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Journey of a Passage

Judges 18:30

Moses or Manasseh?

The priest of Dan's idol was "Jonathan son of Gershom son of Manasseh" in the Hebrew, but the nun of Manasseh is written small and raised. Without it the name is Moses. The Vulgate reads Moses. The raised letter is one of the most famous scribal features in the Hebrew Bible.

Manuscript variant: witnesses differ in wording

The family tree

Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.

✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives

  • Same line, through lost copies
  • Translation
Hebrew
  1. Original JudgesUnknown (debated)
  2. Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from Original Judges
Greek
  1. Septuagint (library text: Giguet's French)Translated c. 2nd century BCTranslated from a Hebrew text of the 2nd century BC
Latin
  1. Jerome's Vulgatec. AD 400Translated from Hebrew texts of Jerome's day
English
  1. King James Bible1611Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

What the raised letter means

Rabbinic explanation
The nun was added to spare Moses' honor: Jonathan acted like King Manasseh (Bava Batra 109b).
Scholarly view
Moses is the earlier reading; the nun was added but marked as an addition by writing it above the line.
Support
Gershom is Moses' son (Exodus 2:22); the Vulgate and many modern translations read Moses.

Every witness, in order

  1. Unknown (debated)

    Original Judges

    – No copy survives

    No original survives.

  2. Translated c. 2nd century BC

    Septuagint (library text: Giguet's French)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from a Hebrew text of the 2nd century BC

    How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

    Jonathan, fils de Gerson, fils de Manassé

    Jonathan, son of Gershom, son of Manasseh

    Greek manuscripts are divided between Manasseh and Moses; the A and B forms were not checked separately. One Greek text via Giguet's French; Greek A and B not checked separately.

  3. c. AD 400

    Jerome's Vulgate

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from Hebrew texts of Jerome's day

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).

    Jonathan filium Gersam filii Moysi

    Jonathan son of Gershom son of Moses

    Reads Moses.

  4. AD 1008

    Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

    ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from Original Judges

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

    וִיהוֹנָתָן בֶּן־גֵּרְשֹׁם בֶּן־מְנַשֶּׁה

    and Jonathan son of Gershom son of Manasseh

    In the manuscripts the nun (נ) is written suspended above the line: מ(נ)שה. The digital text in this library prints it as an ordinary letter.

    Source: Sefaria, Judges 18:30 ↗

  5. 1611

    King James Bible

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

    Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh

    Follows the printed Hebrew.

What changed, and why

A scribal feature that both preserves and alters: the scribes changed the name but left a visible sign that they had done so.

What the evidence shows

Sources

Related lessons

  • The Tribe of Dan and Moses/Manasseh →The tribe of Dan, still without land, sends scouts north. They find Laish, "quiet and secure." On the way they steal Micah's image and his Levite priest, burn Laish, rebuild it as Dan, and set up the image. The priest's name is given: Jonathan son of Gershom son of Manasseh, in the Hebrew written with a small raised letter that may hide the name Moses.
  • Journey of a Passage: Ancient Judges Texts →A guide to the passages in Judges where ancient copies and translations differ, or where the difference is between two compositions rather than two copies. Each has its own passage page with the witnesses laid out side by side.
  • How Judges Came to Us →Who wrote Judges, and when? Where does it sit in Jewish and Christian Bibles? What do the Dead Sea Scrolls preserve, and why does the Greek Bible have two forms of the book? The history of Judges from its setting to your Bible.