a Jonathan son of Gershom as being a priest, and although the Masoretic Text seems to avoid the implication that non-Aaronim could be priests by describing this particular Gershom as a son of Manasseh (), this appears to have been distorted; the letter nun () appears here in superscript, suggesting that the text originally described this Gershom as the one that was a son of Moses (). The rabbinic text known as the Seder Olam has Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses when it quotes this verse. The priestly/prophetic aspect remains open to discussion, God explicitly chose Aaron and his direct sons for the Tabernacle and Temple services in remembrance of Aaron's servitude to Moses all along. Aaron served his brother Moses with much devotion being metaphorically called "his prophet" from the very beginning. The King and the Priest/Prophet are the two head leaders in ancient hierarchy; from this viewpoint, the belief of priesthood being open to anyone appears unsupported. The Bible recounts very strict lineage rules for the priests, aka "the descendants of Aaron", but certain deviations from the concept are mentioned – for instance, prophets such as Samuel or Elijah performed priestly-like services in special cases. As mentioned above, it is probable that Gershom's lineage would have compelled him into the priesthood, yet it appears he performed no regular priestly services of note. In other related writings it is mentioned that God ordered Moses to pass authority unto Joshua instead of his own two stubborn sons, Gershom and Eliezer. See also Shamgar References Book of Exodus people Moses