(Moses’ first son was named Gershom, for Moses had said when the boy was born, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.”
Parallel translations
- WEB and her two sons. The name of one son was Gershom, for Moses said, “I have lived as a foreigner in a foreign land”.
- KJV And her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land:
- BSB along with her two sons. One son was named Gershom, for Moses had said, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.”
- NKJV with her two sons, of whom the name of one was Gershom (for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land”)
- NASB and her two sons, one of whom was named Gershom, for Moses said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jethro also brought Moses' two sons; the first, Gershom, was named for Moses' life as a foreigner in a foreign land. The name recalls Moses' years of exile.
Overview
Gershom's name memorializes Moses' sojourn in Midian, where he lived as a stranger far from his people. The naming reflects Moses' awareness of God's providence even in displacement. Such pilgrim language echoes throughout Scripture, where God's people live as sojourners awaiting a homeland (Heb. 11:13).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Exod 2:22She bore a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, “I have lived as a foreigner in a foreign land.”
- Acts 7:29Moses fled at this saying, and became a stranger in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.
- Heb 11:13These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and embraced them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
- Exod 4:20Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. Moses took God’s rod in his hand.
- Ps 39:12“Hear my prayer, Yahweh, and give ear to my cry. Don’t be silent at my tears. For I am a stranger with you, a foreigner, as all my fathers were.
- 1 Pet 2:11Beloved, I beg you as foreigners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 18:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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