Gezer
Gezer is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as Tel Gezer. It appears across 14 verses in Scripture.
Biblical History
Gezer was one of the most strategically significant cities of ancient Canaan, situated at the junction of the Shephelah foothills and the coastal plain, commanding the road from the Mediterranean to Jerusalem. It appears first in Joshua 10:33, when its king Horam came to Lachish's aid against Joshua and was defeated. Despite this victory, Israel did not fully possess Gezer; Joshua 16:10 notes the Canaanites continued to live there as forced labor. The city gained renewed prominence during Solomon's reign: Pharaoh of Egypt conquered Gezer, burned it, and gave it as a dowry to his daughter upon her marriage to Solomon (1 Kings 9:16–17). Solomon subsequently rebuilt Gezer alongside Hazor and Megiddo as fortified chariot cities. The city also appears in 1 Chronicles 20:4 as the site of a battle between Israel and the Philistines. Gezer's administrative importance is further implied by the famous Gezer Calendar, a tenth-century agricultural inscription. The city's role in connecting coastal trade routes with the Judean highlands made it perpetually contested throughout the biblical period.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Tel Gezer (Tell Jezer) has been excavated extensively since R.A.S. Macalister's pioneering digs (1902–1909) and later by the Hebrew Union College expedition (1964–1974), with ongoing work continuing into the twenty-first century. The site has yielded a remarkable array of discoveries: a massive Middle Bronze Age glacis and gates, a Late Bronze Age 'High Place' of standing stones, and a Solomonic six-chambered gate nearly identical to those at Hazor and Megiddo — dramatically confirming the 1 Kings 9 account. The famous Gezer Calendar, inscribed on a limestone tablet, was discovered here and represents one of the earliest known Hebrew inscriptions.
Verse Appearances (14)
Sources: ISBE Encyclopedia · OpenBible Geocoding (CC BY) · Pleiades Gazetteer View all →