Exodus 18:3

3 and her two sons. One son was named Gershom,^[a] for Moses said, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land”;

Exodus 18:3 in Other Translations

3 And her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land:

3 along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (for he said, "I have been a sojourner in a foreign land"),

3 (Moses’ first son was named Gershom, for Moses had said when the boy was born, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.”

3 and her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (Sojourner) for he had said, "I'm a sojourner in a foreign land";

3 along with her two sons, one of whom was named Gershom (because Moses had said, "I have been a stranger 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 and father-in-law of Moses, heard of everything God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, and how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt.

2 After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro received her

3 and her two sons. One son was named Gershom, for Moses said, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land”;

4 and the other was named Eliezer, for he said, “My father’s God was my helper; he saved me from the sword of Pharaoh.”

5 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, together with Moses’ sons and wife, came to him in the wilderness, where he was camped near the mountain of God.

Cross References

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

Footnotes

• [a]. "Gershom" sounds like the Hebrew for "a foreigner there."