Talmud for Sanhedrin 11:5

Rebbi Ḥuna and Simeon Qamateria in the name of Rebbi Samuel ben Naḥman (Jud. 18:30): “Jonathan ben Gershom ben Manasseh,” a hanging נ¹²⁸In Bible manuscripts and prints, the name is יהונתן בן גרשם בן מ^נשה, to hide the fact that a grandson of Moses was priest of the idol at Dan. Manasseh is the bad king of Judah, son of king Hezekiah. The parallels to this paragraph are Yerushalmi Sanhedrin11:5, Babli Bava Batra 110a.. If he merits it, ben Mosheh. If he does not merit it, ben Manasseh. The colleagues asked before Rebbi Samuel bar Naḥman: He was a priest of idol worship and lived so long¹²⁹The verse reads: “Jonathan ben Gershom ben Mo(n)sheh, he and his sons, were priests for the tribe of Dan, until the day the land was exiled. They put up for themselves the idol of Micah, that the latter had made, all the days that the House of God was at Shiloh.” There are several interpretations of “the day the land was exiled.” Rashi takes it to mean the exile of Dan by the Assyrians, Babylonian tradition (Seder Olam Chapter 24) takes it as the time of captivity of king Manasse in Babylon; most later Medieval commentators (Ibn Ezra, Gersonides, R. Isaiah of Trani) take it to refer to the destruction of Shiloh (since Jeroboam put up a new Golden Calf at Dan, the original idol can no longer have survived.) However, as Y. Yadin has pointed out, already in the Song of Deborah there is a reference to the tribe of Dan who “went to dwell on ships.” Rashi’s interpretation is that of the Talmudim (the parallel in the Babli is Bava Bathra 110a), since both have Jonathan (not just one of his descendants) alive and active at the time of David, about 300 years after the conquest of Laish by the tribe of Dan.? He said to them, because he [Jonathan] was grudging to his idol. How was he grudging to his idol? If a man came to sacrifice an ox, a sheep, or a goat to the idol and told him: Make it favorably inclined towards me, he would say: What use does it have for you? It neither sees, nor hears, nor eats, nor drinks, nor does good or evil, and does not talk. He said to him, by your life, what should we do? He said to him, go, make, and bring me a wooden vessel¹³⁰Greek πίναξ, “wooden platter”. full of fine flour and put on it ten eggs, then I shall prepare it before that one and it will eat from all that comes and I shall make it favorably inclined towards you! After he left, he would eat it. One day, a son of pashas came and he said that to him. He said to him, if it is of no use, what are you doing here? He said to him, because of my livelihood. When David became king, he sent and brought him. He said to him, you are the grandson of that righteous man and you worship idols? He said to him: I have a tradition from my grandfather’s house: Sell yourself to idol worship¹³¹In Hebrew, “strange work”. rather than need other people¹³²To take money from charity.. He said to him: Heaven forbid! He did not say so, but sell yourself to work that is strange to you rather than to need other people. When David saw that he loved money, he made him count¹³³Latin comes, a high official in post-Diocletian Rome. “Treasury” from Greek θησαυρός. of his treasuries. That is what is written (1Chr. 26:24): “Shabuel ben Gershom ben Moshe, overseer of the treasuries.” “Shabuel” because he returned to God with all his heart and all his might. “Overseer of the treasuries,” that he made him count of the treasuries. They objected to Rebbi Samuel bar Naḥman: (Jud. 18:30): “Until the day the land went into exile.” He said to them, when David died, Shelomo rose and exchanged all his counselors¹³⁴Greek singular σύγκλητος (βουλή) “summoned (council, senate)”, also συγκλητικός “of senatorial rank”, with Aramaic plural ending. Seder Olam, quoted earlier, seems to assume that he stayed in Jerusalem after that.. He returned to his former bad ways. That is what is written: (1K. 13:11) “An old prophet¹³⁵Since prophets are usually experienced people, this one must have been very old. was dwelling at Beth El;” they say that this was he.