Exodus 2:22
in Exodus 2And she gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And she bare a son, and he called his name Gershom; for he said, I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.
KJV
And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.
⋯
This verse in Exodus 2
Commentary
7 notes on this verseCalled his name Gershom - Literally, a stranger; the reason of which Moses immediately adds, for I have been an Alien in a strange land. The Vulgate, the Septuagint, as it stands in the Complutensian Polyglot, and in several MSS., the Syriac, the Coptic, and the Arabic, add the following words to this verse: And the name of the second he called Eliezer, for the God of my father has been my help, and delivered me from the hand of Pharaoh.
This site's exposition
Moses was content to dwell with the man
on Exodus 2:21-22
The scene closes the way the other two closed, with the traveller taken into the household and a marriage following, as at Genesis 24:51 and Genesis 29:28. The son is called Gershom because Moses says he has been a stranger in a strange land, and stranger is the word of the promise at Genesis 15:13, that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs. The man who will lead Israel out of its sojourning names his own son after his.
This site's exposition
Moses named him Gershom
Moses named his first son Gershom and gave the reason, that he had become a foreigner in a foreign land. The name sounds like the Hebrew for a sojourner there, and it records how Moses felt his exile. Adam Clarke notes that the Vulgate, the Syriac and other ancient versions add the naming of a second son, Eliezer, at this point, while the Hebrew names him at 18:4.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
He that was to do all by divine Revelation must know, what it was to live a life of communion with God, and in this he would be greatly furthered by the retirement of a shepherd's life in Midian. By the former he was prepared to rule in Jeshurun, but by the latter he was prepared to converse with God in Mount Horeb.
And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom,....
By the former he was prepared to rule in Jeshurun, but by the latter he was prepared to converse with God in Mount Horeb, near which mount he had spent much of his time. Those that know what it is to be alone with God in holy exercises are acquainted with better delights than ever Moses tasted in the court of Pharaoh.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Gershom - The first syllable “Ger” is common to Hebrew and Egyptian, and means “sojourner.” The second syllable “Shom” answers exactly to the Coptic “Shemmo,” which means “a foreign or strange land.”
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתֵּ֣לֶד | vateled | and she bore | H3205 → | 496 times |
| בֵּ֔ן | ben | a son | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וַיִּקְרָ֥א | vaiyikra' | and he called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שְׁמ֖וֹ | shemo | name his | H8034 → | 864 times |
| גֵּרְשֹׁ֑ם | gereshom | Gershom | H1647 → | |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אָמַ֔ר | ʾamar | he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| גֵּ֣ר | ger | a sojourner | H1616 → | 92 times |
| הָיִ֔יתִי | hayiti | I have become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בְּאֶ֖רֶץ | beeretz | in a land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| נָכְרִיָּֽה׃ פ | nakheriyah | foreign | H5237 → | 45 times |
וַתֵּ֣לֶדand she bore
vateledH3205 →496 times
בֵּ֔ןa son
benH1121 →4930 times
וַיִּקְרָ֥אand he called
vaiyikra'H7121 →733 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שְׁמ֖וֹname his
shemoH8034 →864 times
גֵּרְשֹׁ֑םGershom
gereshomH1647 →
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
אָמַ֔רhe said
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
גֵּ֣רa sojourner
gerH1616 →92 times
הָיִ֔יתִיI have become
hayitiH1961 →3559 times
בְּאֶ֖רֶץin a land
beeretzH776 →2504 times
נָכְרִיָּֽה׃ פforeign
nakheriyahH5237 →45 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 22:21You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
it leads to
- Exodus 23:9
Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
- Deuteronomy 10:19
So you also must love the foreigner, since you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
- Leviticus 19:33
When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him.
- Exodus 23:9
Through
1 Chronicles 29:15For we are foreigners and strangers in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.
it leads to
- Psalms 102:11
My days are like lengthening shadows, and I wither away like grass.
- Psalms 144:4
Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.
- Leviticus 25:23
The land must not be sold permanently, because it is Mine, and you are but foreigners and residents with Me.
- James 4:14
You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
- Job 14:2
Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.
- Psalms 102:11
Where this verse is studied
About Exodus
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.