Gedor
Gedor is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Negev in modern-day Israel. Known today as Tel Haror. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
A second location bearing the name Gedor appears in 1 Chronicles 4:39, where it marks a geographic landmark near which men of the tribe of Simeon sought pastureland: "They journeyed to the entrance of Gedor, to the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks." This Gedor, associated with the Negev region and identified with Tel Haror by some scholars, served as a directional reference point in the narrative of Simeonite migration toward productive grazing lands during the reign of Hezekiah (1 Chronicles 4:41). The passage describes how the Simeonites found abundant and peaceful pastureland there, driving out the Hamites and Meunim who had dwelt in the area, and settling in their place. This account reflects the fluid and sometimes contested nature of land tenure in the southern regions of the Israelite territories, where pastoral groups competed for access to fertile valleys and water sources. The Negev's landscape, capable of supporting large flocks when rainfall was adequate, attracted Simeonite herders who expanded southward during a period of relative prosperity under Hezekiah. Gedor in this context functions as a geographic marker orienting the reader to the rich valley pastures that Simeon's clans successfully claimed.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
This Gedor, associated with the Negev and sometimes identified with Tel Haror (also linked to ancient Gerar), lies near Nahal Gerar in the northern Negev of Israel. Tel Haror is a large multi-period site that has been excavated in several campaigns, revealing occupation from the Chalcolithic through the Islamic periods. Significant Bronze Age and Iron Age remains have been uncovered, including evidence of administrative activity and distinctive ceramic assemblages. Whether Tel Haror represents this particular Gedor remains uncertain, as the site is more commonly identified with Gerar. The Negev region broadly preserves extensive archaeological evidence for pastoral and agricultural settlement patterns consistent with the Simeonite expansion described in 1 Chronicles 4.
Verse Appearances (1)
1Chr
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]