Reference: Gerar
American
An ancient town or place of the Philistines in the times of Abraham and Isaac, Ge 10:19; 20:1; 6/1/type/am'>26:1,6,17. It lay not far from Gaza, in the south of Judah, but its exact site is now unknown. See 2Ch 14:13-14.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon as one goes to Gerar as far as Gaza, and as one goes to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
Now Abraham journeyed from there toward the South country (the Negeb) and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur; and he lived temporarily in Gerar.
And there was a famine in the land, other than the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines.
So Isaac went away from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
Asa and the people with him pursued them to Gerar; and the Ethiopians were overthrown, so that none remained alive; for they were destroyed before the Lord and His host, who carried away very much booty. And they smote all the cities round about Gerar, for the fear of the Lord came upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them.
Easton
a region; lodging-place, a very ancient town and district in the south border of Palestine, which was ruled over by a king named Abimelech (Ge 10:19; 20:1-2). Abraham sojourned here, and perhaps Isaac was born in this place. Both of these patriarchs were guilty of the sin of here denying their wives, and both of them entered into a treaty with the king before they departed to Beersheba (Ge 21:23-34; 26). It seems to have been a rich pastoral country (2Ch 14:12-15). Isaac here reaped an hundred-fold, and was blessed of God (Ge 26:12). The "valley of Gerar" (Ge 26:17) was probably the modern Wady el-Jerdr.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon as one goes to Gerar as far as Gaza, and as one goes to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
Now Abraham journeyed from there toward the South country (the Negeb) and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur; and he lived temporarily in Gerar. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister. And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah [into his harem].
So now, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my son or with my posterity; but as I have dealt with you kindly, you will do the same with me and with the land in which you have sojourned. And Abraham said, I will swear. read more. When Abraham complained to and reasoned with Abimelech about a well of water [Abimelech's] servants had violently seized, Abimelech said, I know not who did this thing; you did not tell me, and I did not hear of it until today. So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a league or covenant. Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs of the flock, And Abimelech said to Abraham, What do these seven ewe lambs which you have set apart mean? He said, You are to accept these seven ewe lambs from me as a witness for me that I dug this well. Therefore that place was called Beersheba [well of the oath], because there both parties swore an oath. Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba; then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army returned to the land of the Philistines. Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the Eternal God. And Abraham sojourned in Philistia many days.
Then Isaac sowed seed in that land and received in the same year a hundred times as much as he had planted, and the Lord favored him with blessings.
So Isaac went away from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
So the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. Asa and the people with him pursued them to Gerar; and the Ethiopians were overthrown, so that none remained alive; for they were destroyed before the Lord and His host, who carried away very much booty. read more. And they smote all the cities round about Gerar, for the fear of the Lord came upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. They smote also the cattle encampments and carried away sheep in abundance and camels; and they returned to Jerusalem.
Fausets
Chief city of the Philistines in Abraham's and Isaac's time; now Khirbet el Gerar. The fertile region between the two deserts of Kadesh and Shut; resorted to therefore by Abraham and Isaac in time of famine. On the southern border of Canaan, near Gaza and Beersheba (Ge 10:19; 20:1; 26:1-26). Near the deep wady Jurf el Gerar, "the rapid of Gerar" (2Ch 14:13-14.) The people were pastoral in the times of Abraham, but warlike, with a regular "chief captain of the army," Phichol (the "mouth of all," implying a commanding voice as commander-in-chief. Abimelech ("father of kings," implying an hereditary not an elective monarchy) was the common royal title (Psalm 34 title, compare the margin). Condor (Palestine Exploration, August, 1875) identifies it rather with Tel-Jema, an enormous mound covered with broken pottery, immediately S. of Khirbet el Gerar. The name, lost to this the proper site, lingers in the neighboring Khirbet el Gerar.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon as one goes to Gerar as far as Gaza, and as one goes to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
Now Abraham journeyed from there toward the South country (the Negeb) and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur; and he lived temporarily in Gerar.
And there was a famine in the land, other than the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines. And the Lord appeared to him and said, Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I will tell you. read more. Dwell temporarily in this land, and I will be with you and will favor you with blessings; for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants to multiply as the stars of the heavens, and will give to your posterity all these lands (kingdoms); and by your Offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, or by Him bless themselves, For Abraham listened to and obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commands, My statutes, and My laws. So Isaac stayed in Gerar. And the men of the place asked him about his wife, and he said, She is my sister; for he was afraid to say, She is my wife -- "[thinking], Lest the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah, because she is attractive and is beautiful to look upon. When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac caressing Rebekah his wife. And Abimelech called Isaac and said, See here, she is certainly your wife! How did you [dare] say to me, She is my sister? And Isaac said to him, Because I thought, Lest I die on account of her. And Abimelech said, What is this you have done to us? One of the men might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt and sin upon us. Then Abimelech charged all his people, He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death. Then Isaac sowed seed in that land and received in the same year a hundred times as much as he had planted, and the Lord favored him with blessings. And the man became great and gained more and more until he became very wealthy and distinguished; He owned flocks, herds, and a great supply of servants, and the Philistines envied him. Now all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had closed and filled with earth. And Abimelech said to Isaac, Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we are. So Isaac went away from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. And Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the names by which his father had called them. Now Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of living [spring] water. And the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, The water is ours. And he named the well Esek [contention] because they quarreled with him. Then [his servants] dug another well, and they quarreled over that also; so he named it Sitnah [enmity]. And he moved away from there and dug another well, and for that one they did not quarrel. He named it Rehoboth [room], saying, For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land. Now he went up from there to Beersheba. And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will favor you with blessings and multiply your descendants for the sake of My servant Abraham. And [Isaac] built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants were digging a well. Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzah, one of his friends, and Phicol, his army's commander.
