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.
Parallel translations
- WEB 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.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV 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.
- NASB 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.
- NLT 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.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Danites set up the idol and install Jonathan, a descendant of Moses, as priest of a corrupt cult. This idolatry persists until the exile.
Overview
The naming of Gershom's line, descended from Moses himself, shows how even the greatest spiritual heritage can be perverted into idolatry. Dan becomes a long-lasting center of false worship, later notorious under Jeroboam. The verse warns that godly ancestry guarantees no faithfulness; each generation must serve the Lord for itself.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Exod 2:22And she gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.”
- 1 Sam 4:10–11So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and each man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great—thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell.
- Judg 17:3And 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.”
- 1 Sam 4:2–3The Philistines arrayed themselves against Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who struck down about four thousand men on the battlefield.
- Ps 78:60–62He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had pitched among men.
- Judg 13:1Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD, so He delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
- Deut 31:29For I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt and turn from the path I have commanded you. And in the days to come, disaster will befall you because you will do evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke Him to anger by the work of your hands.”
- Judg 17:5Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.
- Deut 17:2–7If a man or woman among you in one of the towns that the LORD your God gives you is found doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God by transgressing His covenant
- Exod 18:3along with her two sons. One son was named Gershom, for Moses had said, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.”
- Ps 105:44–45He gave them the lands of the nations, that they might inherit the fruit of others’ labor,
- Lev 26:1“You must not make idols for yourselves or set up a carved image or sacred pillar; you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down to it. For I am the LORD your God.
- Exod 20:4You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
- Deut 31:16And the LORD said to Moses, “You will soon rest with your fathers, and these people will rise up and prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake Me and break the covenant I have made with them.
- Deut 27:15‘Cursed is the man who makes a carved idol or molten image—an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of a craftsman—and sets it up in secret.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
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Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 18:30 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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