The following is an image of the Leningrad Codex (AD 1008/1009), showing the text of Judg 18:30:
18:30. In the Masoretic text,
the letter nun of Manasseh is suspended above the line. This implies
that the remaining letters are to be read as an independent word, Moshe/Moses.
The Talmud therefore identifies Jonathan as the son of Gershom son of Moses
(see Exodus 2:21, 22). But out of respect for Moses, a letter was added
to mask his name. (The
Artscroll English Tanach, Stone Edition: The Jewish Bible with Insights from
Classical Rabbinic Thought [New York: Artscroll Mesorah Publications, Ltd.,
2011], 402)
To the complete surprise of the
reader, at the end of the account the Levite who first appeared in 17:7 is
finally named. Instead of referring to the priest generically as “the Levite,”
the narrator identifies him by name, patronymic, and descent: “Jonathan son of
Gershom, the son of Moses.” Although this is the first occurrence in the Old
Testament of the personal name Jonathan, hereafter it becomes one of the more
common biblical names, being borne by twenty different persons. As a thoroughly
orthodox name, Jonathan (“Yahweh has given”) supposedly reflects the faith of
the man’s parents.156 If that is so, this man obviously did not
share the spiritual commitment expressed in his name. Jonathan is described as
the son of Gershom, but the term ben
may also be understood more generally as “grandson, descendant.” The Gershom
referred to is the eldest son of Moses and Zipporah (Exod 2:22). But it is the
reference to Moses that catches the reader off guard. Indeed the rabbinic
scribes found the present association of Moses’ name with such abominable
idolatrous behavior so objectionable they refused to accept the statement and
inserted a superscripted nun between
the first two consonants, transforming unpointed mšh, “Moses,” into mnšh,
“Manasseh.”
Scholars have argued that, unlike
the previous narrative, this closer identification of the person lacks any
pejorative connotations, and they conclude that this must be a later editorial
insertion. But to remove the Yahwistic name Jonathan and the names of Moses and
his son robs this text of its prophetic punch. Previously the narrator has
intentionally referred to this young man generically as a Levite so the reader
would generalize the present symptoms of spiritual Canaanization to the
priestly class/tribe as a whole. To concretize the issue he shocks the reader
by associating the abominations committed in this chapter with Moses, the most
venerable character in Israelite history. The problem of religious syncretism
is so deeply rooted it has infected the most sacred institutions and the most
revered household. Furthermore, this note suggests a time frame for the present
apostate activity of the Danites. If ben
means “son” rather than “grandson” or “descendant,” then these events must have
happened within a hundred years of the arrival of the Israelites. The earlier
note in 2:6–10 that the Israelites abandoned Yahweh as soon as the generation
that had witnessed the exodus and the conquest under Joshua had died is hereby
confirmed concretely. (Daniel Isaac Block, Judges, Ruth [The
New American Commentary 6; Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999],
511-12)
30: Jonathan …: Here the
Levite’s identity is revealed, being a grandson of Moses, the third generation
from the exodus. The name Moses is obscured and turned into Manasseh (an evil
Judean king) by means of a hanging letter “nun” to clear Moses from his
grandson’s misdeeds. (According to Exod. 2:22, Gershom is Moses’ son.) (The Jewish Study Bible, ed. Adele
Berlin, Marc Zvi Brettler, and Michael Fishbane [New York: Oxford University
Press, 2004], 549)
