Bible Dictionary
Gershom
Gershom is the name of several biblical persons, especially Moses’ firstborn son, born to Zipporah in Midian. The name is also used for a son of Levi and a descendant of Phinehas.
Definition
Gershom is the name of several biblical persons. Most notably, it was the name of Moses’ firstborn son by Zipporah. The name is associated with expulsion, exile, or sojourning in a foreign land.
Biblical Usage
Moses’ son Gershom was circumcised by Zipporah on the journey toward Egypt and remained for a time under Jethro’s care. The name also belongs to a son of Levi, a descendant of Phinehas who returned with Ezra, and a person identified in Judges as a descendant of Moses in the Revised Version.
Historical Background
Gershom’s descendants were counted among the tribes of Levi. The name is explained in connection with Moses’ experience as a sojourner in a foreign land.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Expulsion. (1.) The eldest son of Levi (1 Chr. 6:16, 17, 20, 43, 62, 71; 15:7)=GERSHON (q.v.). (2.) The elder of the two sons of Moses born to him in Midian (Ex. 2:22; 18:3). On his way to Egypt with his family, in obedience to the command of the Lord, Moses was attacked by a sudden and dangerous illness (4:24-26), which Zipporah his wife believed to have been sent because he had neglected to circumcise his son. She accordingly took a “sharp stone” and circumcised her son Gershom, saying, “Surely a bloody husband art thou to me”, i.e., by the blood of her child she had, as it were, purchased her husband, had won him back again. (3.) A descendant of Phinehas who returned with Ezra from Babylon (Ezra 8:2). (4.) The son of Manasseh (Judg. 18:30), in R.V. “of Moses.”
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(a stranger or exile).
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>gur'-shom (gereshom, from garash, "to cast out"; explained, however, in Ex 2:22 and 18:3 as from gur, "For he said, I have been a sojourner in a foreign land"):</p><p>(1) Firstborn son of Moses and Zipporah. The only details of his life contained in the Pentateuch are the account of his circumcision (Ex 4:25), and his remaining under the care of Jethro, while Moses was in Egypt leading the Exodus. His descendants were numbered among the tribes of Levi (1Ch 23:14). One of them apparently was the Jonathan who officiated as priest of the idolatrous sanctuary at Dan, and whose descendants held the office until the captivity. The Massoretic Text inserts a suspended nun, "n," in the name of Moses (mosheh), causing it to be lead Manasseh, for the purpose, according to tradition, of disguising the name out of respect for the revered Lawgiver. Another descendant described as a "son" was Shebuel, a ruler over the treasuries of David.</p><p>(2) A son of Levi, so called in 1Ch 6:16,17,20,43,12,71 (Hebrew 1,2,5,28,47,56); 15:7; elsewhere GERSHON (which see).</p><p>(3) A descendant of Phinehas, the head of a father's house, who journeyed with Ezra from Babylon to Jerusalem in the reign of Artaxerxes (Ezr 8:2).</p><p>Ella Davis Isaacs</p>