Exodus 2:22

Exodus 2:22 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.
• New International Version (NIV)Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, "I have been a sojourner in a foreign land."
• New King James Version (NKJV)And she bore him a son. He called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land.”

Context of Exodus 2:22

20Reuel said to his daughters, ‘So where is the man? You should not have left him there. Ask him to come here so that he can eat a meal with us.’ 21Moses agreed to stay with Reuel. Reuel gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses as his wife. Later, Zipporah gave birth to a son for Moses. Moses gave the boy the name ‘Gershom’. He called him that because he said, ‘I am living as a stranger in a foreign country.’ 23After a long time had passed, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites were still slaves of the Egyptians. That made them very sad and they complained loudly. God heard them when they cried for help. 24He thought about his promise to take care of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants.

Exodus 2:22 word by word

וַתֵּ֣לֶד בֵּ֔ן וַיִּקְרָ֥א אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ גֵּרְשֹׁ֑ם כִּ֣י אָמַ֔ר גֵּ֣ר הָיִ֔יתִי בְּאֶ֖רֶץ נָכְרִיָּֽה׃ פRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And she bareיָלַדyâlad · to begetH3205
• a sonבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
• and he calledקָרָאqârâ' · to call: call byH7121
• his nameשֵׁםshêm · nameH8034
• Gershomגֵּרְשֹׁםgêreshôm · GershomH1647
• for he saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• I have been a strangerגֵּרgêr gêyr · sojournerH1616
• in a strangeנׇכְרִיnokrîy · foreignH5237
• landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776

Cross-references for Exodus 2:22

• 1 Chronicles 23:14The tribe of Levi included the sons of Moses, God's servant.
• Exodus 2:10When the baby was older, his mother took him to Pharaoh's daughter. He now became her son. She gave him the name ‘Moses’. She said, ‘I will call him Moses because I pulled him out of the water.’
• Exodus 18:3Moses' older son was called Gershom. Moses said about him, ‘I have become a stranger in a foreign country.’
• Exodus 22:21Never be cruel to a foreign person or give them trouble. Remember that you yourselves lived in Egypt as foreigners.
• 1 Chronicles 16:20They travelled among different nations and different kingdoms.
• 1 Chronicles 29:15We are like strangers and foreign people who live in your world. Our ancestors also lived in that way. We live here only for a short time and then we disappear, like a shadow. We know that we will die one day.
• Psalms 39:12Lord, please hear my prayer. Listen to me when I call to you for help. Do not turn away from me when I weep. I need your help, like a foreign person who lives away from his home. I live on earth as a stranger, like all my ancestors did.
• Psalms 119:19I live like a stranger here on the earth. Please do not hide your commands from me.
• Acts 7:29When Moses heard this, he decided to run away. He went to the land of Midian and he lived there. He married a wife and they had two sons.
• Hebrews 11:13All these people continued to believe God until they died. But they did not receive all the things that God had promised to give them. They were like people who saw those things far away. That made them happy. These people understood that they lived as strangers and travellers on the earth.

Commentaries on Exodus 2:22

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 22Called 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…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 22Gershom - 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.”Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-22Verses 16-22 Moses found shelter in Midian. He was ready to help Reuel's daughters to water their flocks, although bred in learning and at court. Moses loved to be doing justice, and to act in defence of such as he saw injured, which every man ought to do, as far as it is in his power. He loved to be doing good; wherever the providence of God casts us, we should desire and try to be useful; and when we cannot do the good we would, we must be ready to do…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16-25This passage shows the concern Moses felt for the oppressed. It describes his move to a new land (2:18–22). He married, had a child, and lived there for 40 years (Acts 7:30). From a human perspective, rescuing the Israelites through Moses seemed impossible. But what God's perspective is what matters. The end of this section tells us that God had not forgotten his people (Exodus 2:23–25). He was only waiting for the right time to act (2:25).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 16-2216-22. the priest of Midian--or, "prince of Midian." As the officers were usually conjoined, he was the ruler also of the people called Cushites or Ethiopians, and like many other chiefs of pastoral people in that early age, he still retained the faith and worship of the true God. seven daughters--were shepherdesses to whom Moses was favorably introduced by an act of courtesy and courage in protecting them from the rude shepherds of some neighboring tribe…Read the comment

Topics related to Exodus 2:22

• Gershom
• Jethro
• Moses
• Zipporah

In the dictionaries

• Gershom
• Herself
• Son
• Soon
• Exodus, the Book of
• Genesis
• Leviticus
• Moses
• Proselyte
• Zipporah

Commentaries on Exodus 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings