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New page: '''Gershom''' (Hebrew '''גֵּרְשֹׁ֑ם''', foreigner) (ca. 2474 AM–2553 AM) (ca. 1531-1452 BC) was the first named son of Moses. == Early life == He was born in [[Mid...
'''Gershom''' ([[Hebrew]] '''גֵּרְשֹׁ֑ם''', foreigner) (ca. 2474 AM–2553 AM) (ca. 1531-1452 BC) was the first named son of [[Moses]].
== Early life ==
He was born in [[Midian]]ite country, the son of [[Moses]] and [[Zipporah]]. Moses named him Gershom, which means "foreigner," because, he said, "I have been a stranger in a strange land."<ref name=Blank>Blank, Wayne, "[http://www.keyway.ca/htm2002/20020310.htm Gershom and Eliezer]," ''Daily Bible Study'', n.d. Accessed December 11, 2008.</ref><ref name=Konig>Konig, George, "[http://www.aboutbibleprophecy.com/p181.htm Gershom]," AboutBibleProphecy, n.d. Accessed December 11, 2008.</ref> ({{Bible ref|book=Exodus|chap=2|verses=22}})
For about thirty-nine years he grew up in Midianite country. Then in 2513 AM (1491 BC) his father and mother took him and his younger brother [[Eliezer (son of Moses)|Eliezer]] to [[Egypt]], after Moses received a call from [[God]] to deliver the people of [[Israel]] out of slavery. On the way, God was on the point of killing Moses, but Zipporah took a flint and circumcised Gershom with it.<ref name=Blank/><ref name=Jones>Jones, Floyd N., ''The Chronology of the Old Testament'', Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2004, p. 216</ref> ({{Bible ref|book=Exodus|chap=5|verses=24-26}})
Some sources, including [[James Ussher]], suggest that Eliezer, not Gershom, was the boy who had to undergo the circumcision.<ref name=Ussher>James Ussher, ''The Annals of the World'', Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2003, pgh. 175.</ref> All sources agree that Moses sent Zipporah and his two sons back to Zipporah's father [[Jethro]] before the [[Exodus of Israel]] actually took place.<ref name=Ussher/> They rejoined Moses after the Exodus.<ref name=Blank/> ({{Bible ref|book=Exodus|chap=18|verses=1-5}})
== Death ==
The [[Bible]] does not give a specific date for the death of Gershom. But the Bible plainly says that every Israelite who was of adult age (thirty years for a [[Levi (tribe)|Levite]] and twenty for a member of any other tribe) died before the invasion of [[Canaan (land)|Canaan]], except [[Joshua]] and [[Caleb]]. Therefore Gershom died on or before the year 2553 AM (1451 BC).
== Lineage ==
In the period between the death of [[Joshua]] and the [[Judge]]ship of [[Othniel]], a certain Levite named [[Jonathan (son of Gershom)|Jonathan]] hired himself out to be an illicit priest, first to a man named Micah and then to the [[Dan (tribe)|Danites]]. The Bible calls him Jonathan, son of Gershom, son of Manasseh. ({{Bible ref|book=Judges|chap=18|verses=30}}) Modern Biblical scholars identify this "Manasseh" as Moses, on account of the spelling of the two names. Moses is spelled '''מֹשֶׁה''' in Hebrew, and Manasseh is spelled '''מְנַשֶּׁ֜ה'''. The difference in the two names is a single letter ''nun'' ('''נַ'''). In the original manuscripts, this ''nun'' is suspended above the line and inserted between the ''mem'' and the ''shin''. This supports the idea that the Hebrew scribes, mortified that Moses should have had so unworthy a grandson, inserted the extra letter to disguise Jonathan's actual patrimony.<ref name=Jones2>Jones, ''op. cit.'', p. 80</ref>
If this theory is correct, then the scribes might have had an additional motive. The name Manasseh connotes forgetfulness. Perhaps the scribes wanted people to ''forget'' that Moses had a grandson who disgraced his name.
== In fiction ==
Gershom appears as a minor character in two [[motion picture]] projects and one [[television]] project depicting the life and career of [[Moses]]. In these projects he appears as a child varying in age from infancy to five years old. The two motion picture projects both compress the time that Moses spent in exile. The television project implies that Moses did not actually conceive Gershom until shortly before his return to Egypt.
