Gedor - Rather read, "Gerar" (Septuagint) a fertile district Genesis 26:6-12; 2 Chronicles 14:14-15 in Philistine country.

And they went to the entrance of Gedor,.... There was a city of this name in the tribe of Judah, 1 Chronicles 4:18 but this seems to be further off, and perhaps is the same with Gedaris, mentioned by Strabo (l) along with Azotus and Askelon, cities that belonged to the Philistines; since it was inhabited by the posterity of Ham, of whom the Philistines were, as in the following verse:

even unto the east side of the valley; which was near to Gedor, and a suitable place:

to seek pasture for their flocks; their sheep and goats.

(l) Geograph. l. 16. p. 522.

The princes named "went westward from Gedor to the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks." גדר מבוא does not mean the entrance of Gedor (Mich., Berth., and others); but is, as the corresponding מזרח, "rising" of the sun, i.e., east, requires, a designation of the west, and is abridged from השּׁמשׁ מבוא, as in statements with reference to places מזרח is used instead of השּׁמשׁ מזרח. The locality itself, however, is to us at present unknown. So much is clear, that by Gedor, the Gedor mentioned in Joshua 15:58, situated in the high lands of Judah, north of Hebron, cannot be intended, for in that district there is no open valley stretching out on either hand; and the Simeonites, moreover, could not have carried on a war of conquest in the territory of the tribe of Judah in the reign of Hezekiah. But where this Gedor is to be sought cannot be more accurately determined; for הגּיא is certainly not "the valley in which the Dead Sea lies, and the southern continuation of that valley," as Ewald and Berth. think: that valley has, in the Old Testament, always the name הערבה. From the use of the article, "the valley," no further conclusion can be drawn, than that a definite valley in the neighbourhood of Gedor is meant.

(Note: The lxx have rendered גדר by Γεράρ, whence Ewald and Bertheau conclude that גדר is a transcriber's error for גרר. But a slip of the pen which would make the Gerar so famed in the history of the patriarchs into Gedor is priori not very probable; and the defective writing גדר, while Gedor in the high lands is written גּדור, cannot be adduced, as Bertheau thinks, in support of the hypothesis, since Gedor even in 1 Chronicles 4:18 is written defectively. It is decisive against Gerar, that the dwelling-places of the Simeonites demonstrably did not extend till towards sunset (westward) from Gerar, for the cities assigned to them all lie to the east of Gerar.)

Even the further statements in 1 Chronicles 4:30, with regard to the district, that they found there fat and good pasture, and that the land extended on both sides (i.e., was wide), and at rest and secure, because formerly the Hamites dwelt there, and the statement of 1 Chronicles 4:41, that the Simeonites found the Meunim there, and smote them, give us no firm foothold for the ascertainment of the district referred to. The whole Negeb of Judah has been as yet too little travelled over and explored by modern travellers, to allow of our forming any probable conjecture as to Gedor and the wide valley stretching out on both sides. The description of the Hamite inhabitants, וּשׁלוה שׁקטת, reminds us of the inhabitants of the ancient Laish (Judges 18:7, Judges 18:27). Those צם מן are people from Ham, i.e., Hamites, and they may have been Egyptians, Cushites, or even Canaanites (1 Chronicles 1:8). This only is certain, that they were a peaceful shepherd people, who dwelt in tents, and were therefore nomads. לפנים, "formerly," before the Simeonites took possession of the land.

And they {l} went to the entrance of Gedor, even unto the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks.

(l) For the tribe of Simeon was so great in number, that in the time of Hezekiah they sought new dwellings to Gedor, which is in the tribe of Dan.

4:1-43 Genealogies. - In this chapter we have a further account of Judah, the most numerous and most famous of all the tribes; also an account of Simeon. The most remarkable person in this chapter is Jabez. We are not told upon what account Jabez was more honourable than his brethren; but we find that he was a praying man. The way to be truly great, is to seek to do God's will, and to pray earnestly. Here is the prayer he made. Jabez prayed to the living and true God, who alone can hear and answer prayer; and, in prayer he regarded him as a God in covenant with his people. He does not express his promise, but leaves it to be understood; he was afraid to promise in his own strength, and resolved to devote himself entirely to God. Lord, if thou wilt bless me and keep me, do what thou wilt with me; I will be at thy command and disposal for ever. As the text reads it, this was the language of a most ardent and affectionate desire, Oh that thou wouldest bless me! Four things Jabez prayed for. 1. That God would bless him indeed. Spiritual blessings are the best blessings: God's blessings are real things, and produce real effects. 2. That He would enlarge his coast. That God would enlarge our hearts, and so enlarge our portion in himself, and in the heavenly Canaan, ought to be our desire and prayer. 3. That God's hand might be with him. God's hand with us, to lead us, protect us, strengthen us, and to work all our works in us and for us, is a hand all-sufficient for us. 4. That he would keep him from evil, the evil of sin, the evil of trouble, all the evil designs of his enemies, that they might not hurt, nor make him a Jabez indeed, a man of sorrow. God granted that which he requested. God is ever ready to hear prayer: his ear is not now heavy.