GESSUR (Hebr. Gĕsûr). — 1. Aramaean region, now the Golan, between the Sea of Batanea (v.) to the east, between the Aramaean principality of Maacah to the north and Gilead to the south. The small state was later absorbed (c. 1000 B.C.) by Aram of Damascus. The Geshurites (gĕsûrî) are mentioned along with the inhabitants of Maacah (Deut. 3:14; Josh. 12:5; 13:11), probably also in 2 Sam. 2:9 in the Syriac version and the Vulgate. Spared by the Israelites (Josh. 13:13), they later occupied some of the cities of Jair (1 Chron. 2:23).
Maacah, wife of David and mother of Absalom, was the daughter of Talmai, king of G. (2 Sam. 3:3; 1 Chron. 3:2), whose palace Absalom fled to after killing Amnon (2 Sam. 13:37; 14:23, 32; 15:8).
2. From Josh. 13:2 and 1 Sam. 27:8 it appears that the Geshurites were a small Amalekite kingdom south of Philistia and east of the Egyptian frontier. Left untouched by Joshua (Josh. 31:2), it was conquered by David (1 Sam. 27:8). The relationship between them and the earlier Geshurites is unknown.