Endnote 3 – Did King Solomon Violate the Second Commandment?

According to the King James Version, the name of the priest is Jonathan, son of Gershom, son of Menasseh. Other versions, such as the Revised Standard Version and the New English Bible, record him as Jonathan, son of Gershom, son of Moses. A look at the Hebrew text reveals the reason for the discrepancy. The priest’s grandfather’s name is written mem-nun-shin-heh, i.e. Menasseh, but the nun is slightly raised. If it is removed, what remains is the name Moshe (Moses). It seems as if the original reading was Moshe, but out of respect for the great founder of Israelite religion, the ancestry of the wayward priest was effaced by the addition of the nun.