Gad

1. The seventh son of Jacob by Zilpah, Leah's maid; and ancestor of the tribe of Gad. The etymology of the name was given by Leah, Jacob's wife, who named him Gad meaning good fortune, because he was the firstborn to his mother (Gen 30:3-11). He was the full brother of Asher (Gen 35:26; 46:16-18; Ex 1:4; I Chr 2:2).

In the census taken in the second year after the Exodus the tribe of Gad numbered 45,650 and was led by Eliasaph son of Reuel (Num 2:14-15). At the time of the second census there were 40,500 (Num 26:18). They were shepherds (Gen 46:32) and together with Reuben had "a very great multitude of livestock" (Num 32:1). For this reason they requested and were allotted Jazer and Gilead in the east of Jordan; a region which "was a place for livestock" (Num 32:1). This favor was granted on condition that the men first arm themselves and help in the battle for the territory west of the Jordan (Num 32:1-33). After the subsequent successful conquest of Canaan they built an altar beside the Jordan as a sign of their devotion to God and readiness to worship him (Josh 22:26-34). In the Blessing of Jacob (Gen 49:19) it is said "Gad, a troop shall tramp upon him, but he shall triumph at last", while in the Blessing of Moses (Deut 33:20), it is said "Blessed is he who enlarges Gad".

One of David's famous thirty "mighty men" was Bani the Gadite (II Sam 23:36). Gadites aided David at Ziklag while he was in hiding from Saul. They were "men trained for battle" with "the faces of lions" and were "swift as gazelles" (I Chr 12:8).

The Arameans later overran the territory of Gad (II Kgs 10:33) and subsequently the Assyrians took its inhabitants to Assyria as captives (II Kgs 15:29); the land was then occupied by the Ammonites (Jer 49:1). Gad's portion is foreseen in Ezekiel's prophecy of the division of the land (Ezek 48:27-28).

In the NT Gad appears along with other tribes in the list of the sealed (Rev 7:5).

2. A seer. He advised David who was in flight from Saul, to return to Judah (I Sam 22:1-5) and later to build the altar on the threshing floor of Araunah (II Sam 24:18; I Chr 21:9ff). He is also accredited with helping to organize the Levitical musicians in the Temple (II Chr 29:25).

There was also a book (now lost), called the "Chronicles of Gad the seer" which was utilized by the author of Chronicles (I Chr 29:29).

3. A foreign deity of good fortune worshiped by some Israelites in the period after the Exile (Is 65:11). In a bilingual Aramaic-Greek inscription from Palymra the deity is identified in Greek as "fortune".

Concordance
GAD 1: Gen 30:11; 35:26; 46:16; 49:19. Ex 1:4. Num 1:14, 24-25; 2:14; 7:42; 10:20; 13:15; 26:15, 18; 32:1-2, 6, 25,29, 31, 33-34; 34:14. Deut 27:13; 33:20. Josh 4:12; 13:24, 28; 18:7; 20:8; 21:7, 38; 22:9-11, 13,15, 21, 25, 30-34. I Sam 13:7. II Sam 24:5. II Kgs 10:33. I Chr 2:2; 5:11; 6:63,80; 12:14. Jer 49:1. Ezek 48:27-28, 34. Rev 7:5
GAD 2: I Sam 22:5. II Sam 24:11,13-14, 18-19. I Chr 21:9, 11,13, 18-19; 29:29. II Chr 29:25
GAD 3: Is 65:11

For Gad, the prophet of King David, see Gad (Bible prophet).

Gad (Hebrew: גד ; "luck") was, according to the Book of Genesis, the first son of Jacob and Zilpah, the seventh of Jacob overall, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Gad; however some Biblical scholars view this as postdiction, an eponymous metaphor providing an aetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite confederation^[1]. The text of the Torah argues that the name of Gad means luck/fortunate, in Hebrew, deriving from a root meaning cut/divide, in the sense of divided out; classical rabbinical literature argues that the name was a prophetic reference to the manna; some Biblical scholars suspect that refers to a deity originally worshipped by the tribe, namely Gad^[2], the semitic deity of fortune, who, according to the Book of Isaiah, was still worshipped by certain Hebrews during the 6th century BC^[3].

In the Biblical account, Gad's mother is only a handmaid, rather than a wife of Jacob, which scholars see as indicating that the authors saw the tribe of Gad as being not of entirely Israelite origin^[2]; many scholars believe that Gad was a late addition to the Israelite confederation^[4], as implied by the Moabite Stone, which seemingly differentiates between the Israelites and the tribe of Gad^[5], and the books of Samuel and of Kings, which appear to portray Gad as an enemy of Israel^[6]. Gad appears to have originally been a northwards-migrating nomadic tribe, at a time when the other tribes were quite settled in Canaan^[7].

According to classical rabbinical literature, Gad was born on the tenth of Heshwan, and lived 125 years^[2]. These sources go on to state that, unlike his other brothers, Joseph didn't present Gad to the Pharaoh, since Joseph didn't want Gad to become one of Pharaoh's guards, an appointment that would have been likely had the Pharaoh realised that Gad had great strength^[8].

See also

• Tribe of Gad
• Gad (deity)

Children of Jacob by wife in order of birth (D = Daughter)

Leah

Reuben (1)

Simeon (2)

Levi (3)

Judah (4)

Issachar (9)

Zebulun (10)

Dinah (D)

Rachel

Joseph (11)

Benjamin (12)

Bilhah (Rachel's servant)

Dan (5)

Naphtali (6)

Zilpah (Leah's servant)

Gad (7)

Asher (8)

Citations

1. ^ Peake's commentary on the Bible
2. ^ ^{a b c} Jewish Encyclopedia
3. ^ Isaiah 65:11
4. ^ ibid
5. ^ ibid
6. ^ ibid
7. ^ ibid
8. ^ ibid

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