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== See also ==
* [[Israel]]
{{nb Levi}}
[[Category:Biblical Persons]]
[[Category:Old Testament]]
[[Category:Jewish People]]
== Early life ==
He was born in [[Midian]]ite country, the son of [[Moses]] and [[Zipporah]]. Moses named him Gershom, which means "foreigner," because, he said, "I have been a stranger in a strange land."<ref name=Blank>Blank, Wayne, "[http://www.keyway.ca/htm2002/20020310.htm Gershom and Eliezer]," ''Daily Bible Study'', n.d. Accessed December 11, 2008.</ref><ref name=Konig>Konig, George, "[http://www.aboutbibleprophecy.com/p181.htm Gershom]," AboutBibleProphecy, n.d. Accessed December 11, 2008.</ref> ({{Bible ref|book=Exodus|chap=2|verses=22}})
For about thirty-nine years he grew up in Midianite country. Then in 2513 AM (1491 BC) his father and mother took him and his younger brother [[Eliezer (son of Moses)|Eliezer]] to [[Egypt]], after Moses received a call from [[God]] to deliver the people of [[Israel]] out of slavery. On the way, God was on the point of killing Moses, but Zipporah took a flint and circumcised Gershom with it.<ref name=Blank/><ref name=Jones>Jones, Floyd N., ''The Chronology of the Old Testament'', Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2004, p. 216</ref> ({{Bible ref|book=Exodus|chap=5|verses=24-26}})
Some sources, including [[James Ussher]], suggest that Eliezer, not Gershom, was the boy who had to undergo the circumcision.<ref name=Ussher>James Ussher, ''The Annals of the World'', Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2003, pgh. 175.</ref> All sources agree that Moses sent Zipporah and his two sons back to Zipporah's father [[Jethro]] before the [[Exodus of Israel]] actually took place.<ref name=Ussher/> They rejoined Moses after the Exodus.<ref name=Blank/> ({{Bible ref|book=Exodus|chap=18|verses=1-5}})
== Death ==
The [[Bible]] does not give a specific date for the death of Gershom. But the Bible plainly says that every Israelite who was of adult age (thirty years for a [[Levi (tribe)|Levite]] and twenty for a member of any other tribe) died before the invasion of [[Canaan (land)|Canaan]], except [[Joshua]] and [[Caleb]]. Therefore Gershom died on or before the year 2553 AM (1451 BC).
== Lineage ==
In the period between the death of [[Joshua]] and the [[Judge]]ship of [[Othniel]], a certain Levite named [[Jonathan (son of Gershom)|Jonathan]] hired himself out to be an illicit priest, first to a man named Micah and then to the [[Dan (tribe)|Danites]]. The Bible calls him Jonathan, son of Gershom, son of Manasseh. ({{Bible ref|book=Judges|chap=18|verses=30}}) Modern Biblical scholars identify this "Manasseh" as Moses, on account of the spelling of the two names. Moses is spelled '''מֹשֶׁה''' in Hebrew, and Manasseh is spelled '''מְנַשֶּׁ֜ה'''. The difference in the two names is a single letter ''nun'' ('''נַ'''). In the original manuscripts, this ''nun'' is suspended above the line and inserted between the ''mem'' and the ''shin''. This supports the idea that the Hebrew scribes, mortified that Moses should have had so unworthy a grandson, inserted the extra letter to disguise Jonathan's actual patrimony.<ref name=Jones2>Jones, ''op. cit.'', p. 80</ref>
If this theory is correct, then the scribes might have had an additional motive. The name Manasseh connotes forgetfulness. Perhaps the scribes wanted people to ''forget'' that Moses had a grandson who disgraced his name.
== In fiction ==
Gershom appears as a minor character in two [[motion picture]] projects and one [[television]] project depicting the life and career of [[Moses]]. In these projects he appears as a child varying in age from infancy to five years old. The two motion picture projects both compress the time that Moses spent in exile. The television project implies that Moses did not actually conceive Gershom until shortly before his return to Egypt.
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== See also ==
* [[Israel]]
{{nb Levi}}
[[Category:Biblical Persons]]
[[Category:Old Testament]]
[[Category:Jewish People]]