Exodus 18:3

3 and her ¹two sons, of whom one was named Gershom, for Moses said, "I have been ²a sojourner in a foreign 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 Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt.

2 Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took Moses' wife Zipporah, after he had sent her away,

3 and her two sons, of whom one was named Gershom, for Moses said, "I have been a sojourner in a foreign land."

4 The other was named Eliezer, for he said, "The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh."

5 Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was camped, at the mount of God.

Cross References

• 1. Exodus 2:22; Exodus 4:20; Acts 7:29
• 2. Exodus 2:22

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "the name of the one was"
• [b]. Heb "ger"