Gershom

Who is Gershom?

According to the Bible, Gershom was the firstborn son of Moses and Zipporah. The name appears to mean a sojourner there, which the text argues was a reference to Moses' flight from Egypt. Biblical scholars regard the name as being essentially the same as Gershom and it is Gershomm rather than Gershomn who is sometimes listed by the Book of Chronicles as a founder of one of the principal Levite factions. Textual scholars attribute the description of Gershom to a different source text to the genealogy involving Gershom.

The passage in Exodus concerning Moses and Zipporah reaching an inn contains four of the most ambiguous and awkward sentences in Biblical text. The text appears to suggest that something, possibly God or an angel, attacks either Gershom or Moses, until a circumcision is carried out by Zipporah on whichever of the two men was being attacked.

The later Books of Chronicles identify Shebuel as a "son" of Gershom, though this is anachronistic for a literal interpretation of the bible because Shebuel is described as living in the time of King David. The Hebrew word for son can also mean a descendant; for example even remote descendants of King David are in many instances called "Sons of David" in the original Hebrew.