Gerar

Gerar was a major Canaanite city located on the Philistine plain, about 20 kilometers northwest of Beersheba and southeast of Gaza. Archaeological evidence indicates it was inhabited from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age (3000-600 BC), flourishing most during the patriarchal period. The Gerar Valley is a wadi (dry riverbed) centered on the modern-day Wadi esh-Shariah, a northern tributary of the Besor stream. It originates east of Ziklag and flows into the Mediterranean Sea about 10 kilometers southwest of Gaza, with a total length of about 55 kilometers. It only carries water during the rainy season or heavy downpours, remaining dry for most of the year.

After Abraham left Haran at the age of 75, he had walked a path of faith for nearly 25 years. God had recently twice declared that Sarah would bear him a son, Isaac, by this time next year. This child, Isaac, was to be the fulfillment of God’s covenant, the beginning of the promised kingdom and kings, and the basis for all nations on earth to be blessed through him. Unexpectedly, at this critical moment, Abraham, as if by some strange impulse, left Hebron, where he had lived for over 20 years, and moved to the southern region, arriving in Gerar. Fearing for his life because of his wife Sarah’s beauty, he lied and claimed she was his sister. The king of Gerar, Abimelech, intended to take Sarah as his wife, but he was prevented by the LORD.

 During a time of famine, Abraham’s son Isaac moved to Gerar from Beer Lahai Roi. He farmed and dug wells there. He also feared for his life because of his beautiful wife, Rebekah, and lied that she was his sister, almost causing the people of Gerar to sin (King Abimelech of Gerar intended to take Rebekah as his wife). After Isaac became very wealthy, the locals, out of jealousy, repeatedly filled his wells with dirt, so he moved to Beersheba.

The city of Gerar is not mentioned in the accounts of Joshua’s conquest of Canaan or in the early monarchical period. In the early 9th century BC, a large Cushite army invaded the kingdom of Judah. King Asa of Judah defeated the enemy in the Valley of Zephathah, pursued them all the way to Gerar, plundered the city and the surrounding towns, and then returned to Jerusalem (Genesis 10:19; 20:1-8; 26; 2 Chronicles 14:9-15).