EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Judges 18:30
30The people of Dan worshipped Micah's idol. Jonathan served as priest for the tribe of Dan. He was a descendant of Moses' son, Gershom. He and his descendants served there as priests until Israel's enemies took them away into exile.
Judges 18:30 in other versions
- King James Version (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.
- New International Version (NIV)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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)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.
- New King James Version (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.
Context of Judges 18:30
28No one came to rescue the people of Laish. The city was a long way from Sidon. They had no other friends to help them. Laish was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites built the city again and they lived there. 29They called the city Dan, because that was the name of their ancestor. He had been one of Israel's 12 sons. Before that, the city's name was Laish. The people of Dan worshipped Micah's idol. Jonathan served as priest for the tribe of Dan. He was a descendant of Moses' son, Gershom. He and his descendants served there as priests until Israel's enemies took them away into exile. 31They continued to worship Micah's idol in Dan all the time that God's special tent was in Shiloh.
Read all of Judges 18Judges 18:30 word by word
וַיָּקִ֧ימוּ לָהֶ֛ם בְּנֵי־דָ֖ן אֶת־הַפָּ֑סֶל וִ֠יהוֹנָתָן בֶּן־גֵּרְשֹׁ֨ם בֶּן־מְנַשֶּׁ֜ה ה֣וּא וּבָנָ֗יו הָי֤וּ כֹהֲנִים֙ לְשֵׁ֣בֶט הַדָּנִ֔י עַד־י֖וֹם גְּל֥וֹת הָאָֽרֶץ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And the childrenבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
- of Danדָּןdân · DanH1835
- set upקוּםqûm · to arise: establishH6965
- the graven imageפֶּ֫סֶלpesel · idolH6459
- and Jonathanיְהוֹנָתָןyehônâthân · JonathanH3083
- the sonבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
- of Gershomגֵּרְשֹׁםgêreshôm · GershomH1647
- of Manassehמְנַשֶּׁהmenashsheh · MosesH4519
- were priestsכֹּהֵןkôhên · priestH3548
- to the tribeשֵׁ֫בֶטshêbeţ · tribeH7626
- of Danדָּנִיdânîy · DaniteH1839
- until the dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- of the captivityגָּלָהgâlâh · to reveal: removeH1540
- of the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
Cross-references for Judges 18:30
- Exodus 20:4You must not make any idol for yourself. Do not make a false god in the shape of anything that is in the sky above. Do not make one in the shape of anything on the earth or in the sea.
- Leviticus 26:1You must not make idols from stones and worship them. You must not draw things on stones and bend down in front of them. I am the Lord your God.
- Deuteronomy 17:2The Lord your God will give you towns to live in. You may hear that a man or a woman who lives in one of your towns has done a bad thing. He has done a sin that is against the covenant of the Lord your God.
- Deuteronomy 27:15‘God will curse anyone who makes any image of a god and who worships it secretly. The Lord hates all idols that people make with metal or with wood.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Yes, we agree!’
- Deuteronomy 31:16The Lord said to Moses, ‘You will soon die. After you die, the people will soon go away from me. They will start to worship foreign gods of the land where they are going. They will turn against me. They will not obey the covenant that I made with them.
- Psalms 105:44The Lord gave to them the land of other nations. They enjoyed the good things that other people had worked to get.
- Judges 13:1The Israelites again did things that the Lord saw were evil. So he put them under the power of the Philistines for 40 years.
- 1 Samuel 4:2The Philistines went to attack the Israelites. As the battle continued, the Philistines won the fight and they killed about 4,000 Israelites.
- Psalms 78:60He went away from his home at Shiloh. That was the tent where he lived among people.
Commentaries on Judges 18:30
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 30The children of Dan set up the graven image - They erected a chapel, or temple, among themselves, as Micah had done before; having the same implements and the same priest. And Jonathan the son of Gershom - Either this was the name of the young Levite; or they had turned him off, and got this Jonathan in his place. The son Manasseh - Who this Manasseh was, none can tell; nor does the reading appear to be genuine. He could not be Manasseh the son of Joseph…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 30In the Hebrew text the name here rendered Manasseh is written MN)- SH. Without the “N” (nun) suspended over the line, the word may be read: Moses, whose son was Gershom Exodus 2:22, whose son or descendant Jonathan clearly was. The Masoretes, probably grieved that a descendant of Moses should have been implicated in idolatrous worship, adopted this expedient for disguising the fact without absolutely falsifying the text. The Vulgate has “Moses”, the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 30The wandering Levite is now called Jonathan. He was a descendant of Moses through Gershom (Exodus 2:21–22). The exile traditionally began with the fall of the northern kingdom in 722 BC. Considering the reference to Shiloh (Judges 18:31), the exile of the Ark from Shiloh (1 Samuel 4–6) might be relevant.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 30-3130-31. the children of Dan set up the graven image--Their distance secluded them from the rest of the Israelites, and doubtless this, which was their apology for not going to Shiloh, was the cause of perpetuating idolatry among them for many generations.Read the comment
Topics related to Judges 18:30
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Judges 18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- Darby Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
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