Jonathan (Judges)
Encyclopedia
Jonathan is a figure appearing in the account of Micah's Idol
Micah's Idol
The narrative of Micah's Idol, recounted in the Book of Judges, concerns the Tribe of Dan, their conquest of Laish, and the sanctuary that was subsequently created there.-Biblical narrative:...

 in the Book of Judges
Book of Judges
The Book of Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its title describes its contents: it contains the history of Biblical judges, divinely inspired prophets whose direct knowledge of Yahweh allows them to act as decision-makers for the Israelites, as...

, in which he is appointed as the priest of a shrine; since the shrine contained an ephod
Ephod
An ephod was an article of clothing, and a worship object, in ancient Israelite culture, and was closely connected with oracular practices....

 and teraphim
Teraphim
Teraphim is a Hebrew word from the Bible, found only in the plural, of uncertain etymology. Despite being plural, Teraphim may refer to singular objects, using the Hebrew plural of excellence...

, Jonathan is referred to as an idol-worshipper
Idolatry
Idolatry is a pejorative term for the worship of an idol, a physical object such as a cult image, as a god, or practices believed to verge on worship, such as giving undue honour and regard to created forms other than God. In all the Abrahamic religions idolatry is strongly forbidden, although...

 by traditional Judaism. The text identifies Jonathan as the son of Gershom
Gershom
According to the Bible, Gershom was the firstborn son of Moses and Zipporah. The name appears to mean a sojourner there , which the text argues was a reference to Moses' flight from Egypt; biblical scholars regard the name as being essentially the same as Gershon, and it is Gershom rather than...

, son of Manasseh, but there is a scribal oddity in that the verse presents the name of Manasseh as מנשה, with the "נ" superscripted, which does not occur elsewhere in the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

; the correct reading may be Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...

(Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

: משה, Moshe), and Rashi
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...

and other sages suspected as much, arguing that the name was changed to Manasseh to avoid scandalising Moses.
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