Asa and the people with him pursued them to Gerar; and the Ethiopians were overthrown, so that none remained alive; for they were destroyed before the Lord and His host, who carried away very much booty. And they smote all the cities round about Gerar, for the fear of the Lord came upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them.
Hastings
A place mentioned in Ge 10:19 in the boundary of the Canaanite territory near Gaza, wheres Abraham sojourned and came in contact with a certain 'Abimelech king of Gerar' (Ge 20:1). A similar experience is recorded of Isaac (Ge 26:1), but the stories are evidently not independent. Gerar reappears only in 2Ch 14:13-14, in the description of the rout of the Ethiopians by Asa, in which Gerar was the limit of the pursuit. Eusebius makes Gerar 25 Roman miles S. of Eleutheropolis; hence it has been sought at Umm el-Jer
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon as one goes to Gerar as far as Gaza, and as one goes to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
Now Abraham journeyed from there toward the South country (the Negeb) and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur; and he lived temporarily in Gerar.
And there was a famine in the land, other than the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines.
Asa and the people with him pursued them to Gerar; and the Ethiopians were overthrown, so that none remained alive; for they were destroyed before the Lord and His host, who carried away very much booty. And they smote all the cities round about Gerar, for the fear of the Lord came upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them.
Morish
Ge'rar
Ancient city on the south of Gaza in the possession of the Philistines. It was visited by both Abraham and Isaac. Ge 10:19; 20:1-2; 26:1-26; 2Ch 14:13-14. Identified with ruins at Umm Jerrar, 31 25' N, 34 26' E.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon as one goes to Gerar as far as Gaza, and as one goes to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
Now Abraham journeyed from there toward the South country (the Negeb) and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur; and he lived temporarily in Gerar. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister. And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah [into his harem].
And there was a famine in the land, other than the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines. And the Lord appeared to him and said, Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I will tell you. read more. Dwell temporarily in this land, and I will be with you and will favor you with blessings; for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants to multiply as the stars of the heavens, and will give to your posterity all these lands (kingdoms); and by your Offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, or by Him bless themselves, For Abraham listened to and obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commands, My statutes, and My laws. So Isaac stayed in Gerar. And the men of the place asked him about his wife, and he said, She is my sister; for he was afraid to say, She is my wife -- "[thinking], Lest the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah, because she is attractive and is beautiful to look upon. When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac caressing Rebekah his wife. And Abimelech called Isaac and said, See here, she is certainly your wife! How did you [dare] say to me, She is my sister? And Isaac said to him, Because I thought, Lest I die on account of her. And Abimelech said, What is this you have done to us? One of the men might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt and sin upon us. Then Abimelech charged all his people, He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death. Then Isaac sowed seed in that land and received in the same year a hundred times as much as he had planted, and the Lord favored him with blessings. And the man became great and gained more and more until he became very wealthy and distinguished; He owned flocks, herds, and a great supply of servants, and the Philistines envied him. Now all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had closed and filled with earth. And Abimelech said to Isaac, Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we are. So Isaac went away from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. And Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the names by which his father had called them. Now Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of living [spring] water. And the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, The water is ours. And he named the well Esek [contention] because they quarreled with him. Then [his servants] dug another well, and they quarreled over that also; so he named it Sitnah [enmity]. And he moved away from there and dug another well, and for that one they did not quarrel. He named it Rehoboth [room], saying, For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land. Now he went up from there to Beersheba. And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will favor you with blessings and multiply your descendants for the sake of My servant Abraham. And [Isaac] built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants were digging a well. Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzah, one of his friends, and Phicol, his army's commander.
Smith
Ge'rar
(a lodging-place), a very ancient city south of Gaza. It occurs chiefly in Genesis,
also incidentally in
It must have trenched on the "south" or "south country" of later Palestine. From a comparison of
with Ge26/23/type/am'>ne 26:23,26 Beersheba would seem to be just on the verge of this territory, and perhaps to be its limit towards the northeast.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon as one goes to Gerar as far as Gaza, and as one goes to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
Now Abraham journeyed from there toward the South country (the Negeb) and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur; and he lived temporarily in Gerar.
Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba; then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army returned to the land of the Philistines.
So Isaac went away from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
Asa and the people with him pursued them to Gerar; and the Ethiopians were overthrown, so that none remained alive; for they were destroyed before the Lord and His host, who carried away very much booty. And they smote all the cities round about Gerar, for the fear of the Lord came upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them.
Watsons
GERAR, a royal city of the Philistines, situate not far from the angle where the south and west sides of Palestine meet.