Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Chronicles 4:39
And they went to the entrance of Gedor, [even] unto the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks.
39. the entrance of Gedor ] R.V. the entering in of Gedor. The Gedor of Jos 15:58 is identified with Jedur, Ijdur (north of Hebron, Bdeker, p. 135), the neighbourhood of which seems an unlikely scene in the days of Hezekiah for the exploit described in 1Ch 4:41. LXX. has Gerar (cp. Gen 20:1; Gen 26:1), perhaps rightly.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Gedor – Rather read, Gerar (Septuagint) a fertile district Gen 26:6-12; 2Ch 14:14-15 in Philistine country.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
To the entrance of Gedor, to that country that belongs to Gedor, or borders upon it; either that Gedor, Jos 15:58, or that called Gederah, Jos 15:36.
Unto the east side of the valley; of which See Poole “1Sa 17:2,52“.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And they went to the entrance of Gedor,…. There was a city of this name in the tribe of Judah, 1Ch 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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The princes named “went westward from Gedor to the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks.” does not mean the entrance of Gedor (Mich., Berth., and others); but is, as the corresponding , “rising” of the sun, i.e., east, requires, a designation of the west, and is abridged from , as in statements with reference to places is used instead of . The locality itself, however, is to us at present unknown. So much is clear, that by Gedor, the Gedor mentioned in Jos 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 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 . 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 by , whence Ewald and Bertheau conclude that is a transcriber ‘ s error for . 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 , while Gedor in the high lands is written , cannot be adduced, as Bertheau thinks, in support of the hypothesis, since Gedor even in 1Ch 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 1Ch 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 1Ch 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, , reminds us of the inhabitants of the ancient Laish (Jdg 18:7, Jdg 18:27). Those are people from Ham, i.e., Hamites, and they may have been Egyptians, Cushites, or even Canaanites (1Ch 1:8). This only is certain, that they were a peaceful shepherd people, who dwelt in tents, and were therefore nomads. , “formerly,” before the Simeonites took possession of the land.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
39. They went to Gedor So the Simeonites, like the Danites, ( Judges xviii,) enlarged their possessions by conquest. Whether this Gedor is the same as that in the mountains of Judah, (Jos 15:58,) which Dr. Robinson identifies with Jedur north of Hebron, is uncertain. Ewald proposes to amend by reading, with the Septuagint, Gerar, the city where Abraham and Isaac dwelt. Gen 20:1; Gen 26:1. But wherever the place, the Simeonites found there the rich pastures they desired, and did not hesitate to destroy the tents of the peaceful occupants, and to take forcible possession of their fields, as the Danites did in the case of the inhabitants of Laish.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
they went: This expedition of the Simeonites took place in the days of Hezekiah, and, as Calmet conjectures, near the time of the captivity of the ten tribes; when the remnant of Simeon would feel themselves obliged to retire more southward into Arabia Petrea, for fear of the Jews, and to seek pasture for their flocks.
Gedor: 1Ch 4:4, 1Ch 4:18, Jos 12:13, Geder, Jos 15:58
Reciprocal: Gen 49:7 – I will divide 1Ch 12:7 – Gedor
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
4:39 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.