פירוש על שמות 18:3

AND HER TWO SONS; OF WHOM THE NAME OF THE ONE WAS GERSHOM. Even though this is not the place where [the narrative of] their birth is told, Scripture here explains the names of the two sons [of Moses — Gershom and Eliezer —] because there was no opportunity to mention the name of Eliezer at his birth, as I have explained in Seder V’eileh Shemoth.⁶¹Above, 4:20. See Ramban there regarding why Eliezer was not named at that time. Gershom’s name, on the other hand, is mentioned in 2:22. Here, Scripture wanted to mention the kindness that the Holy One, blessed be He, had shown to Moses, who was a stranger in a strange land. [When he named his second son], he gave thanks there to G-d for having delivered him from the sword of Pharaoh when he fled from before him,⁶²Ibid., 2:15. [and for making him] now king over Israel, and [because] He drowned Pharaoh and his people in the sea.
The sense of the expression for he said, I have been a stranger, etc. is connected with Moses, who is mentioned in the first verse, [and not with Jethro, who is mentioned in the second verse]. Similarly, the following verse, And the name of the other was Eliezer: for the G-d of my father was my help,⁶³Verse 4. is connected with the expression for he said, [found in the verse before us. It thus reads: “And the name of the other was Eliezer; for he said: for the G-d, etc.”] There are many cases like that.

שם האחד גרשם, the name of the one was Gershom, etc. Although the reason Moses named this son Gershom has already been mentioned in Exodus 2,22, it had to be repeated here in order to inform us that we are talking about the same son already mentioned in chapter 2 (though this may have been 60 years earlier) and not another son (by the same name but born of a different mother).

כי אמר גר הייתי, “for he had said (at that time) ‘I have been a stranger, etc.” Even though this is hardly the place where we would expect to hear about the genealogy of Moses’ children, the Torah introduces the subject now as there had not been an opportunity to inform us that Moses had called his second son Eliezer, seeing that he had not circumcised him prior to his departure from Midian. First he had been too preoccupied with journeying to Egypt, second, because he had that unfortunate encounter with the angel who had threatened to kill him. He had also not been able to give him the name Eliezer as long as he was under the impression that there was still a price on his head, and he was still a fugitive from Egyptian justice, being wanted for murder. The Torah informs us now that when Moses had become aware that there no longer was a price on his head, he named his son in a manner which expressed his thanks to G’d for having saved him from that worry as well as for the other promotions G’d had bestowed upon him.

(Exodus 18:3) "and her two sons … in a foreign land": R. Yehoshua says "foreign": as stated (i.e., literally). R. Elazar Homadai says: in a land of foreign (gods, i.e., idolatry). Moses said: Since the whole world serves idolatry, I will serve Him who spoke and brought the (whole) world into being. For when Moses said to Yithro, Give me your daughter Tzipporah as a wife, Yithro answered, If you do what I ask of you, I will give her to you as a wife. Moses: What do you ask? Yithro: Your first son must serve idolatry. Thenceforward, they may serve (G d) in heaven. Moses accepted. Yithro: Swear. And he swore, as it is written (Exodus 2:21) "Vayoel Moses, etc.", this being an expression for swearing, as in (I Samuel 14:24) "Vayoel Saul the people" (in context: "And Saul beswore the people.") And it is written (II Kings 5:3) "Hoel (in context: "Swear") and take two talents, etc." Therefore, the angel came forward to kill Moses (viz. Exodus 4:24), whereupon (Ibid. 25) "Tzipporah took a flint and cut off the foreskin of her son … (26) "And he (the angel) let go of him." R. Elazar b. Azaryah says: Repulsive is the foreskin, by which the wicked are demeaned, viz. (Jeremiah 9:25) "for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel is uncircumcised of heart." R. Yishmael says: Great is circumcision over which thirteen covenants was made. R. Yossi Haglili says: Great is circumcision, which overrides the Sabbath, which is liable to kareth (cutting-off). R. Yehoshua b. Karcha says: Great is circumcision, laxity in which did not permit all of Moses' merits to protect him for even a short time. R. Nechemiah says: Great is circumcision, which overrides (non-cutting of) plague-spots (viz. Devarim 24:8). Rebbi says: Great is circumcision, all of Moses' merits not standing for him in his duress. When the L rd told him "Take out My people, the children of Israel from the land of Egypt," because he was lax for a short time in (the) circumcision (of his son), the angel sought to kill him, viz. (Exodus 4:24) "and he was on the way in the lodging, etc." R. Yossi says: G d forbid that tzaddikim should be lax in circumcision for even a short while, but Moses expounded: Shall he circumcise (his son) and journey (to Egypt) — that would involve a risk of life (for the child.) Shall he wait and circumcise — the L rd has said to him: "Go and take My people Israel out of Egypt." But (his lapse was that) he preoccupied himself with his lodging before circumcising, wherefore the L rd sought to kill him, viz.: "And he was on the way in the lodging, etc." R. Shimon b. Gamliel says: The angel did not seek to kill Moses, but the child, viz. (Ibid. 25) "for you are a groom of blood to me." Who is called a "groom" (in this context), the child or Moses? The child.

V. 3 u.4. Die Namen der Kinder werden hier teils wiederholt, teils nachgefügt, wohl um uns zugleich erkennen zu lassen, daß Mosche von vornherein seinen Schwiegervater nicht über seine Vergangenheit und seine Beziehungen zu dem in Ägypten geknechteten Volke im Unklaren gelassen. Die Namen seiner Kinder sprechen diese Vergangenheit und diese Beziehung aus. Elieser war kurz nach Mosche Rückkehr nach Mizrajim geboren; das ויצילני וגו׳ bezieht sich wohl auf die Zusicherung Gottes, Kap. 4, 19: לך שוב וגו׳ כי מתו וגו׳. Daher nannte er auch erst den jüngsten Elieser. So lange er in der Verbannung leben musste, schwebte Pharaos Schwert über ihm.

גר הייתי, “I had been a stranger, etc.” the word הייתי is not to be understood as being in the past tense, just as Genesis 23,13: נתתי or 14,22 הרימותי or 32,11 הייתי לשני מחנות are not to be understood as being in the past tense. There are many more such examples.

Furthermore, the Torah may have had to mention that the reason was not that Yitro had expelled Moses from his home. While it is true that Moses said: "I used to be a stranger in a strange country" (obviously not referring to his being expelled by Yitro), he may have phrased it thus so that Yitro should not hear that he had referred to expulsion by him. The Torah repeats here once more that the reason for Gershom's name was Moses' grateful acknowledgement of having prospered as a fugitive in a strange land.