Moses could be reasonably called the Bible’s most celebrated leader. After Abraham, no person played a more decisive role in determining the future of the Israelite people than he did. In the ancient world, one expects such a person to leave—or to seek to leave—a dynasty. Yet, even though Moses had at least two sons, they fade into obscurity in the story. They were seemingly ignored when the time came to choose Moses’s successor.
We Know Very Little about Moses’s Sons
Unlike other prominent Israelite figures, the genealogy of Moses’s descendants is basically never provided. Readers are made aware of his sons, but only in the context of ongoing narratives instead of intentionally to show his line of descendants. This contrasts starkly with his brother Aaron’s descendants, whose names are meticulously recorded.
Moses’s first wife was a Midianite woman named Zipporah. They had two sons together named Gershom and Eleazar. Later, it is implied that Moses married a second wife. She was from Cush, in what is Upper Egypt and northern Sudan today. She is in a story, not a genealogy, and her name is not given. The story, which is found in the book of Numbers, suggests there was a conflict between Moses and his siblings Miriam and Aaron regarding whether or not they shared the same level of prophetic authority. For a reason not provided, Moses’s older siblings objected to his Cushite wife. Did she and Moses’s have any children? Readers are left wondering.
Israelite Leadership Was Not Hereditary Before The Monarchy
Until the Israelite monarchy emerged, Israelite leaders were chosen variously based on charisma, circumstance, and divine calling rather than heredity. Moses may have set the precedent for this convention. Chosen directly at his famous “burning bush” encounter on Mount Sinai, Moses is never portrayed as even considering the possibility of a dynasty. In the end, he chooses Joshua to take his place, even though Joshua was not even a member of the same tribe as Moses.
Moses and Joshua were Israel’s only leaders before the Israelites invaded Canaan. The Judges, who ruled Israel before the monarchy was inaugurated with Saul, never established dynasties either.
However, according to the detailed laws that Moses leaves for the Israelites in the story, priests all had to come from the tribe of Levi, which was Moses’s tribe, and specifically had to come from the line of Aaron, Moses’s older brother.
Was Gershom, Son of Moses, the Father of a Spurious Priest?
In one of the Bible’s strangest stories, a man named Micah in the book of Judges contracts a priest to set up a small temple in his home. The local people, however, take the ritual objects away from Micah’s house and, in turn, establish their own center of worship. They install a man named Jonathan as its priest, who is identified in Judges 18:30 as “the son of Gershom, son of Moses.”
Israelite tradition came to see any place of worship apart from the Temple (or its predecessor, the Tabernacle) as unauthorized by God. Interestingly, some Hebrew manuscripts of Judges 18:30 contain an extra letter within the name “Moses,” which makes it “Manasseh” instead. While some scholars argue that Manasseh might indeed be original to this verse, it is easy to imagine why later scribes wishing to honor Moses’s legacy might have preferred adding a letter to his name to forestall his being associated with this homespun religion.
Why Is So Little Said of Moses’s Sons in the Bible?
Many scholars believe the reading of “Moses” in Judges 18:30 is correct, which is why his name appears in this verse in modern Bible translations. Nevertheless, modern translations include a footnote indicating that the reading could be Manasseh. Maybe Jonathan, who is obviously viewed as a farcical priest by the authors of the story, was not really a descendant of Moses after all.
Yet, if it was not due to some scandal associated with Moses’s descendants, what was the reason that those who wrote and preserved the Bible said so little about them? Many have asked that question, and interesting possibilities have been proposed. But at the end of the day, the Bible does not say. What is certain is that Moses’s legacy was not carried forward by his children. This did not prevent him, however, from becoming one of the most influential figures in world history.
