Gerar
A place in the Bible
A city in the south of Canaan, where Abimelech was king. In the Douay-Rheims it is called “Gerara.”
What happened here
- Abraham: he stayed for a while in Gerar. There he said that Sarah was his sister, and King Abimelech took her.
- Isaac: because of a famine, he went to Gerar. There he sowed and reaped a hundredfold, and God blessed him.
- The wells: the shepherds of Gerar quarreled with Isaac over two wells. Isaac moved on and dug another, and that time no one fought.
Today
No one knows for sure where it was. It was a city in the south of Canaan.
Where it appears in the Bible
Genesis 20:1-2; Genesis 26:1; Genesis 26:12; Genesis 26:20-22
What the Bible says
Genesis 20:1-2
1Abraham removed from thence to the south country, and dwelt between Cades and Sur, and sojourned in Gerara. 2And he said of Sara his wife: She is my sister. So Abimelech the king of Gerara sent, and took her.
Genesis 26:1
And when a famine came in the land, after that barrenness which had happened in the days of Abraham, Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Palestines to Gerara.
Genesis 26:12
And Isaac sowed in that land, and he found that same year a hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
Source: Genesis 20:1-2; Genesis 26:1; Genesis 26:12; Genesis 26:20-22