And the Danites set up the graven image; and Jonathan the son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land (וַיַּצִּבוּ לָהֶם אֶת־פֶּסֶל הַפְּסוּל אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה מִיכָה כׇּל־הַיָּמִים אֲשֶׁר בֵּית־אֱלֹהִים בְּשִׁלוֹ בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם) — the Danites establish Micah's molten image as their tribal shrine at Dan. The narrative identifies the Levite-priest as Jonathan, son of Gershom, son of Moses (מֹשֶׁה). The identification of the priest as a descendant of Moses is extraordinary and contradictory: Moses, the lawgiver and founder of Israel's covenantal traditions, is identified as the ancestor of a priest serving an illegitimate shrine containing a forbidden image. This genealogical connection highlights the perversion of Israel's religious life: even the descendants of Moses can participate in violation of God's law. The phrase ``until the day of the captivity of the land'' (עַד־יוֹם גָּלוֹת הָאָרֶץ) suggests that Dan's illegitimate shrine persists until some later judgment or exile. Historically, the shrine at Dan becomes one of Jeroboam I's golden calf sites (1 Kings 12:28-29), indicating that the corruption initiated at Dan continues to mark Israel's religious trajectory.

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