Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

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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