Jonathan son of Gershom יהונתן בן גרשם
the Levite who became priest at the Danite idol
"And the children of Dan set up the graven image, and Jonathan son of Gershom son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land."
In the word "Manasseh" the letter nun stands raised above the line—so it is written in the scroll and so it is printed. Without it the name reads "Moses." The Talmud asks outright: is he the son of Manasseh? He is the son of Moses!—and answers: because he acted as Manasseh acted, Scripture attached him to Manasseh (Bava Batra 109b).
Earlier, in chapter seventeen, he is the nameless "young Levite from Bethlehem" whom Micah hires for ten pieces of silver a year. The name is given only at the end, when the service has passed to a whole tribe and become hereditary.
The window is taken from Seder Olam Rabbah 12 together with Micah's: he has no years of his own.
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Tanakh
- Shoftim 18:30 — "Jonathan son of Gershom… he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan"
- Shoftim 17:7–13 — the Levite from Bethlehem is hired into Micah's house
Chazal: Mishnah, Talmud, midrash, Zohar
- Seder Olam Rabbah 12 — this account is in the days of Cushan-Rishathaim
- Bava Batra 109b — “is he the son of Manasseh? He is the son of Moses!” and the answer
Basis: stated in the Tanakh.