Gerar

Gerar (meaning: same as Gera, a lodging place) was a Philistine city in the Negev region of southwestern Canaan, associated in the patriarchal narratives with the Philistine king Abimelech. Both Abraham and Isaac sojourned in Gerar, and both on separate occasions claimed their wives were their sisters before Abimelech — Abraham with Sarah (Genesis 20:1–2) and Isaac with Rebekah (Genesis 26:1). In both cases God intervened to protect the integrity of the patriarchal marriage and the covenant line.

Isaac dug wells in the region of Gerar and made a covenant of peace with Abimelech at Beersheba after disputes over water rights (Genesis 26:15–31). Gerar lay within the boundaries of Canaan as described in Genesis 10:19, on the southern perimeter of Philistine territory. Asa king of Judah pursued a defeated Ethiopian army as far as Gerar and plundered the surrounding cities (2 Chronicles 14:13–14). The site has been identified with Tell Abu Hureirah (Tel Haror) in the western Negev, where excavations have uncovered occupation levels consistent with the patriarchal and monarchic periods.