Gershom
Gershom was the firstborn son of Moses and Zipporah, born while Moses lived in exile in Midian. His name, meaning "a stranger there," reflects Moses' status as a foreigner. As part of the Levitical line, Gershom's descendants later held roles among the priests and temple servants in Israel.
Biography
- Tribe
- Levi
- Father
- Moses
- Mother
- Zipporah
- Era
- Exodus
- Nationality
- Hebrew
Family
Did You Know?
Gershom's mother Zipporah performed an emergency circumcision on him during the family's return journey to Egypt, touching Moses' feet with the foreskin to avert God's lethal attack and thereby fulfilling the neglected Abrahamic covenant sign in a foreign land.
One of Gershom's descendants, Jonathan, served as priest at the Danite sanctuary that housed Micah's idol, establishing a hereditary Levitical line that persisted in northern Israel's unauthorized worship until the Assyrian exile.
Although born to Israel's greatest prophet, Gershom received no recorded patriarchal blessing or leadership role, illustrating how Moses' own status as an exiled outsider shaped the next generation's marginal position within Israel's tribal structure.
Gershom's descendants formed distinct Levitical clans, including the Shimeites, who were assigned specific duties guarding temple treasuries and gates during King David's reorganization of worship personnel.
The name Gershom, given to commemorate Moses' alien status in Midian, later echoed in the naming of another biblical exile, Ezra's companion of the same name, underscoring recurring themes of displacement among priestly families.
Key Passages
Birth and Naming
Exodus 2:22
Records Gershom's birth to Moses and Zipporah during their time in Midian.
22nd she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.
Return to Egypt
Exodus 4:20
Mentions Moses taking Gershom and his brother on the journey back to Egypt.
20nd Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.
Reunion at Sinai
Exodus 18:3-4
Notes that Zipporah and her two sons, including Gershom, joined Moses at the mountain of God.
3nd her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land:
Levitical Genealogy
1 Chronicles 23:15-16
Lists Gershom among the sons of Moses in the tribal records of Levi.
15he sons of Moses were, Gershom, and Eliezer.