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Meaning, origin and etymology of the name Gershom


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Gershom Gershom / Gershom

There are four Gershoms mentioned in the Bible. A son of Levi who is called Gershom in 1 Chr 6:16 is called Gershon in Gen 46:11. He is the founder of the Gershonites (Num 3:21). Then there is Gershom, the first-born son of Moses and Zipporah, and brother of Eliezer (Ex 2:22), a false priest in service of some Danites (Judg 18:30) and a man among the Babylonian returnees (Ezr 8:2).

"Then she gave birth to a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, 'I have been a ger in a foreign land.'" (Ex 2:22)

If we assume that the writer of Ex 2:22 wants to indicate that the name Gershom is based on ger, then we should conclude that the name Gershom consists of two segments. The first segment comes from the verb gur (gur 330) meaning to abide, gather, dwell, be a stranger. Derivative ger (ger 330a) means alien, sojourner, stranger.
Names that may also contain the verb gur (gur 330) are Gerar and Hagar.

The second part of the name Gershom may either be sham (sham 2404) meaning there, or it is sham (shem 2405) means name. This word is actually is the name Shem, and is also used in the name Samuel.

The name Gershom may mean Stranger There, or Stranger Is His Name.

On the other hand, the writer of Ex 2:22 merely says that the boy was named such-and-such because his father was a so-and-so. There is no law that demands that the such-and-such should be etymologically akin the so-and-so. For all we know Moses might have been expressing his gladness for having finally settled, or grief for having been expelled from his familiar homeland.

A verb that may have been on Moses' mind is garash (garash 388), cast up, drive out or away, divorce, expel, etc. TWOTOT reports, "The root denotes an effective separation between persons or groups, expulsion." This way the name Gershom would mean Exile (NOBSE).

Famous cases of expulsion are Adam and Eve, Cain, and David on the run for Saul. A beautiful derivation of this verb is the noun garash (geresh 388a), something yielded or put forth. This noun is used only once, in Deut 33:14, where it denotes produce which is 'thrust' up out of the ground (lit:) by the moons.



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