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  • From: JimStinehart AT aol.com
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] The Meaning of "Gerar" at Genesis 20: 1
  • Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2008 10:26:18 EST


The Meaning of “Gerar” at Genesis 20: 1

The first mention of the word “Gerar” in the Bible is at Genesis 20:1. That
is where Abraham is sojourning when Isaac is born.

The last words of Genesis 20: 1 are vav/W/“and” yod-gimel-resh/YGR/“he will
sojourn” bet/B/“in” gimel-resh-resh/GRR/“Gerar”.

1. The basic form of the verb “to sojourn” is gimel-vav-resh/GWR. In many
forms of the verb “to sojourn”, a vav appears at the end, which is
transliterated into English as a U. I believe that the third person
masculine plural
form in past tense is “garu”.

The noun gimel-resh/GR means “sojourner”. Although the vav is definitely
part of the root gimel-vav-resh/GWR for the verb “to sojourn”, nevertheless
we
see that often the vav does not appear in many verb forms (as at Genesis 20:
1
above, for example), and that the vav is not present in the noun “sojourner”
. Thus the key letters in both “to sojourn” and “sojourner” are
gimel-resh/GR, with a vav/W (or U) often, but not always, being present.

“Gerar” consists of only three letters, gimel-resh-resh/GRR, so the key
letters are obviously gimel and resh, which are the same key letters in “to
sojourn
” and “sojourner”.

I agree with the view of Gesenius that “Gerar”/GRR derives from “to sojourn”
/GWR. As such, “Gerar”/GRR effectively means “the sojourning place”. (GR
means “sojourner”, whereas GRR means “the sojourning place”.)

The alternate etymology that has been proposed is the Hebrew verb
gimel-resh-resh/GRR/“to drag away”. Yet that meaning does not work well as
the name of
a region (or of a city-state). Moreover, given that our first exposure to “
Gerar” in the Bible comes immediately after the word “sojourn”, it appears
that
the author of the Patriarchal narratives is viewing “Gerar” as deriving from
the verb “to sojourn”, in accordance with the view of Gesenius.

2. Biblical “Gerar” has traditionally been thought to be located somewhere
near Gaza and Beersheba in the Negev Desert. However, historically there
never was an important region or city-state near Gaza or historical Beersheba
prior to the common era that had the name “Gerar” or anything similar to
“Gerar”
. In the common era, there are several tiny Arabic villages near Gaza with
names something like “Jerar”, but they may likely have taken their names from
the Bible, rather than vice versa.

The classic Philistines never were associated with any “Gerar”. Indeed, one
of the main attacks on the historicity of the Patriarchal narratives is that
(i) the classic Philistines did not exist yet in the Patriarchal Age, and
(ii)
the classic Philistines at no point ever had anything to do with any “Gerar”.

3. Whereas nothing connects Biblical “Gerar” to the Gaza area or historical
Beersheba prior to the common era, or to the classic Philistines in any time
period, everything connects “Gerar” to the historical region of “Garu”, in
northern Canaan.

(i) We know from Amarna Letter EA 256: 23 that in the mid-14th century BCE,
the area of northern Canaan around the Sea of Galilee was called “Garu”. It
appears that the northwestern edge of historical Garu extended all the way to
the coast of the southern two-thirds of Lebanon.

(ii) In the Akkadian cuneiform of the Amarna Letters, a place name often has
a U at the end that does not appear in the Hebrew equivalent. Thus Qidsu in
the Amarna Letters is Qadesh in Hebrew. Surru in the Amarna Letters is
either
Sur or Tsur in Hebrew. Accordingly, “Garu” in the Amarna Letters could be “
Gar” or “Gur” or “Gr” in Hebrew, without the final U.

Alternatively, as noted above, one form of the verb “to sojourn” in Hebrew
(the verb on which “Gerar” is based) is “garu”.

The key letters in “Garu” and in “Gerar” are the same: G and R.

(iii) The princeling ruler of the west coast of historical Garu in the
mid-14th century BCE had essentially the same name as the princeling ruler of
Gerar
in the Patriarchal narratives: “Abimelech” vs. “Abimilki” or “Abi-Milku”.
(Once again, the U at the end in Akkadian cuneiform often does not appear in
the Hebrew equivalent.)

