Judges 18:29-31

18:29 They named it Dan after their ancestor, who was one of Israel’s sons. ¹  But the city’s name used to be Laish. 18:30 The Danites worshiped ²  the carved image. Jonathan, descendant ³  of Gershom, son of Moses, ⁴  and his descendants ⁵  served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the exile. 18:31 They worshiped ⁶  Micah’s carved image ⁷  the whole time God’s authorized shrine ⁸  was in Shiloh.

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¹ tn Heb “They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who had been born to Israel.”

² tn Heb “erected for themselves.”

³ tn Heb “son.”

⁴ 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.

⁵ tn Heb “sons.”

⁶ tn Heb “they set up for themselves.”

⁷ tn Heb “the carved image that Micah had made.”

⁸ tn Heb “the house of God.”