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Did Moshe's wife and sons remain with Yisrael during the time in the wilderness?
In Shemot 18:2-4, Yitro comes from Midian to join the Israelites after the exodus, bringing Moshe's wife Tzipporah and his sons Gershon and Eliezer. This appears to be the torah's last mention of Moshe's family.[1] Later, in Bamidbar 3:38 when the Levites are being given their assigned roles and encampments, we're told that one group included Moshe and Aharon and his sons -- but it says nothing of Moshe's sons there. The Hebrew says "his sons", not "their sons".
What happened to Moshe's sons? Were they part of the general Levitical census, counted as part of the house of Amram? Were they with Moshe but for some reason not mentioned here? Did Tzipporah and the sons go back to Midian? Something else?
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I'm aware of the midrash that when Miriam and Aharon were speaking against Moshe and Miriam was punished with tzara'at, what they were talking about was how Moshe treated Tzipporah. This is but one among many midrashim and I don't know if it's strong evidence that she remained with Yisrael during their journeys. ↩︎
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