GERSON. - The eldest son of Moses (Ex. 2, 22 and 18, 3), whose name is explained (ibid.): “A stranger (gër) am I in a foreign land” (hypothetically, it has been connected with the Arabic gulgul, “rattle”).
I Par. 26, 24 mentions Subael, son of G., son of Moses. Ind. 18, 30 reports that the Danites set up an idol and that Ionathan, son of G., son of Manasse (but read: Moses), and his sons were priests of this forbidden cult until the time of the captivity of the land (A. Parenti, Giudici, in La Sacra Bibbia a cura del Pont. ist. bibl., II, Florence 1947, pp. 140, 184 note).
G. is also the name of the firstborn of Levi (Gen. 46, 11 etc.). This G. is the progenitor of the Levitical family of the Gersonites, assigned to the service of the Tabernacle during the wilderness period (Num. 3, 21 sqq.; 4, 21 sqq.; 7, 7) and subsequently sharing in possession of the city of the Levites (Ios. 21, 6, 27).
BBL: Besides the commentaries on Exodo e Giudici, M. Noth, Die Israelit. Personennamen im Rahmen der gemeinern. Nomengebung, Stoccarda 1928, p. 223. Eugenio Zolli