The name of a district and people in Syria. Geshur lay upon the eastern side of the Jordan between Bashan, Maachah, and Mount Hermon, and within the limits of the Hebrew territory; but the Israelites did not expel its inhabitants, Joshua 12:5; 13:13 . They appear to have been brought under tribute, 1 Chronicles 2:23 , but to have retained their own kings. One of David's wives, Maachah the mother of Absalom, was daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; and it was here that Absalom found refuge after the murder of Amnon, and remained three years with his grandfather, 2 Samuel 3:3; 13:37; 15:8 . The word Geshur signifies bridge; and in the border of the region, where, according to the above data, we must place Geshur, between mount Hermon and the lake of Tiberias, there still exists an ancient stone bridge of four arches over the Jordan, called Jisr-Beni-Jakub, that is, the bridge of the children of Jacob. There seems to have been here an important pass on the route to Damascus and the East.
There was also a people of the same name in the south of Palestine, near the Philistines, Joshua 13:2; 1 Samuel 27:8 .