- GESHEM or Gashmu, firmness, probably chief of the Arabs south of
Palestine, one of the enemies of the Jews after the return from Babylon
(Nehemiah 2:19; 6:1, 2). He united with Sanballat and Tobiah in opposing
the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem. - GESHUR bridge, 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 Geshurites probably inhabited the rocky fastness
of Argob, the modern Lejah, in the north-east corner of Bashan. In the time
of David it was ruled by Talmai, whose daughter he married, and who was
the mother of Absalom, who fled to Geshur after the murder of Amnon (2
Samuel 13:37). - GESHURITES (1.) The inhabitants of Geshur. They maintained friendly
relations with the Israelites on the east of Jordan (Joshua 12:5; 13:11, 13).
(2.) Another aboriginal people of Palestine who inhabited the south-west
border of the land. Geshuri in Joshua 13:2 should be “the Geshurite,” not
the Geshurites mentioned in ver. 11, 13, but the tribe mentioned in 1
Samuel 27:8.