Moses Had at Least TWO Sons

[Tammy Roesch]

I never thought about it before, until today...  We were reading about the life of Moses for Church today....and the verse in the Bible that says, "And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand." Exodus 4:20.  The only other mention I can remember of Moses' children was a couple verses later when we are told that Moses had neglected to perform the rite of circumcision and the Angel of the Lord met him on the road threatening to kill him...and his wife came to his rescue and performed the rite herself on their youngest son.  That is all we know about his children.

So then, we jump years down the road....and we learn that the only people who left Egypt, who walked into Canaan was Caleb and Joshua. All the people over the age of 20 died in the wilderness. I wonder what happened to Moses' sons?  Did they go to Canaan or did they die along the way.  

I'm sure, many of these questions we'll never have answers to until we get to Heaven.  I'm sure looking forward to that!

[Gershom_young]

On 7/18/2021 at 2:08 AM, Tammy Roesch said:

I never thought about it before, until today...  We were reading about the life of Moses for Church today....and the verse in the Bible that says, "And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand." Exodus 4:20.  The only other mention I can remember of Moses' children was a couple verses later when we are told that Moses had neglected to perform the rite of circumcision and the Angel of the Lord met him on the road threatening to kill him...and his wife came to his rescue and performed the rite herself on their youngest son.  That is all we know about his children.

So then, we jump years down the road....and we learn that the only people who left Egypt, who walked into Canaan was Caleb and Joshua. All the people over the age of 20 died in the wilderness. I wonder what happened to Moses' sons?  Did they go to Canaan or did they die along the way.  

I'm sure, many of these questions we'll never have answers to until we get to Heaven.  I'm sure looking forward to that!

I had never realised this myself. I've always thought of Zipporah as the type of heroine the woman was created to be, and that her quick action saved not only Moses' life, but preserved her son/s for an inheritance in Israel. However, the conspicuous absence of Moses' sons from the entry into Canaan probably means it wasn't such a happy ending for the family.

Perhaps Moses' wife and her sons went back to Ethiopia, and brought with them the Israelite traditions, to prepare the eunuch for  Philip's explanation of Isaiah in the New Testament? I understand Ethiopia was one of the countries that practiced circumcision historically (I'm not sure about other Jewish laws), so I guess this was probably learned from Israel at some stage.

[Michael37]

On 7/18/2021 at 6:08 AM, Tammy Roesch said:

I never thought about it before, until today...  We were reading about the life of Moses for Church today....and the verse in the Bible that says, "And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand." Exodus 4:20.  The only other mention I can remember of Moses' children was a couple verses later when we are told that Moses had neglected to perform the rite of circumcision and the Angel of the Lord met him on the road threatening to kill him...and his wife came to his rescue and performed the rite herself on their youngest son.  That is all we know about his children.

So then, we jump years down the road....and we learn that the only people who left Egypt, who walked into Canaan was Caleb and Joshua. All the people over the age of 20 died in the wilderness. I wonder what happened to Moses' sons?  Did they go to Canaan or did they die along the way.  

I'm sure, many of these questions we'll never have answers to until we get to Heaven.  I'm sure looking forward to that!

Hi Tammy, The sons of Moses are traceable, mainly mentioned in reference to their offspring who had various responsibilities as Levites.

"Moses was a Hebrew. He was born to Jochebed and Amram, both from the tribe of Levi, when the children of Israel lived in Egypt as slaves. He was the youngest of three children, with a sister named Miriam and a brother named Aaron." [Christianity.com]

Exo 18:2-4  Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her back,  (3)  with her two sons, of whom the name of one was Gershom (for he said, "I have been a stranger in a foreign land")  (4)  and the name of the other was Eliezer (for he said, "The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh");

Gershom:

