Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 2:22
And she bore [him] a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.
22. Gershom ] The name might conceivably be derived from , and mean expulsion. The writer, however, thinking, as in v. 10, of an assonance, rather than of an etymology, explains it as though it were equivalent to gr shm, ‘a sojourner there.’ It was through a descendant of this Gershom that the priests of Dan claimed in later days descent from Moses (Jdg 18:30).
in a foreign land ] This was the meaning of ‘strange’ (from Lat. extraneus), when the AV. was made in 1611; and the old rendering has been often retained in RV. But ‘strange’ has changed its meaning now, and is no longer a sufficiently clear and unambiguous rendering of the Heb. For other cases of ‘strange’ in the same now obsolete sense of ‘foreign,’ see Exo 21:8 ‘a strange people’; 1Ki 11:1 ; 1Ki 11:8, Ezr 10:2; Ezr 10:10 al. ‘ strange women or wives’; Gen 35:2; Gen 35:4, Psa 81:9 b al. ‘ strange gods’; Psa 137:4 ‘a strange land,’ as here. Cf. the passage in the Homilies (cited by Aldis Wright), which speaks of ‘a certain strange philosopher,’ meaning, not an eccentric one, but a foreign one. ‘Stranger’ also often occurs in EVV. in the same sense (see on ch. Exo 12:43). Comp. the writer’s note on Mal 2:11 in the Century Bible; and see also DB. s.v.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Gershom – The first syllable Ger is common to Hebrew and Egyptian, and means sojourner. The second syllable Shom answers exactly to the Coptic Shemmo, which means a foreign or strange land.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 22. Called his name Gershom] Literally, a stranger; the reason of which Moses immediately adds, for I have been an ALIEN in a strange land.
The Vulgate, the Septuagint, as it stands in the Complutensian Polyglot, and in several MSS., the Syriac, the Coptic, and the Arabic, add the following words to this verse: And the name of the second he called Eliezer, for the God of my father has been my help, and delivered me from the hand of Pharaoh. These words are found in Ex 18:4, but they are certainly necessary here, for it is very likely that these two sons were born within a short space of each other; for in Ex 4:20, it is said, Moses took his wife and his SONS, by which it is plain that he had both Gershom and Eliezer at that time. Houbigant introduces this addition in his Latin version, and contends that this is its most proper place. Notwithstanding the authority of the above versions, the clause is found in no copy, printed or MS., of the Hebrew text.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
22. He called his name Gershom. I do not approve of their view who think this was a name of congratulation to alleviate the pain of banishment, but rather imagine that Moses gave this name to his son, as well to remind himself as his father-in-law and his wife, that he sought a country elsewhere, and that there he was but a sojourner. Nor is there any objection in his promise to his father-in-law to remain, because he did not so bind himself as to shake off or break the yoke of his divine vocation. It was only a provision to this effect, that Moses should not lightly forsake the home where he was so kindly welcomed. It is not credible that he was silent as to the cause of his exile: in the first place, to avert the suspicion of wrong-doing, and in witness of his innocence; and secondly, that he might proclaim the peculiar favor with which God had honored the people of Israel. Wherefore, in the name of his son, he would set before himself an unceasing memorial, by which he might be kept, alive to the hope of redemption; for he declares that land, in which he had found apparently a peaceful resting-place, and a pleasant home, to be “strange” to him. Nor does he compare Midian with Egypt, for he was but a sojourner in either land; but wherever he may dwell, he declares himself a stranger, until he should obtain the inheritance which God has promised. And, indeed, it would have been absurd to call that land, where he had found a settled home, a foreign land, in reference to Egypt, especially since the Apostle bears testimony that he had left that land under the influence of faith. (Heb 11:27.) In fine, we see that he sought for a means of cherishing and at the same time of testifying his faith, when he professed that he was a sojourner in a foreign land.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(22) Gershom.Almost certainly from ger, a stranger, and shm, there. So Jerome, who translates it advena ibi. (Comp. Josephus and the LXX., who write the name Gersam.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Gershom means a stranger there.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 2:22 And she bare [him] a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.
Ver. 22. I have been a stranger. ] So we are all, while here. Our own place is paradise; haste to it.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
he. Many codices and a special reading called sevir (App-34), read “she”
Gershom. Hebrew “a stranger here”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Gershom: i.e. a stranger here, 1Ch 23:14-17
for he said: Exo 2:10, Exo 18:3, Exo 22:21, 1Ch 16:20, 1Ch 29:15, Psa 39:12, Psa 119:19, Act 7:29, Heb 11:13, Heb 11:14
Reciprocal: 1Sa 1:20 – when the time was come about 1Ch 6:43 – Gershom 1Ch 6:62 – Gershom 1Ch 23:15 – Gershom
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 2:22. Gershom That is, A stranger there. Now this settlement of Moses in Midian was designed by Providence to shelter him for the present; God will find hiding-places for his people in the day of their distress. It was also designed to prepare him for the services he was to be called to. His manner of life in Midian, where he kept the flock of his father-in-law, would inure him to hardship and fatigue, and to contemplation and devotion. Egypt accomplished him for a scholar, a gentleman, a statesman, a soldier; all which accomplishments would be afterward of use to him; but yet lacked he one thing, in which the court of Egypt could not befriend him. He who was to do all by divine revelation, must know what it was to live a life of communion with God, and in this he would be greatly furthered by the retirement of a shepherds life in Midian. By the former he was prepared to rule in Jeshurun, but by the latter he was prepared to converse with God in mount Horeb. Those that know what it is to be alone with God, are acquainted with better delights than ever Moses tasted in the court of Pharaoh.