And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.
Parallel translations
- WEB She bore a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, “I have lived as a foreigner in a foreign land.”
- BSB And she gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.”
- NKJV And she bore him a son. He called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land.”
- NASB Then she gave birth to a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land.”
- NLT Later she gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, for he explained, “I have been a foreigner 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
Zipporah bears a son named Gershom, for Moses says he has been a foreigner in a foreign land. The name marks Moses' sense of exile.
Overview
Gershom, sounding like "a stranger there," captures Moses' displaced condition far from his people. The name reflects the pilgrim identity shared by the patriarchs, who confessed they were strangers on the earth. It quietly reminds believers that God's people often live as sojourners awaiting their true home.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Acts 7:29Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.
- Heb 11:13–14These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
- Exod 22:21Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
- Ps 119:19I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.
- Ps 39:12Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.
- 1 Chr 29:15For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.
- 1 Chr 16:20And when they went from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people;
- Exod 18:3–4And her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land:
- 1 Chr 23:14–17Now concerning Moses the man of God, his sons were named of the tribe of Levi.
- Exod 2:10And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.
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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 2:22 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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