JONATHAN (jOn'a-than), (Heb. yo-naw Mown', God-given).
/. A Levite descended from Gershom, the son of Moses (Judg. xviii :30). It is, indeed, said, in our common copies, that the Gershom from whom this Jonathan sprang was 'the son of Manasseh ;' but some supposed that in the name of Moses (mo-seh') the single letter ) has been inter polated changing it into Manasseh.
The history of this Jonathan is involved in the narrative which occupies Judges xvii, xviii ; and is one of the two accounts which form a sort of ap pendix to that book. The events themselves ap pear 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.
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 Eph raim 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 MicAx.) This person engaged Jonathan as his priest for his food, a yearly suit of clothes, and ten shekels (twenty-five shillings, about $6.00), a year in money. Here ht- 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 while go ing 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 de scendants continued to be priests of the Danites in the town of Laish, the name of which they changed to Dan.
There is no reason to suppose that this estab lishment, whether in the hands of Micah or of the Danites, involved an apostasy from Jehovah. It appears rather to have been an attempt to local ize or domesticate his presence under those sym bols and forms of service which were common among the neighboring nations but were forbidden to the Hebrews. The offense here was two-fold, —the establishment of a sacred ritual different from the only one which the law recognized, 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 eventually merged in that of the golden calf, which Jeroboam set up in this place, his choice of which may possibly have. been determined by its being already in possession of 'a house of gods.' 2. Eldest Son of Saul, king of Israel, and con sequently heir apparent of the throne which David was destined to occupy (r Sam. xiv :8; Chron. viii:33; ix:39). The war with the Philistines, which occupied the early part of his father's reign, afforded Jonathan more than one opportunity of displaying the chivalrous valor and the princely qualities with which he- was endowed. His ex ploit in surprising the Philistine garrison at Mich mash, attended only by his armor-bearer, is one of the most daring which history or even romance records (I Sam. xiv :1-14). His father came to follow up this victory, and in the ensuing pursuit of the Philistines, Jonathan, spent with fatigue and hunger, refreshed himself with some wild honey which he found in a wood through which he passed. He knew not that his father had rashly vowed to put to death any one who touched a morsel of food before night. When the fact transpired, Saul felt himself bound to execute his vow even upon his gallant son ; but the people, with whom the young prince was a great favorite, interposed (I Sam. xiv :16-52).