How many children did Moses have?

[fmcginn]

My neigbor has little Biblical knowledge and I can't find this answer. She said she'd really like to know this. Do any of you know how many children Moses have? I'd greatly appreciate the answer as my neighbor friend will also
Felicia

[TomT]

Re: How many children did Moses have?

In addition to Gershom (Exodus 2:22), Moses also had Eliezer (Exodus 18:2-4).


And Moses was content to dwell with the man [Jethro]; and he gave Moses Zippora his daughter. And she bore him a son, and he called his name Gershom; for he said, "I have been a stranger in a strange land." (Exodus 2:21-22)

...and her two sons; and the name of one was Gershom; for he said, "I have been a stranger in a strange land." And the name of the other was Eliezer, for he said, "The God of my father was my help, and saved me from the sword of Pharaoh." (Exodus 18:3-4)

It is generally believed that the second son Eliezer may have been only a few days old when Moses took his family to return to Egypt......

[TomT]

Re: How many children did Moses have?

In addition to his wife Zipporah it appears that Moses may also have had a second wife…?

Numbers 12:1 And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.

However the famous 11th century Talmudic commentator Rashi stated that this is merely a reference to the beauty of Zipporah...?

[Guest]

Re: How many children did Moses have?

Remember, girls aren't often counted in the official family tree in the Bible, either. So he may have had a dozen daughters, too.

[Ross Carter]

Re: How many children did Moses have?

How many children did Moses have?

Well we know that he had two sons as noted in the following quote from http://www.theseason.org/exodus/exodus4.htm when God was ready to kill Moses because he had not adhered to the basic covenant agreement which was made with Abraham.

Naturally he may have had daughters but this is not mentioned.

One of the important things that many overlook with reference to Moses is that upon his return to Egypt he was some 80 years old. His life is divided into 3 sets of 40 years. He was 40 years old when he left Egypt, 80 years old when he led the israelites out of bondage and 120 years old when he died.

"Forty" in Biblical numeric’s means "probation" and the book of Exodus is filled with reference to the number 40.

Exodus 4:24 "And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him."

So Moses is on his way to Egypt, and he stops at this inn with his family; but here God has singled him out and wants to kill him. What is going on? Stop and think for a moment and use this for a type for your life. There are times in your life when you think that you are really pleasing God, and everything is going your way, when out of the blue, it seems like the whole world has come down on you. So first of all, know that God's Word is set, and the things God placed in His Word will be fulfilled. It becomes a matter of discipline in our lives. So what is God angry with Moses about, as they are heading to Egypt to free the children of Egypt? It gets to a matter of the respect that Moses has over looked. This is God's eternal Covenant that was given to Abraham.

Genesis 17:14 "And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken My covenant."

Moses had not broken the law but the covenant that God had made with Abraham and all those of the seed of Isaac, Jacob and the entire house of Israel. Moses had gone up on the mount Sinai, He talked with God at the burning bush and was instructed in detail as to how he would bring the children of Israel out of Egypt. He packed up his wife and two kids, mounted his ass, and here at the Inn Moses finds out that he did not tend to the most basic instruction that God has given to His people. He has two sons and neither of them had been circumcised. Moses had broken God's covenant by neglect within his own family. He is going to do the Lord's work, and by not circumcising his children, he has broken all ties that he had with God. God is out to kill him. So what is Zipporah going to do about circumcising her two sons. She was a Midianite also from the seed of Abraham. She knew about the covenant with Abraham just as Moses did, for her father was the chief Midianite priest of God. No God will not overlook this oversight of Moses, and He wants Moses out of His sight.

This is why it is important that you have a working knowledge of what God expects of you, if you expect to be doing a service for Him.

Hope this helps.

Agape'

Ross

[fmcginn]

Re: How many children did Moses have?

Thanks all of you, Very helpful indeed I will surely pass this on to my neighbor friend.