Exodus 2:22

22 Later she gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, for he explained, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.”

Exodus 2:22 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 2:22

And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom
Which signifies a "desolate stranger"; partly on his own account, he being in a foreign country, a stranger and sojourner; but not by way of complaint, but rather of thankfulness to God for providing so well for him in it; and partly on his son's account, that when he came to years of maturity and knowledge, he might learn, and in which Moses no doubt instructed him, that he was not to look upon Midian as his proper country, but that he was to be heir of the land of Canaan, and which he might be reminded of by his name:

for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land;
so Midian was to him, who was born in Egypt, and being an Hebrew, was entitled to the land of Canaan; this looks as if he had been at this time some years in Midian.

Exodus 2:22 In-Context

20 “Then where is he?” their father asked. “Why did you leave him there? Invite him to come and eat with us.”

21 Moses accepted the invitation, and he settled there with him. In time, Reuel gave Moses his daughter Zipporah to be his wife.

22 Later she gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, for he explained, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.”

23 Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God.

24 God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Footnotes

• [a]. Gershom sounds like a Hebrew term that means “a foreigner there.”