Gershom

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In the Bible, Gershom (גֵּרְשֹׁם "a stranger there," Standard Hebrew Gerəšom, Tiberian Hebrew Gērəšōm) was the firstborn son of Moses and Zipporah (Exodus 2:22). The text explains the name as "a stranger there" (גר שם ger sham), referring to Moses' flight from Egypt. The passage in Exodus concerning Moses and Zipporah reaching an inn, contains the four most difficult sentences in Biblical text. One possible interpretation is that something (perhaps God, perhaps an agent of God) tries to kill Gershom, until Zipporah carries out a circumcision. Other interpretations suggest that it is Moses who is attacked. Either way, Zipporah's actions save Moses from God's wrath (Exodus 4:24-26).

A later biblical tradition names Shebuel as Gershom's "son" (I Chronicles 23:16, 26:24; more likely his "descendant," as Shebuel lived in David's time). Judges 18:30 mentions a "Jonathan son of Gershom son of Moses", as well as his descendants who served as kohanim to the Tribe of Dan. (The Masoretic text reads "son of מנשה Manasseh," but the letter nun appears in superscript, suggesting משה Mosheh as an alternative reading.)

Today, some religious Israelis - as well as Jews living outside of Israel - sometimes name a newborn male "Gershom," reflecting a Zionist philosophy.