Gerar

Biblical Text

Gerar was a town at the southwestern edge of Canaan. It first appears in Genesis 10:19, in the description of the borders of the Canaanites.

• Abraham and Abimelech (Genesis 20): Abraham "dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar" (Genesis 20:1), and he presented his wife Sarah as his sister. Abimelech king of Gerar then took Sarah. God appeared to Abimelech in a dream and warned him, and Abimelech returned Sarah. God called Abraham a prophet (Genesis 20:7). When Abraham prayed, Abimelech's household was healed (Genesis 20:17).
• The covenant at Beersheba (Genesis 21:22–34): Abimelech and Phichol, the chief captain of his host, made a covenant with Abraham in connection with a dispute over a well. Afterward the two returned "into the land of the Philistines."
• Isaac and the wells (Genesis 26): When famine came, Isaac was told not to go down into Egypt, and he stayed in Gerar (Genesis 26:1–6). He too called Rebekah his sister, and the deception was exposed. When he reaped a hundredfold from his sowing (Genesis 26:12), the Philistines envied him and stopped up his wells. Isaac moved to the valley of Gerar, where he contended over the wells Esek and Sitnah; on reaching Rehoboth he said, "For now the LORD hath made room for us" (Genesis 26:22). He then went up to Beersheba, where he made a covenant with Abimelech, who had come to him from Gerar.
• Asa's victory (2 Chronicles 14:13–14): Asa king of Judah pursued the army of Zerah the Ethiopian as far as Gerar and struck the surrounding towns.

Background

The Hebrew name is Gerar, and its meaning is uncertain. The region lay in the semi-arid western Negev, where water was scarce, so wells were a matter of survival and ownership. Scholars are divided on the exact location. The identification with Tel Haror, northwest of Beersheba, is widely held, and Tell Jemmeh and other sites were proposed in the past.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

The Gerar narratives show the patriarchs living as landless sojourners in the land of promise. Although the patriarchs lied out of fear, God protected the family of promise. Even a foreign king acknowledged, "God is with thee in all that thou doest" (Genesis 21:22). Gerar does not appear in the New Testament. However, Hebrews 11:8–12 takes up the same theme, stating that Abraham sojourned in the land of promise "as in a strange country."

Interpretation and Issues

• The account of a patriarch presenting his wife as his sister occurs three times: once in Egypt (Genesis 12) and twice in Gerar (Genesis 20 and 26). Conservative interpreters regard these as separate historical events and read the repetition as a device that exposes the patriarchs' weaknesses. Some critical scholars regard them as variant forms of a single tradition.
• Opinions also differ on whether the Abimelech of chapter 20 and the Abimelech of chapter 26 are the same person. The superscription of Psalm 34 refers to Achish king of Gath (see 1 Samuel 21) as Abimelech. On this basis, some view Abimelech as a royal title.
• The Philistine settlement of the Canaanite coast is usually dated to around the twelfth century BC. Consequently, views differ on the mention of "Philistines" in the patriarchal period. Some see it as an anachronism that uses a later name; others think it refers to earlier immigrants or employs a name familiar to later readers.

In the Korean Church

The story of Isaac, who did not fight when his wells were taken but moved on until he reached Rehoboth, is frequently used as a sermon text on yielding, patience, and the blessing of God's "making room." The hundredfold harvest during famine (Genesis 26:12) is also cited in sermons on obedience and blessing.