Exodus 18:3

3 and her two sons, of whom the name of the one [is] Gershom, for he said, `a sojourner I have been in a strange land:'

Exodus 18:3 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 18:3

And her two sons
Those also Jethro took along with him and his daughter:

of which the name of the one was Gershom;
which seems to be his firstborn, ( Exodus 2:22 ) , his name signifies a desolate stranger, as some, or, "there I was a stranger": the reason of which name follows agreeably thereunto:

for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land;
meaning, not the land of Egypt, where he was born, and had lived forty years; but in the land of Midian, where he was when this son of his was born; and which name was given him partly to keep up the memory of his flight to Midian, and partly to instruct his son, that Midian, though his native place, was not his proper country where he was to dwell, but another, even the land of Canaan.

Exodus 18:3 In-Context

1 And Jethro priest of Midian, father-in-law of Moses, heareth all that God hath done for Moses, and for Israel his people, that Jehovah hath brought out Israel from Egypt,

2 and Jethro, father-in-law of Moses, taketh Zipporah, wife of Moses, besides her parents,

3 and her two sons, of whom the name of the one [is] Gershom, for he said, `a sojourner I have been in a strange land:'

4 and the name of the other [is] Eliezer, for, `the God of my father [is] for my help, and doth deliver me from the sword of Pharaoh.'

5 And Jethro, father-in-law of Moses, cometh, and his sons, and his wife, unto Moses, unto the wilderness where he is encamping -- the mount of God;