Quote from the Believer's Bible Commentary

Judges 18:27-31 The Danites then struck the peaceful town of Laish and changed the name of the city to Dan. They set up the carved image there and appointed Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Moses (NKJV marg.) and his sons as priests.
It is generally admitted that, in Judges, for 'Manasseh' (KJV, NASB) we should read 'Moses'—the name having been disguised by Jewish copyists to prevent supposed disgrace to Moses resulting from the idolatry of his grandson.
Presumably, Jonathan is the name of the Levite previously mentioned. The city of Dan became an idolatrous city from this time onward. It was here that Jeroboam later set up one of the golden calves. It is not known whether the captivity mentioned in verse 30 refers to a Philistine captivity of that area (e.g., 1Sa_4:11) or the Assyrian captivity (2Ki_15:29).
Not all the Danites went to Laish (v. 11) or sank into idolatry. Some stayed in their land, between Judah and Ephraim. Samson, the most famous member of this tribe, was from this latter group of Danites.

 

1Ch 23:15-17  The sons of Moses were Gershon and Eliezer.  (16)  Of the sons of Gershon, Shebuel was the first.  (17)  Of the descendants of Eliezer, Rehabiah was the first. And Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.

1Ch 26:24-27  Shebuel the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, was overseer of the treasuries.  (25)  And his brethren by Eliezer were Rehabiah his son, Jeshaiah his son, Joram his son, Zichri his son, and Shelomith his son.  (26)  This Shelomith and his brethren were over all the treasuries of the dedicated things which King David and the heads of fathers' houses, the captains over thousands and hundreds, and the captains of the army, had dedicated.  (27)  Some of the spoils won in battles they dedicated to maintain the house of the LORD.
 

[The_Patriot21]

Well...if moses kids were under 20 then they were won...just saying.

[Gershom_young]

On 9/22/2021 at 6:37 AM, pinacled said:

Abraham had 8 sons. One from hagar, one from sarah, and 6 from keturah [genesis 25] whom he married after the passing of sarah.

One of the sons of keturah was midian whom is later referred to by tribal lineage. Being that midian was an heir of abraham. It should be apparent that he passed the covenant of circumcision to his offspring[genesis 17]. This very tribe is the lineage of yithro(Jethro father of tzipporah, moshe' wife . So it's no strange thing that tzipporah had her sons circumcised.

This is interesting. I didn't realise Midian was an heir of Abraham. I agree about Tzipporah - probably one "strange" thing was that a female did the circumcising, but that might be more about male pride than peculiarity. That said, if Jethro was descended from Abraham, I would think all three (Jethro, Moses and Tzipporah) would have wanted the sons circumcised.

[Your closest friendnt]

On 9/21/2021 at 6:37 PM, pinacled said:

Abraham had 8 sons. One from hagar, one from sarah, and 6 from keturah [genesis 25] whom he married after the passing of sarah.

One of the sons of keturah was midian whom is later referred to by tribal lineage. Being that midian was an heir of abraham. It should be apparent that he passed the covenant of circumcision to his offspring[genesis 17]. This very tribe is the lineage of yithro(Jethro father of tzipporah, moshe' wife . So it's no strange thing that tzipporah had her sons circumcised.

Something also plausible is that moshe learned much of his hebrew lineage from yithro. Till the time came that he chose to traverse the mountain seeking for furtherance of The Truth.

As for the 2 sons. Their names are described according to hebrew tradition by their mother in shemot(exodus 18.

וְאֵ֖ת שְׁנֵ֣י בָנֶ֑יהָ אֲשֶׁ֨ר שֵׁ֤ם הָֽאֶחָד֙ גֵּֽרְשֹׁ֔ם כִּ֣י אָמַ֔ר גֵּ֣ר הָיִ֔יתִי בְּאֶ֖רֶץ נׇכְרִיָּֽה׃

and her two sons—of whom one was named Gershom, that is to say, “I have been a stranger^aHeb. ger. in a foreign land”;

וְשֵׁ֥ם הָאֶחָ֖ד אֱלִיעֶ֑זֶר כִּֽי־אֱלֹהֵ֤י אָבִי֙ בְּעֶזְרִ֔י וַיַּצִּלֵ֖נִי מֵחֶ֥רֶב פַּרְעֹֽה׃

and the other was named Eliezer,^bLit. “(My) God is help.” meaning, “The God of my father was my help, and He delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.”

