Judges 18:30
New International Version
There the Danites set up for themselves the idol, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land.

New Living Translation
Then they set up the carved image, and they appointed Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Moses, as their priest. This family continued as priests for the tribe of Dan until the Exile.

English Standard Version
And the people of Dan set up the carved image for themselves, and Jonathan the son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.

Berean Standard Bible
The Danites set up idols for themselves, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
Then the children of Dan set up for themselves the carved image; and Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.

New American Standard Bible
The sons of Dan set up for themselves the carved image; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.

NASB 1995
The sons of Dan set up for themselves the graven image; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.

NASB 1977
And the sons of Dan set up for themselves the graven image; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then the sons of Dan set up for themselves the graven image; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the exile of the land.

Amplified Bible
The [tribe of] the sons of Dan set up the image [of silver-plated wood] for themselves; and Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity and exile from the land.

Christian Standard Bible
The Danites set up the carved image for themselves. Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the Danite tribe until the time of the exile from the land.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Danites set up the carved image for themselves. Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the Danite tribe until the time of the exile from the land.

American Standard Version
And the children of Dan set up for themselves the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And the sons of Dan set up for themselves the image, and Yonathan, son of Gershun, son of Manasheh, he and his children were Priests of the tribe of Dan unto the day when the land was captured

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And the children of Dan set up the graven image for themselves; and Jonathan son of Gerson son of Manasse, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan till the time of the carrying away of the nation.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And they set up to themselves the graven idol, and Jonathan the son of Gersam the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests in the tribe of Dan, until the day of their captivity.

English Revised Version
And the children of Dan set up for themselves the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The people of Dan set up the carved idol for themselves. Jonathan (son of Gershom and grandson of Moses) and his descendants were priests for Dan's tribe until the people living in that land were taken captive.

Good News Translation
The Danites set up the idol to be worshiped, and Jonathan, the son of Gershom and grandson of Moses, served as a priest for the Danites, and his descendants served as their priests until the people were taken away into exile.

International Standard Version
The descendants of Dan set up the carved image, and Gershom's son Jonathan, a descendant of Manasseh, served along with his descendants as priests to the tribe of Dan until the land was taken captive.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And the children of Dan set up for themselves the graven image; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.

Literal Standard Version
And the sons of Dan raise up the carved image for themselves, and Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Manasseh, he and his sons have been priests for the tribe of the Danite, until the day of the expulsion of [the people] of the land.

Majority Standard Bible
The Danites set up idols for themselves, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.

New American Bible
The Danites set up the idol for themselves, and Jonathan, son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his descendants were priests for the tribe of the Danites until the time the land went into captivity.

NET Bible
The Danites worshiped the carved image. Jonathan, descendant of Gershom, son of Moses, and his descendants served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the exile.

New Revised Standard Version
Then the Danites set up the idol for themselves. Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the time the land went into captivity.

New Heart English Bible
The people of Dan set up for themselves the engraved image. And Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the exile from the land.

Webster's Bible Translation
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.

World English Bible
The children of Dan set up for themselves the engraved image; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.

Young's Literal Translation
And the sons of Dan raise up for themselves the graven image, and Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Manasseh, he and his sons have been priests to the tribe of the Danite, till the day of the removal of the people of the land.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Danites Take Micah's Idols
29They named it Dan, after their forefather Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city was formerly named Laish. 30The Danites set up idols for themselves, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. 31So they set up for themselves Micah’s graven image, and it was there the whole time the house of God was in Shiloh.…

Cross References
Exodus 2:22
And she gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, "I have become a foreigner in a foreign land."

Exodus 18:3
along with her two sons. One son was named Gershom, for Moses had said, "I have been a foreigner in a foreign land."

Judges 17:3
And when he had returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, "I wholly dedicate the silver to the LORD for my son's benefit, to make a graven image and a molten idol. Therefore I will now return it to you."

Judges 17:5
Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.


Treasury of Scripture

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.

set up

Exodus 20:4
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

Leviticus 26:1
Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 17:2-7
If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant, …

Psalm 105:44,45
And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour of the people; …

Judges 13:1
And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

1 Samuel 4:2,3,10,11
And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men…

Psalm 78:60-62
So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men; …

the land.

Jump to Previous
Ark Captivity Children Dan Danite Danites Engraved Idols Image Jonathan Manasseh Moses Priests Prisoner Removal Themselves Tribe
Jump to Next
Ark Captivity Children Dan Danite Danites Engraved Idols Image Jonathan Manasseh Moses Priests Prisoner Removal Themselves Tribe
Judges 18
1. The Danites send five men to seek out an inheritance
3. At the house of Micah they consult with Jonathan, and are encouraged
7. They search Laish, and bring back news of good hope
11. Six hundred men are sent to surprise it
16. In their way they rob Micah of his priest and his consecrated things
27. They win Laish, and call it Dan
30. They set up idolatry, wherein Jonathan inherits the priesthood.














