Though Gideon made an idol just like Moses鈥�
grandson Jonathan, surely 聽with best of all intentions,
the error did not harm this 聽judge鈥檚 prognosis
regarding his historical pretensions.
presumably by God forgiven for this error
as God forgives so many that we make.
When Joseph said to Pharaoh鈥檚 main cupbearer:
鈥淩emember me,鈥� he made a grave mistake!鈥�
he should have realized that only God does not forget
those who behave how God commands us and not trust
a mortal monarch鈥檚 servant, a mere marionette
of Pharaoh, made like all men out of dust.
Judges 18:30 similarly tried to make us forget
that Moses had a grandson who was not religiously correct.
On 10/27/26, Moshe Shulman in a Torah in Motion lecture pointed out 聽that 聽the book of Judges echoes the first communication of Gideon with God to Moses鈥� first communication with God at the Burning Bush, when Judges 6:15-16 states:
讜址讬旨止证讗诪侄专 讗值诇指讬讜謾 讘旨执郑讬 讗植讚止谞指謹讬 讘旨址诪旨指芝讛 讗讜止砖讈执謻讬注址 讗侄转志讬执砖讉职专指讗值謶诇 讛执谞旨值证讛 讗址诇职驻旨执讬謾 讛址讚旨址郑诇 讘旨执诪职谞址砖讈旨侄謹讛 讜职讗指谞止讻执芝讬 讛址爪旨指注执謻讬专讘旨职讘值芝讬转 讗指讘执纸讬變
He said to him, 鈥淧lease, my Sovereign, how can I deliver Israel? Why, my clan is the humblest in Menasseh, and I am the youngest in my father鈥檚 household.鈥�
讜址讬旨止证讗诪侄专 讗值诇指讬讜謾 讬职讛止讜指謹讛 讻旨执芝讬 讗侄讛职讬侄謻讛 注执诪旨指謶讱职 讜职讛执讻旨执讬转指芝 讗侄转志诪执讚职讬指謻谉 讻旨职讗执芝讬砖讈 讗侄讞指纸讚變
GOD 聽replied, 鈥淚 will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian all at once.鈥�
The allusion to Menasseh recalls the way that Moses鈥� name is replaced by that of Menasseh, written wtih a suspended 聽letter nun in Judg. 18:30:
讜址讬旨指拽执支讬诪讜旨 诇指讛侄譀诐 讘旨职谞值讬志讚指謻谉 讗侄转志讛址驻旨指謶住侄诇 讜执譅讬讛纸讜止谞指转指譅谉 讘旨侄谉志讙旨值专职砖讈止吱诐 讘旨侄谉志诪职谞址砖讈旨侄譁讛 讛郑讜旨讗 讜旨讘指谞指謼讬讜 讛指讬证讜旨 讻止纸讛植谞执讬诐謾 诇职砖讈值郑讘侄讟讛址讚旨指谞执謹讬 注址讚志讬謻讜止诐 讙旨职诇芝讜止转 讛指讗指纸专侄抓變
And the Danites set up the sculptured image for themselves; and Jonathan son of Gershom son of Manasseh, and his descendants, served as priests to the Danite tribe until the land went into exile.
The verse identifies Jonathan, the son of Moses鈥� firstborn son Gershom, as a priest for the tribe of Dan who worshipped a calf. In the original text, this priest was probably identified as the grandson of Moses (whose son Gershom was born in Midian and circumcised not by Moses but by Moses鈥� Midianite wife). It is likely that, in order to protect the reputation of Moses from the tradition that he had an idolatrous grandson, Masorete scribes changed the Hebrew name of Moses, Mosheh, to Menashe, the Hebrew name of 聽a notoriously idolatrous king of Judah.
The change of Moses鈥檚 name to Menasseh in 18:30 foreshadows the way that the Democrats have promoted a second Dan Sullivan in order to prevent Alaskans from voting for the real Republican Dan Sullivan, who is a candidate in a primary election.
Kimberley Strassel in the WSJ , 10/29/26, 鈥溾�楧ecoy Dan鈥� Is Peltola鈥檚 Alaska Plant;鈥� suggests that a second Dan Sullivan was recruited by Democrats in order to confuse GOP voters as a decoy for the original. The use of a Decoy Dan to defeat the genuine Alaskan Senator Dan Sullivan, echoes the intrusion of a Menasseh in Judg. 18:30, to deflectthe suggestion that Moses was the ancestor of the Jonathan who introduced an idol into Danite territory.
With amusing serendipity, both decoys involve 鈥�Danites.鈥澛燗laska’s Decoy Dan echoes Moshe’s decoy, Menashe, in a deceptive duplication that echoes the way the author of the book of Judges links Gidon to Menasseh in the description of Gidon鈥檚 first encounter with God. This is in order to link him to Moses in the description of Moses鈥� first encounter with God at the Burning Bush. It thereby elevates Gidon by implying that his relationship with聽God duplicatesthe one which in Exodus is attributed to Moses.
When Judg. 18:30 changes the name of Moshe to Menasseh it serendipitously changes聽the religious party of the idolatrous Danite priest from that of Moses to that of King Menasseh, in the same way that Democrats who oppose a Republican candidate called Dan Sullivan have invented a decoy whose name might help them聽eliminate the real Republican candidate, also called Dan Sullivan.
Gershon Hepner is a poet who has written over 25,000 poems on subjects ranging from music to literature, politics to Torah. He grew up in England and moved to Los Angeles in 1976. Using his varied interests and experiences, he has authored dozens of papers in medical and academic journals, and authored 鈥淟egal Friction: Law, Narrative, and Identity Politics in Biblical Israel.鈥� He can be reached at gershonhepner@gmail.com.
