Manasseh. See the passage page.

What the evidence shows

Where this connects