וַיָּ

Blessings Always

 

Genesis 25:6 

⁶ But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country.

*** Abraham besides Ismael from Hagar and Isaac from Sarah and the six sons of Keturah he also had other sons from his concubines. 

[Dennis1209]

On 7/17/2021 at 1:08 PM, Tammy Roesch said:

I never thought about it before, until today...  We were reading about the life of Moses for Church today....and the verse in the Bible that says, "And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand." Exodus 4:20.  The only other mention I can remember of Moses' children was a couple verses later when we are told that Moses had neglected to perform the rite of circumcision and the Angel of the Lord met him on the road threatening to kill him...and his wife came to his rescue and performed the rite herself on their youngest son.  That is all we know about his children.

So then, we jump years down the road....and we learn that the only people who left Egypt, who walked into Canaan was Caleb and Joshua. All the people over the age of 20 died in the wilderness. I wonder what happened to Moses' sons?  Did they go to Canaan or did they die along the way.  

I'm sure, many of these questions we'll never have answers to until we get to Heaven.  I'm sure looking forward to that!

Exodus 4:24 (KJV) And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. 25. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. 26. So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.

I've had some lingering questions pertaining to these passages myself? I'm under the assumption, this must have been Moses first born? 

There's a current thread on Worthy, about being stubborn. I think Moses might have been a little stubborn from these passages, smiting the rock, and making excuses of why he cannot do this and that [the Lord appointed Aaron to be Moses mouth piece]. It's interesting that Zipporah saved Moses's life, it appears she must have been disgusted with Moses by the verbiage. 

Exodus 15:20 (KJV) And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.

Moses was a prophet, and his sister Miriam was also a prophetess. There sons would also have been "sons of a prophet." It's interesting nothing is mentioned about them and their genealogy? That they also died off in that generation, and the Lord selected Caleb and Joshua. 

[Gershom_young]

On 9/25/2021 at 10:35 PM, Dennis1209 said:

Exodus 4:24 (KJV) And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. 25. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. 26. So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.

I've had some lingering questions pertaining to these passages myself? I'm under the assumption, this must have been Moses first born? 

There's a current thread on Worthy, about being stubborn. I think Moses might have been a little stubborn from these passages, smiting the rock, and making excuses of why he cannot do this and that [the Lord appointed Aaron to be Moses mouth piece]. It's interesting that Zipporah saved Moses's life, it appears she must have been disgusted with Moses by the verbiage.

But didn't Zipporah only circumcise one son? My thinking was therefore it was the younger son, possibly because the older was already circumcised.

Zipporah was required to circumcise "on-the-fly", so to speak. She didn't have time to prepare, she didn't have time to change into her "work" clothes, she didn't even have time to get a proper izmel, just grabbing hold of the nearest flint she could find. I would imagine this would have been reason alone for her to be upset, without considering any other issues. This said, does the passage indicate she was disgusted? Some commentaries indicate she didn't agree with circumcision, but I don't really see the proof of that in the passage. And if she was a daughter of Abraham, wouldn't it be more likely that she was disgusted with uncircumcision?

[JohnD]

1 Chronicles 23:15 (AV)
15 The sons of Moses were, Gershom, and Eliezer.

If I'm repeating somebody's reply, sorry.

[JohnD]

My take on the circumcision of Gershom and Eliezer is that Zipporah was the reason they were not circumcised (perhaps she deemed it barbaric or just not for her boys).

And the Lord dealt with the source by threatening to take away her husband in death. And she succumbed / submitted to the will of the Lord and did the deed herself.

IF correct, then Mo was just as henpecked as the rest of us when it comes to our wives putting their foot down. LOL