📖 Biblical Definition
Major Canaanite-then-Israelite city on the western edge of the Judean foothills overlooking the coastal plain (Joshua 10:33; 12:12; 16:3, 10; 21:21; Judges 1:29; 1 Kings 9:15-17; 1 Chronicles 6:67; 7:28; 14:16; 20:4). Gezer's biblical history is significant. In the Joshua conquest, King Horam of Gezer came up to help Lachish against Joshua and was defeated (Joshua 10:33). Gezer was allotted to Ephraim and designated as a Levitical city for the sons of Kohath (Joshua 21:21; 1 Chronicles 6:67); however, the Canaanites were not driven out but dwelt among the Ephraimites paying tribute (Judges 1:29). David fought the Philistines from Gibeon to Gezer (1 Chronicles 14:16). Most consequentially, Gezer was captured by an Egyptian pharaoh (probably Siamun, c. 970 BC), burnt with fire, and given as dowry to his daughter when Solomon married her; Solomon then rebuilt Gezer along with Hazor and Megiddo (1 Kings 9:15-17) — the three great fortified cities of the Solomonic kingdom whose royal-period archaeology displays similar gate-architecture and casemate-walls in modern excavations. The Gezer Calendar (a tenth-century-BC Hebrew agricultural calendar inscription) is one of the earliest extant Hebrew inscriptions and provides linguistic-historical evidence for the period of David and Solomon. The patriarchal-Reformed reader values Gezer as a significant city of the early monarchy, the site of one of the great Solomonic fortifications, and one of the most archaeologically rich OT sites.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Major Canaanite-Israelite city on western Judean foothills; Joshua conquest (Joshua 10:33); Levitical city; Solomon's fortification with Hazor and Megiddo (1 Kings 9:15-17); Gezer Calendar 10th-c. BC.
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GEZER, proper n. (OT place) Major Canaanite-then-Israelite city on the western edge of the Judean foothills overlooking the coastal plain. Joshua conquest: King Horam of Gezer defeated (Joshua 10:33). Allotted to Ephraim; Levitical city for sons of Kohath (Joshua 21:21); Canaanites not driven out (Judges 1:29). Captured by Egyptian pharaoh (probably Siamun, c. 970 BC), given as dowry to Solomon's bride; Solomon rebuilt Gezer with Hazor and Megiddo (1 Kings 9:15-17); the three great fortified cities of the Solomonic kingdom. Gezer Calendar (10th c. BC) one of the earliest extant Hebrew inscriptions.
📖 Key Scripture
Joshua 10:33 — "Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua smote him and his people, until he had left him none remaining."
Judges 1:29 — "Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them."
1 Kings 9:15-17 — "And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised; for to build the house of the LORD, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer. For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it for a present unto his daughter, Solomon's wife. And Solomon built Gezer."
1 Chronicles 14:16 — "David therefore did as God commanded him: and they smote the host of the Philistines from Gibeon even to Gazer."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
No major postmodern redefinition. The principal contemporary mishandling is the modern reader's missing of Gezer's archaeological significance and the Gezer Calendar's witness to early Hebrew history.
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Gezer as a place name does not undergo lexical corruption. The principal contemporary recovery is the appreciation of Gezer as one of the great Solomonic fortifications — one of the three great cities (Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer) whose royal-period archaeology displays similar gate-architecture and casemate-walls confirming the OT account of Solomon's strategic fortification program (1 Kings 9:15-17). The Gezer Calendar (tenth-century BC) provides one of the earliest extant Hebrew inscriptions and substantive linguistic-historical witness to the period. The patriarchal-Reformed reader values both the biblical narrative and the archaeological witness Gezer provides to the historical reality of the Davidic-Solomonic kingdom.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Joshua 10:33; 1 Kings 9:15-17; Gezer Calendar; one of the three great Solomonic fortifications.
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['Hebrew', 'H1507', 'Gezer', 'place-name']
['Hebrew', 'H3925', 'Lakhish', 'Lachish (sister fortified city)']
['Hebrew', 'H4023', 'Megiddo', 'Megiddo (third great Solomonic fortification)']
Usage
"Gezer: major Canaanite-Israelite city on western Judean foothills."
"One of the three great Solomonic fortifications (with Hazor and Megiddo)."
"Gezer Calendar 10th-c. BC: earliest extant Hebrew inscription."