Geshur

Geshur was a small Aramean kingdom in the Transjordan, situated in the Bashan region northeast of the Sea of Galilee. Despite being within the territory theoretically allotted to Israel, Geshur maintained its independent existence throughout the period of the Judges and the early monarchy — Israel could not dispossess the Geshurites (Joshua 13:13). David cemented his political alliances through marriage to Maacah daughter of Talmai king of Geshur, who became the mother of Absalom (2 Samuel 3:3).

Geshur's connection to the Absalom narrative gives it its greatest biblical prominence. After Absalom killed his half-brother Amnon in vengeance for the rape of Tamar, he fled to his grandfather's court in Geshur, where he remained for three years until Joab orchestrated his return to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 13:37–38; 15:8). Absalom himself refers to a vow he made while in Geshur when seeking David's permission to go to Hebron. The kingdom of Geshur was later absorbed into the expanding Damascene Aramean state; Jair's towns in Geshur and Aram are mentioned as lost territory in 1 Chronicles 2:23.