Gad (Biblical figure)
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- For Gad, the prophet of King David, see Gad (Bible prophet)
According to the book of Genesis, Gad (Hebrew: גד ; "luck") is a son of Jacob and Zilpah, being the first son of Zilpah by Jacob, and the sixth of Jacob overall. His name means luck or fortunate in Hebrew, the root verb meaning cut and divide, as in divided out. Gad is the eponymous founder of the Tribe of Gad.
According to critical scholarship, Gad is merely a non-historic eponym for the tribe (i.e. derived from the tribe, rather than vice-versa). Critical scholars see the name of the tribe as actually being derived from the semitic deity of fortune, who was named Gad, and is mentioned by the Book of Isaiah as still having been worshipped by certain Hebrews during the 6th century (Isaiah 65:11).
Gad's parentage is thought by critical scholars to represent a primitive attempt at tribal ethnology - Gad descending from Leah's servant, rather than Leah, is considered to point to the Tribe of Gad as having been late joiners of the Israelite tribal confederacy. This position is also somewhat suggested by the Mesha Stele, which seems to refer to the tribe of Gad and the tribal confederacy of Israel as two separate entities.
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.
| Sons 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) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
[edit] See also
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