Interesting Facts

• The Gerarim were one of five families that originated from the intermarriage of the children of Pathros and Casloch.
• They, along with their related families, built themselves cities and named these settlements after their respective fathers.

Genealogy

• The Gerarim descended from Ham, through his son Mitzraim.
• Mitzraim begat Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim, and Caphtorim, comprising seven families.
• The children of Pathros and Casloch, who were among the sons of Mitzraim, intermarried.
• From this intermarriage emerged five families: the Pelishtim, the Azathim, the Gerarim, the Githim, and the Ekronim.
• These five families, including the Gerarim, established cities and named them in honor of their fathers.

Historical Context

The emergence of the Gerarim is situated within the broader context of the post-Babel dispersion of humanity. Following the confusion of languages at the Tower of Babel, the descendants of Noah scattered across the earth, forming distinct families, languages, and nations. The Gerarim, being descendants of Ham through Mitzraim, trace their origins to this period of resettlement. The families of Mitzraim, including Pathros and Casloch, settled by the river Sihor, identified as the brook of Egypt. The intermarriage between the children of Pathros and Casloch, from which the Gerarim arose, represents a stage in the development of these distinct Hamitic groups in the region near Egypt. A significant cultural practice during this time was the building of cities and naming them after ancestral figures, a practice explicitly attributed to the Gerarim and their related families, signifying the establishment of their territorial and familial identities.

Narrative

The narrative concerning Gerar and the Gerarim commences with their lineage tracing back to Ham through Mitzraim and the subsequent intermarriage of the offspring of Mitzraim’s sons, Pathros and Casloch. The Gerarim are presented as one of the five distinct families that resulted from this union, alongside the Pelishtim, Azathim, Githim, and Ekronim. A key action attributed to the Gerarim, as well as their related families, is the construction of cities which they then named after their fathers. This act of building and naming serves as a foundational element of their early narrative, highlighting the process by which the dispersed families of Noah established their presence and commemorated their ancestry in the newly settled lands after the great dispersion. The Gerarim, therefore, form a part of the Hamitic lineage that played a role in the repopulation and organization of the regions near Egypt in the aftermath of the Tower of Babel incident. Their story, as recounted in the sources, emphasizes their familial connections and their contribution to the early urban development of the post-diluvian world through the practice of naming their settlements after their progenitors.