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].

[edit] See also

• Tribe of Gad
• Gad (deity)

[edit] 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