Gerar

According to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, the biblical valley of Gerar () was probably located in the area of a valley known in Arabic as Wady Sheri'a, and in Modern Hebrew 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". Saadia Gaon, a ninth century rabbinical source, identified Gerar with Haluza, which is located along the Besor Stream in the Negev. However, according to recent archaeological research, Haluza only dates to the period of the Nabataean Kingdom. ==Biblical accounts==

The town of Gerar appears in both the book of Genesis and the book(s) of Chronicles. Gerar appears in two of the three wife-sister narratives in Genesis. Abraham and Isaac each stayed at Gerar, near what became Beersheba, and each passed his wife off as his sister, leading to complications involving Gerar's Philistine king, Abimelech. (, and ) Regarding Abimelech, the aggadah identifies the two references to the king 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". In 2 Chronicles 14:12-15, much later in the Bible, Gerar and its surrounding towns figure in the account of King Asa's defeat of Zerah's vast Cushite forces. ==See also==