Judges 18:19-20

18:19 They said to him, “Shut up! Put your hand over your mouth and come with us! You can be our adviser ¹  and priest. Wouldn’t it be better to be a priest for a whole Israelite tribe than for just one man’s family?” ²  18:20 The priest was happy. He took the ephod, the personal idols, and the carved image and joined the group. ³ 

Judges 18:29-31

18:29 They named it Dan after their ancestor, who was one of Israel’s sons. ⁴  But the city’s name used to be Laish. 18:30 The Danites worshiped ⁵  the carved image. Jonathan, descendant ⁶  of Gershom, son of Moses, ⁷  and his descendants ⁸  served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the exile. 18:31 They worshiped ⁹  Micah’s carved image ¹⁰  the whole time God’s authorized shrine ¹¹  was in Shiloh.

[18:19]  ¹ tn See the note on the word “adviser” in 17:10.

[18:19]  ² tn Heb “Is it better for you to be priest for the house of one man or for you to be priest for a tribe, for a clan in Israel?”

[18:20]  ³ tn Heb “and went into the midst of the people.”

[18:29]  ⁴ tn Heb “They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who had been born to Israel.”

[18:30]  ⁵ tn Heb “erected for themselves.”

[18:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “son.”

[18:30]  ⁷ 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.

[18:30]  ⁸ tn Heb “sons.”

[18:31]  ⁹ tn Heb “they set up for themselves.”

[18:31]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the carved image that Micah had made.”

[18:31]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the house of God.”