1. A Levitc descended from Gershom, the son of AIo- ses (Judg. xviii, 30). It is indeed said, in our Maso- rctic copies, that the Gershom from wliom this Jona- tlian sprang was " tlie son of Manasseh;" but it is on very good grounds supposed that in the name Moses (rTr^),the single letter n (:) has been interpolated (and It u usually written suspended, Buxtorf, Tiber, p 14) changing it intoManasseh (nr2^),in order to save the character of the great lawgiver from the stain of havin- /!',// ,00 "/'r"?n.'''' ""'"c.liate descendants {BaC, Jnhra 1)9, b). The singular name Gershom, and the date of the transaction, go far to establish this view. Accordingly the Vulgate, and some copies of the Sep- tnagiut, actua ly exhibit the name of Moses instead of forv^Tn- /•^'^«.^'«>^ke'sCo«m.«Aadloc.) The his- tory of tins Jonathan is involved in the narrative which occupies .Judges xvii, xviii, and is one of the two ac-
t;::1!.:; "'!'i ^'^"" ^ -« •"• »i'p->aix to that bo".
The events themselves
appear to have occurred soon af-
roi- ►!.,. .i,_.i <• r , ' ' "".v, >.v,..um.ii soon ai-
er he ath o, Joshua, and of the elders who outlive,
liini, when tl
government was in a must unsettled
state. Its proper place in the chronological order would have been between the second and third chapters of the book. B.C. cir. 1590.
Jonathan, who was resident at Bethlehem, lived at a time when the dues of the sanctuary did not afford a livelihood to the numerous Levites who had a claim upon them, and belonged to a tribe destitute of the landed possessions which gave to all others a sufhcient maintenance. He therefore went forth to seek his for- tune. In Mount Ephraim he came to '• a house of gods," which had been established by one IMicah, who wanted nothmg but a priest to make his establishment com- plete. See MicAH. This person made Jonathan what was manifestly considered the handsome offer of en- gaging him as his priest for his victuals, a yearly suit of clothes, and ten shekels (about six dollars) a year in money. Here he lived for some time, till tlie Danite spies, who were sent by their tribe to explore the north, passed this way and formed his acquaintance. AVhen, not long after, the body of armed Danites passed the same way in going to settle near the sources of the Jordan, the spies mentioned JMicah's establishment to them, on which they went and took away not only " the ephod, the teraphim, and the graven image," but the priest also, that they might set up the same worship in the place of which they were going to take posses- sion. Micah vainly protested against this robbery; but Jonathan himself was glad at the improvement in his prospects, and from that time, even down to the cap- tivity, he and his descendants continued to be priests of the Danites in the town of Laish, the name of which was changed to Dan.
There is not any reason to suppose that this estab- lishment, whether in the hands of Micah or of the Dan- ites, involved an apostasy from Jehovah. It appears rather to have been an attempt to localize or domesti- cate his presence, under those symbols and forms of service which were common among the neighboring na- tions, but were forbidden to the Hebrews. The offence here was twofold — the establishment of a sacred ritual different from the only one which the law recognised, and the worship by symbols, naturally leading to idola- try, with the ministration of one who could not legally be a priest, but only a Levite, and under circumstances in which no Aaronic priest could legally have officiated. It is more than likely that this establishment was event- ually merged in that of the golden calf, which Jeroboam set up in this place, his choice of which may very pos- sibly have been determined by its being already in pos- session of " a house of gods."— Kitto.
The Targum of R. Joseph, on 1 Chron. xxiii, 16, iden- tifies this Jonathan with Shebuel, the son of Gershom, who is there said to have repented (S^Mrtn 13") in liis old age, and to have been appointed by David as chief over his treasures. All this arises from a play upon the name Shebuel, from which this meaning is ex- tracted in accordance with a favorite practice of the Targumist.— Smith.
2. Second of the two sons of Jada, and grandson of Jerahmeel, of the family of Judah ; as his brother Jether died without issue, this branch of the line was continued through the two sons of Jonathan (1 Chron. 11,32,33). B.C. considerably post 1612.
3. The eldest son of king Saul and the bosom friend of David (Josephus 'Iwvc'tSii], Ant. vi, 6, 1). He first ap- pears some time after his father's accession (1 Sam. xiii, 2). If his younger brother Ishbosheth was forty at the time of Saul's death (2 Sam. ii, 8), Jonathan must have been at least thirty when he is first mentioned. Of his own family we know nothing except the birth of one son, five years before his death (2 Sam. iv, 4). He was regarded in his father's lifetime as heir to the throne. Like Saul, he was a man of great strength and activity (2 Sam. i, 23), of which the exploit at Michmash was a proof. He was also famous for the peculiar martial ex- ercises in which his tribe excelled— archery and sling- ing (1 Chron. xii, 2). His bow was to him what the