Gera

Ge’ra. (a grain). One of the "sons," that is, descendants, of Benjamin. Gen 46:21. Gera, who is named, Jdg 3:15, as the ancestor of Ehud, and in 2Sa 16:5, as the ancestor of Shimei who cursed David, is probably also the same person, (though some consider them different persons).

Son, i.e. descendant, of Benjamin; enumerated in the list when Jacob went into Egypt (Gen 46:21); son of Bela (1Ch 8:3, where probably but one Gera is genuine); in the loins of his grandfather Benjamin then, but not actually born until after the going to Egypt and before Jacob’s death. Numbers 26 omits Gera as not being head of a family hut being one of the Belaites; his mention in Genesis implies that ultimately he became head of a family. Gera, Ehud’s ancestor, and Gera, Shimei’s ancestor, is the same person (Jdg 3:15; 2Sa 16:5).

(Heb. Gera’, גֵּרָא, a grain SEE GERAH; Sept. Γηρά), the name of at least three Benjamites.

1. The son of Bela and grandson of Benjamin (1Ch 8:3); probably the same with the one mentioned (with some confusion) in 1Ch 8:5; 1Ch 8:7, unless one of these be identical with No. 2 below. In Gen 46:21, he is given as if directly the son of Benjamin; and he there appears among the descendants of Jacob, at the time of that patriarch’s removal to Egypt, B.C. 1874. SEE JACOB. "Gera is not mentioned in the list of Benjamite families in Num 26:38-40, of which a very obvious explanation is that at that time he was not the head of a separate family, but was included among the Belaites; it being a matter of necessity that some of Bela’s sons should be so included, otherwise there could be no family of Belaites at all. To the remarks made under Becher should be added that the great destruction of the Benjamites recorded in Judges 20 may account for the introduction of so many new names in the later Benjamite lists of 1 Chronicles 7, 8, of which several seem to be women’s names" (Smith). SEE BENJAMIN. In 1Ch 7:7, UZZIEL occupies the same position as Gera elsewhere in the genealogy. SEE BELA.

2. The father (or ancestor) of Ehud the judge (Jdg 3:15); compare 1Ch 8:5; 1Ch 8:7; possibly identical with No. 1 above. B.C. ante 1509. SEE EHAUD.

3. The father (or ancestor) of Shimei, which latter so grossly abused David (2Sa 16:5; 2Sa 19:16; 2Sa 19:18; 1Ki 2:8); thought by some to be identical with both the foregoing. B.C. ante 1023. SEE SHIMEI.

[Ge’ra]

A descendant of Benjamin. Gen 46:21; Jdg 3:15; 2Sa 16:5; 2Sa 19:16; 2Sa 19:18; 1Ki 2:8; 1Ch 8:3; 1Ch 8:5; 1Ch 8:7. It is not clear whether all the passages refer to the same person.

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By: Emil G. Hirsch, M. Seligsohn

1. Fourth son of Benjamin (Gen. xlvi. 21). He is not mentioned in the list of Benjamin's sons given in Num. xxvi. 38-40. In I Chron. viii. 3 Gera is given as the son of Bela, the first son of Benjamin.

2. Father of Ehud the Benjamite, who judged the Israelites in the time of Eglon, King of Moab (Judges iii. 15). In I Chron. viii. 7 Gera is said to have been the son of Ehud.

3. Father of Shimei, also a Benjamite, who cursed David when he fled from before his son Absalom (II Sam. xvi. 5).

GERA.—One of Benjamin’s sons (Gen 46:21, omitted in Num 26:38-40). Acc. to 1Ch 8:3; 1Ch 8:8; 1Ch 8:7 he was a son of Bela and a grandson of Benjamin. Gera was evidently a well-known Benjamite clan, to which belonged Ehud (Jdg 3:15) and Shimel (2Sa 16:5; 2Sa 19:16; 2Sa 19:18, 1Ki 2:3).

gē´ra (גּרא, gērā’, “grain”): A family name of the tribe of Benjamin, hence, not necessarily a separate individual in (3) and (4) below:

(1) A son of Benjamin (Gen 46:21).

(2) According to 1Ch 8:3, 1Ch 8:5, 1Ch 8:7, son of Bela and grandson of Benjamin. The name is repeated (1Ch 8:5) in the list of Bela’s sons.

(3) Father, or ancestor, of the judge Ehud (Jdg 3:15).

(4) Father, or ancestor, of Shimei, the Benjamite, who cursed David when he fled from Absalom (2Sa 16:5; 2Sa 19:16, 2Sa 19:18; 1Ki 2:8).