Gezer
“Cut off or isolated, referring to its position”
Summary
An ancient Canaanite city of great strategic importance, later given to Solomon's Egyptian wife after Pharaoh conquered and burned it.
☩Location and Importance
Gezer occupied a commanding position in the Shephelah, controlling the road from Egypt to Jerusalem and the pass from the coast to the hill country. The site, identified with Tell Jezer (Tell el-Jezereh), crowns a narrow hill about 1,700 feet long, its position explaining its extreme importance in ancient times. Bilingual Hebrew-Greek boundary inscriptions discovered there confirm the identification.
☩Early History
Joshua defeated Horam king of Gezer when he came to help Lachish, killing him and his people. However, the city itself was not destroyed, and the Canaanite inhabitants were never fully dispossessed. Gezer was assigned to the Kohathite Levites, though the original inhabitants remained, paying tribute to Israel.
☩Solomon's Time
In Solomon's reign, Pharaoh king of Egypt captured Gezer, slew its Canaanite inhabitants, and burned the city. He gave it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife, and Solomon rebuilt it as one of his fortified cities along with Hazor and Megiddo. This demonstrates that Gezer had remained semi-independent until that time.
Related Verses14 mentions
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Gezer," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. III (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Gezer," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. II (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Gezer," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).
- 4.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Gezer," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).