Jonathan

Jon'athan (Heb. Yonathan, יוֹנָתָן, 1Sa 13:2-3,16,22; 1Sa 14:1,3-4,12-14,17,21,27,29,39-45,49; 1Sa 19:1; 1 Kings 1, 42, 43; 1Ch 2:32-33; 1Ch 10:2; 1Ch 11:34; Ezr 8:6; Ezr 10:15; Ne 12:11,14,35; Jer 40:8; Sept. Ι᾿ωνάθαν), a contracted form of JEHONATHAN (יהוֹנָתָן, q.d. Theodore, 1Ch 27:25; 2Ch 17:8; Ne 12:18; Anglicized "Jonathan" elsewhere, Jg 18:30; 1Sa 14:6,8; 1Sa 18:1,3-4; 1Sa 19:1-2,4,6-7; 1Sa 20:1,3-5,9-13,16-18,25,27-28,30,32-35,37-40,42; 1Sa 23:16,18; 1Sa 31:2; 2Sa 1:4-5,12,17,22-23,25-26; 2Sa 4:4; 2Sa 9:1,3,6-7; 2Sa 15:27, 36; 17:17 20; 21:7, 12, 13, 14, 21; 22:32; 1Ch 8:33-34; 1Ch 9:39-40; 1Ch 20:7; 1Ch 27:32; Jer 37:15,20; Jer 38:26; Sept. Ι᾿ωνάθαν), the name of fifteen or more men in the canonical Scriptures, besides several in the Apocrypha and Josephus.

I. A Levite descended from Gershom, the son of Moses (Jg 18:30). It is indeed said, in our Masoretic copies, that the Gershom from whom this Jonathan sprang was "the son of Manasseh;" but it is on very good grounds supposed that in the name Moses (משׁה), the single letter n (נ) has been interpolated (and it is usually written suspended, Buxtorf, Tiber. p. 14), changing it into Manasseh (מנשׂה), in order to save the character of the great lawgiver from the stain of having an idolater among his immediate descendants (Baba Bathra, 109, 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, Septuagint, actually exhibit the name of Moses instead of Manasseh. (See Clarke's Comment. ad loc.) The history of this Jonathan is involved in the narrative which occupies Jg 17:13, and is one of the two accounts which form a sort of appendix to that book. The events themselves appear to have occurred soon after the death of Joshua, and of the elders who outlived him, when the government was in a most 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 sufficient maintenance. He therefore went forth to seek his fortune. In Mount Ephraim he came to "a house. of gods," which had been established by one Micah, who wanted nothing but a priest to make his establishment complete. See MICAH. This person made Jonathan what was manifestly considered the handsome offer of engaging 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 the Danite spies, who were sent by their tribe to explore the north, passed this way and formed his acquaintance. When, 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 Micah'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 possession. 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 captivity, he and his descendants continued to be priests of the Danites in the town of Laish, the name of which was changed to Dan.