(iv) Each of Biblical Abimelech and historical Abimilki is always jousting
over access to valuable water wells; is concerned about, and deals with,
tent-dwelling people known as habiru or Hebrews; is well aware of foreign
mercenaries who could pejoratively be called “Invaders”/“Philistines” in
Hebrew;
and initially appears to have no children. Moreover, a terrible famine
drives
people to Gerar/Garu both in secular history and in the Patriarchal
narratives.
In secular history, the famine was in northern Lebanon, whereas in the Bible
it was in southern Canaan, but in both cases people fleeing a terrible famine
end up in Gerar/Garu, the “sojourning place”, in northern Canaan.

When Abraham digs a valuable water well, he nicknames that place “Beersheba”
, in honor of historical Beersheba, far to the south, where a functioning
water well long provided valuable water to travelers in the Negev Desert.
Isaac
later re-digs the same water well, and using a somewhat different etymology,
likewise nicknames that place in northern Canaan “Beersheba”, in honor of
historical Beersheba in the Negev Desert far to the south. After being
exiled from
northern Canaan, Hagar travels south for many days, far away from Abraham.
Hagar must have re-filled her skin of water several times on her long trip to
Egypt. But then Hagar gets lost south of Hebron, in the Negev Desert, and
almost dies of thirst in the lonely Negev Desert, until YHWH points out to
Hagar a
fully functioning water well at historical Beersheba. The next sentences of
the text then tell us about Abraham back up north in Gerar, who as usual in
that place way up north is involved in terrible commotion with Abimelech and
all
the many people of all types on the scene (nothing like the lonely, remote
Negev Desert at all). That is to say, historical Beersheba is nowhere near
Gerar/Garu. Rather, Abraham and Isaac each nickname a place in northern
Canaan
where they providentially dig a water well “Beersheba”, in honor of the
desert
water well at historical Beersheba way to the south.

4. Perhaps the scholars are right that “Gerar” is purely fictional and
non-historical, and is fictionally located somewhere near Gaza or historical
Beersheba. Yet for a purely fictional, non-historical place, the matches to
historical Garu are amazing. The linguistic match is close: “Gerar” vs.
“Garu”;
GRR vs. GR. The leaders’ names match. And the leaders are doing the same
strange thing, whereas no other leader, in the Bible or in secular history
(except for other historical rulers of that same geographical locale), is
known to
do that: constantly jousting over access to valuable water wells, in a
situation where otherwise there seems to be plenty of wealth around, and
where a
farmer like Isaac can get rich growing a bumper crop of wheat. Cf. Ezekiel
27:
3, 9; 28: 4-5; I Kings 5: 15, 25; Acts 12: 20

5. Finally, can we really believe that YHWH is vouchsafing the inhospitable
Negev Desert, rather than the valuable land of northern Canaan, to the first
Hebrews when YHWH makes the following dramatic proclamation to Isaac?

“And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar [G-R-R-H].
And the LORD [YHWH] [had] appeared unto him, and [had] said: 'Go not down
unto Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of [that is, Gerar, in
Canaan]. Sojourn [G-U-R] in this land [that is, in the land of Canaan at
Gerar], and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and
unto thy
seed, I will give all these lands [of Canaan, including Gerar], and I will
establish the oath which I swore unto Abraham thy father.… And Isaac dwelt
in
Gerar [G-R-R].” Genesis 26: 1-3, 6

The Negev Desert was always there for the taking, if anyone wanted it. When
it comes to a divine promise of the Promised Land, what would be relevant is
not the Negev Desert, where few people have ever lived, but rather the
fertile
land of northern Canaan, including in particular the large region of
historical Garu in northern Canaan.

If that grand divine blessing of the Promised Land at Genesis 26: 1-3 is
sensible, it is promising northern Canaan to the first Hebrews, not the Negev
Desert.

6. In my controversial view, Biblical “Gerar” is historical “Garu”,
meaning northern Canaan. Everything matches, and only then does the text
make good
sense.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois




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