Judges 18:19-20
18:19 They said to him, “Shut up! Put your hand over your mouth and come with us! You can be our adviser 1 and priest. Wouldn’t it be better to be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for just one man’s family?” 2
18:20 The priest was happy. He took the ephod, the personal idols, and the carved image and joined the group. 3
Judges 18:29-31
18:29 They named it Dan after their ancestor, who was one of Israel’s sons. 4 But the city’s name used to be Laish.
18:30 The Danites worshiped 5 the carved image. Jonathan, descendant 6 of Gershom, son of Moses, 7 and his descendants 8 served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the exile.
18:31 They worshiped 9 Micah’s carved image 10 the whole time God’s authorized shrine 11 was in Shiloh.
1 tn See the note on the word “adviser” in 17:10.
2 tn Heb “Is it better for you to be priest for the house of one man or for you to be priest for a tribe, for a clan in Israel?”
3 tn Heb “and went into the midst of the people.”
4 tn Heb “They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who had been born to Israel.”
5 tn Heb “erected for themselves.”
6 tn Heb “son.”
7 tc Several ancient textual witnesses, including some LXX mss and the Vulgate, support the reading “Moses” (מֹשֶׁה, mosheh) here. Many Hebrew mss have a nun (נ) suspended above the name between the first two letters (מנשׁה), suggesting the name Manasseh (מְנַשֶּׁה, mÿnasheh). This is probably a scribal attempt to protect Moses’ reputation. For discussion, see G. F. Moore, Judges (ICC), 401-2.
8 tn Heb “sons.”
9 tn Heb “they set up for themselves.”
10 tn Heb “the carved image that Micah had made.”
11 tn Heb “the house of God.”