(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 (1Kings 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. . . . Verses 30, 31. - And the children of Dan, etc. It was probably the long existence of this semi-idolatrous worship of the graven image at Dan that induced King Jeroboam to set up one of his golden calves at Dan, as we read 1 Kings 12:28-30. And Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh. The Hebrew text really has the son of Moses. But a little n is written above the line between the M and the S of Moses (Mosheh), so as to be read Manasseh, as thus: MSH; so that they avoided the pain of reading aloud that the grandson or descendant of Moses was an idolatrous priest, without actually altering the written text. It is indeed most sad that it should have been so, though like examples are not wanting, as, e.g., the sons of Eli and of Samuel. For Gershom the son of Moses see Exodus 2:22; Exodus 18:3; 1 Chronicles 23:14-16. It does not follow that Jonathan, the priest of the Danites, was literally the son of Gershom. It may merely mean that he was of the family of which Gershom was the head. Until the day of the captivity of the land. There is great diversity of opinion as to the meaning of this phrase. Many understand it, as is the obvious meaning of the words, of the Assyrian captivity (2 Kings 15:29; 2 Kings 17:6). But some of the best commentators, as Kimchi among the Jews, and many moderns, think it refers to the taking captive of the ark by the Philistines in the days of Eli, because this is the time indicated in the next verse by the mention of the house of God in Shiloh. The ark of God never returned to Shiloh after it was taken thence (1 Samuel 4:3, 4) and captured by the Philistines (ibid. ver. 11). It is also noticed that the expression, The ark of God is gone into captivity (is taken, A.V.), occurs in 1 Samuel 4:21, 22. It certainly would be strange that one verse (30) should speak of the worship of the graven image lasting till the Assyrian conquest of the land, and the next verse (31) limit it to the time that the house of God was in Shiloh, some 300 years earlier. At the same time it should be noticed that ver. 30 speaks of the time that Jonathan's sons were priests to the tribe of Dan, and ver. 31 of the worship of Micah's image. It is quite possible that the descendants of Jonathan may have been appointed priests at Dan to Jeroboam's golden-calf worship, though the original graven image of Micah may have been destroyed by Saul or David; and in the interval between such destruction of Micah's image and the setting up of Jeroboam's calves they may have been the priests of an irregular worship on a high place at Tell-el-Kady. And this would enable us to give what is certainly its natural meaning to the words, "the captivity of the land." But no certainty can be arrived at without more actual knowledge. Many commentators adopt Houbigant's conjecture to read ark for land at the end of ver. 30 (aron for aretz). Others think that some deportation of the Danites by the Syrians or other neighbouring people not recorded in history is here spoken cf. All the time the house of God, etc. This must have been written not earlier than the time of Samuel, and possibly much later. The house of God, i.e. the tabernacle, was in Shiloh from the days of Joshua (Joshua 18:1) till the days of Eli (1 Samuel 1:3), after which we have no account of where the house of God was till the ark was brought up to Jerusalem by King David from the house of Obed-edom the Gittite (2 Samuel 6:12), and placed in the tabernacle that David had pitched for it (2 Samuel 6:17); but whether this was the tabernacle that had been pitched at Shiloh or a new one does not appear. It is not improbable that Samuel may have moved the tabernacle from Shiloh to Ramah (1 Samuel 7:17). The ark had rested in the house of Abinadab at Baaleh or Kirjath-jearim for twenty years (1 Samuel 7:2) previous to its removal by David.



Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
The Danites
בְּנֵי־ (bə·nê-)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

set up
וַיָּקִ֧ימוּ (way·yā·qî·mū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 6965: To arise, stand up, stand

idols
הַפָּ֑סֶל (hap·pā·sel)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6459: An idol, image

for themselves,
לָהֶ֛ם (lā·hem)
Preposition | third person masculine plural
Strong's Hebrew

and Jonathan
וִ֠יהוֹנָתָן (wî·hō·w·nā·ṯān)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3129: Jonathan

son of
בֶּן־ (ben-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1121: A son

Gershom,
גֵּרְשֹׁ֨ם (gê·rə·šōm)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1647: Gershom -- three Israelites

the son
בֶּן־ (ben-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1121: A son

of Moses,
מְנַ‪‬שֶּׁ֜ה (mə·naš·šeh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 4519: Manasseh -- 'causing to forget', a son of Joseph, also a king of Judah, also two Israelites

and his sons
וּבָנָ֗יו (ū·ḇā·nāw)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 1121: A son

were
הָי֤וּ (hā·yū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

priests
כֹהֲנִים֙ (ḵō·hă·nîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 3548: Priest

for the tribe
לְשֵׁ֣בֶט (lə·šê·ḇeṭ)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 7626: Rod, staff, club, scepter, tribe

of Dan
הַדָּנִ֔י (had·dā·nî)
Article | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1839: Danites -- descendant of Dan

until
עַד־ (‘aḏ-)
Preposition
Strong's 5704: As far as, even to, up to, until, while

the day
י֖וֹם (yō·wm)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3117: A day

of the captivity
גְּל֥וֹת (gə·lō·wṯ)
Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 1540: To denude, to exile, to reveal

of the land.
הָאָֽרֶץ׃ (hā·’ā·reṣ)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land


Links
Judges 18:30 NIV
Judges 18:30 NLT
Judges 18:30 ESV
Judges 18:30 NASB
Judges 18:30 KJV

Judges 18:30 BibleApps.com
Judges 18:30 Biblia Paralela
Judges 18:30 Chinese Bible
Judges 18:30 French Bible
Judges 18:30 Catholic Bible

OT History: Judges 18:30 The children of Dan set up (Jd Judg. Jdg)
Judges 18:29
Top of Page
Top of Page