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Gerar ( ''Gərār'', "lodging-place") was a Philistine town and district in what is today south central
Gerar ( ''Gərār'', "lodging-place") was a Philistine town and district in what is today south central Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, mentioned in the Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning" ...
and in the Second Book of Chronicles of the Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, the biblical ''valley of Gerar'' () was probably located in the area of a valley known in
2 Chronicles 14:12-15
Gerar and its surrounding towns figure in the account of King Asa's defeat of Zerah's vast Cushite forces.
'' International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, the biblical ''valley of Gerar'' () was probably located in the area of a valley known in
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
as Wady Sheri'a, and in Modern Hebrew
Modern Hebrew ( he, עברית חדשה, ''ʿivrít ḥadašá ', , '' lit.'' "Modern Hebrew" or "New Hebrew"), also known as Israeli Hebrew or Israeli, and generally referred to by speakers simply as Hebrew ( ), is the standard form of the He ...
as Nahal Gerar. Most commentators see the mound of Tel Haror (Hebrew) or Tell Abu Hureyra (Arabic) as representing the ancient Gerar.
Some older commentaries, such as Smith's Bible Dictionary, stated simply that Gerar was located "south of Gaza". Also, a ninth century rabbinical source (Saadia Gaon
Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon ( ar, سعيد بن يوسف الفيومي ''Saʻīd bin Yūsuf al-Fayyūmi''; he, סַעֲדְיָה בֶּן יוֹסֵף אַלְפַיּוּמִי גָּאוֹן ''Saʿăḏyāh ben Yōsēf al-Fayyūmī Gāʾōn''; ...
) identified Gerar with Haluza, located along the Besor River in the Negev
The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its sout ...
.Rabbi Saadia Gaon
Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon ( ar, سعيد بن يوسف الفيومي ''Saʻīd bin Yūsuf al-Fayyūmi''; he, סַעֲדְיָה בֶּן יוֹסֵף אַלְפַיּוּמִי גָּאוֹן ''Saʿăḏyāh ben Yōsēf al-Fayyūmī Gāʾōn''; ...
's Judeo-Arabic
Judeo-Arabic dialects (, ; ; ) are ethnolects formerly spoken by Jews throughout the Arabic-speaking world. Under the ISO 639 international standard for language codes, Judeo-Arabic is classified as a macrolanguage under the code jrb, enco ...
Translation of the word Gerar (Judeo-Arabic: אלכ'לוץ = ''al-Khalūṣ'') in the Pentateuch (''Tafsir''), s.v. Genesis 10:19, Genesis 20:2, Genesis 26:17, 20. On Haluza's proximity to Gerar, see: M. Naor, Gerar — Tell el Far'a, Bulletin of the Israel Exploration Society (1955), pp. 99–102 (Hebrew) However, according to recent archaeological research, Haluza only dates to the Nabatean period.
Biblical accounts
Biblically, the town features in two of the three wife-sister narratives in Genesis. These record thatAbraham
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Je ...
and Isaac
Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was ...
each stayed at Gerar, near what became Beersheba
Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...
, and that each passed his wife off as his sister, leading to complications involving Gerar's Philistine king, Abimelech
Abimelech (also spelled Abimelek or Avimelech; ) was the generic name given to all Philistine kings in the Hebrew Bible from the time of Abraham through King David. In the Book of Judges, Abimelech, son of Gideon, of the Tribe of Manasseh, ...
. (, and )
The '' Haggadah'' identifies the two references to Abimelech as two separate people, the second being the first Abimelech's son, and that his original name was Benmelech son of the King" but he changed his name to his father's, meaning "my father is king".
I2 Chronicles 14:12-15
Gerar and its surrounding towns figure in the account of King Asa's defeat of Zerah's vast Cushite forces.
See also
* Tell JemmehReferences