Metaphysical meaning of Gerar (mbd)
Gerar, ge'-rär (Heb.)--a sojourn; a lodging place; an encampment; a halting place.
A Philistine place, near Gaza (Gen. 10:19). Abraham sojourned in Gerar (Gen. 20:1), and Isaac also went to Gerar when there was a famine in the land where he had formerly lived. Both Abraham and Isaac at this place told that their wives were their sisters, and came near getting into serious trouble because of their deception. It was here that Isaac's herdsmen and the herdsmen of Gerar contended over the wells that Isaac's servants dug (Gen. 26).
Meta. Subjective substance and life. In the beginning of man's journey spiritward this substance and life are in the possession of the sense nature (Philistines), and the ruling ego of the sense nature lives in the region of this place (Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, "unto Gerar"). The awakening intellectual and spiritual man must draw upon this substance and life for sustenance (faith, Abraham, must be established in substance) and sooner or later, when the spiritual in man has gained sufficient understanding, strength, and power, it must take entire possession of this phase of man's being.
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Preceding Entry: Gera
Following Entry: Gerasenes
