GERSON. - The elder son of Moses (Ex. 2:22 and 18:3), whose name is explained (there) as: "A stranger (gêr) am I in a foreign land" (with the hypothetical suggestion that it may derive from the Arabic gûlgul, "rattle").
1 Chronicles 26:24 mentions Shebuel, son of Gershon, son of Moses. Judges 18:30 reports that the Danites set up an idol, and that Jonathan, son of Gershon, son of Manasseh (though read instead: Moses), and his sons were priests of this forbidden cult until the time of the land's captivity (A. Parenti, Giudici, in La Sacra Bibbia edited by the Pontifical Biblical Institute, II, Florence 1947, pp. 140, 184 note).
G. is also the name of the firstborn son of Levi (Gen. 46:11, etc.). This G. is the eponymous ancestor of the Levitical family of the Gershonites, who were assigned to the service of the Tabernacle during the desert period (Num. 3:21ff.; 4:21ff.; 7:7) and later participated in the possession of the Levitical cities (Josh. 21:6, 27).