Once again, the wayward ways of the people of Dan are highlighted in this verse. They were unable to capture the land that was allotted to them, so they traveled north. They stole religious objects from Micah and attacked the peaceful people of Laish, burning down the town and killing its inhabitants. Then they changed the town’s name to honor their ancestor, and indirectly, themselves. Now the series of misdeeds comes to a climax as the Danites set up an unholy cult in this place. Contemporary English Version puts a paragraph break here, which the Hebrew allows. However, several versions let the text flow without such a break (Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation).

And the Danites set up the graven image for themselves: The Danites install the carved image that they stole from Micah (see verse 18.18-20). The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And may be translated “Then,” especially since it would appear the Danites wasted no time in setting up this idol. This is one of the most ironic sentences in this book, since it uses the Hebrew verb qum rendered set up, which occurs throughout the book when the LORD “raises up” deliverers to save Israel (see, for example, verse 3.9, 15). Here with biting irony, it is used to say the Danites set up an idol. Several versions miss or are unable to express the irony (for example, Revised Standard Version and New Jerusalem Bible, which uses the verb “erected”). If no link can be maintained, it may be helpful to include a footnote to explain the irony here. The graven image is the last sacred item in the series cited in verse 18.20 (see comments on verse 17.3). Contemporary English Version says “the idol Micah had made,” which fits this context well (see verse 18.31 below).

And Jonathan the son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites: Up to this point the priest working for Micah has not been named. Many scholars think he is finally being named here: Jonathan the son of Gershom, son of Moses. However, it is also possible that Jonathan refers to yet another priest who came to serve the Danites. The son of Gershom, son of Moses gives the genealogy of this priest, with Gershom being one of Moses’ sons (see Exo 2.22; verse 18.3). This detail is extremely important, as this breaks God’s Law that the priests should be descendants, not of Moses, but of his brother Aaron. In the Bible the typical way of giving the genealogy of a person is to trace the person through his father, grandfather, and so on, but translators should use expressions from their own language. Good News Translation, for example, says “the son of Gershom and grandson of Moses.” However, we must note an important textual variant here. Instead of Moses, the Masoretic Text has “Manasseh,” a reading that is adopted by New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, and put in a footnote by Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version, and New International Version. The name Moses comes from the Septuagint and the Vulgate, but is a reading followed by Hebrew Old Testament Text Project and many English versions (Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible, New American Bible). In Hebrew the two names are very close in spelling, differing by only one letter. And clearly the name Moses fits the context here. This name also occurs at the beginning of the book (verse 1.16, 20), which suggests it forms an inclusio. The reference to Moses adds more irony to the situation, since the Danites have once more strayed far from the teachings of this great patriarch.

And his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites refers to the descendants of Jonathan who served as priests after him. The Hebrew is emphatic here, literally “he [Jonathan] and his sons, they were priests….” Sons has the sense of “descendants” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version) in this context. For the tribe of the Danites, see verse 18.1b. While the mention of descendants is usually positive in the Bible, here it underlines that the mistakes made by the first Danites are perpetuated for decades or even centuries. In some languages it may be necessary to use two separate sentences here, for example, “And a descendant of Moses, Jonathan, son of Gershom, served as priest for the tribe of Dan. And his descendants served as priests after him.”

Until the day of the captivity of the land: This clause emphasizes that the Danites continued to disobey Yahweh and practice idolatry for a very long time, that is, until the Israelites went into captivity. The tribe of Dan and the other northern tribes were conquered by the Assyrians in 721 B.C. and sent into exile. This clause is extremely interesting to Bible scholars, because it shows that this part of the text must be dated after 721 B.C. Until the day of might be rendered more generally as “until the time of” (New International Version) or “until the period of.” Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version say simply “until” the exile. Captivity renders an infinitive of the Hebrew verb meaning “go into exile,” referring here to the capture and the deportation of the people of Israel by the Assyrians. The land renders the same Hebrew word (ʾerets) that is often used to refer to the Promised Land. Here again irony surfaces, since this word brings to mind the LORD’s original plan to have the Israelites occupy the land. Here it refers to the people of the northern kingdom of Israel who were forced into exile. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh is quite literal, saying “until the land went into exile.” Good News Translation is more natural with “until the people were taken away into exile.” Contemporary English Version also provides a good model, saying “until the people of Israel were taken away as prisoners by their enemies.”

Translation models for this verse are:

• Then the people of Dan raised up Micah’s idol to worship it. And Jonathan, son of Gershom and grandson of Moses, along with his descendants, served as priests for the tribe of Dan, right up until the time the people were taken into exile.

• The descendants of Dan set up* the carved image to worship it, and a grandson of Moses, from the family of Gershom, named Jonathan, along with his descendants, served as their priests. These men served as priests for the Danites until the time that Israel was taken into exile.
* The Hebrew verb used here is qum , which is used throughout this book when the deliverers “arose.” Here it is used ironically since the people are clearly disobeying Yahweh.

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .