What is…
Geshur

Hebrew: גְּשׁוּר —transliteration: Gshuwr —meaning: bridge —occurrences: 9 in Joshua, Samuel, and Chronicles

Geshur is the name of a district or principality of Syria near Gilead, between Mount Hermon and the Lake of Tiberias (2 Samuel 15:8; 1 Chronicles 2:23).

The people of this land are called Geshurites. They probably inhabited the refuge of the rocky Argob, the modern Lejah (aka Lajat), the largest lava field in southern Syria, located in the northeast corner of Bashan. It has scattered patches of arable land.

This land lay inside the boundaries set by Moses for the Israelite tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh. However, the Israelites failed to drive the Geshurites out, as they were told to do (Joshua 13:13), leaving the conquest incomplete and with longterm bad consequences for Israel.

In the time of David it was ruled by Talmai, whose daughter he married, and who became the mother of Prince Absalom, who fled to Geshur after the murder of Amnon (2 Samuel 13:37).

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Article Version: February 19, 2026