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Bible Dictionaries
Gad
Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary
or We meet with this name in the holy Scriptures, to denote three very different characters. The first is one of Jacob's sons, which he had by Zilpah, Leah's handmaid, (Genesis 30:11) and she called his name Gad, which signifies armed; and, therefore, in the margin of our Bibles it is marked a troop, or company. The second Gad we meet with, is the prophet Gad, David's seer. (2 Samuel 24:11) The character of this man is well spoken of, by his conduct and faithfulness, in Scripture. He was much attached to David; (See 1 Samuel 22:5) yet faithful to the Lord at the time of David's transgression. (See 2 Samuel 24:10-19) We read also, that Gad compiled a history of the acts of David. (See 1 Chronicles 29:29-30) The third mention of Gad is as an idol. There was a Baal-Gad in the valley of Lebanon. (Joshua 11:17) And the prophet Isaiah speaks of some "who prepared a table for that troop" [Gad,] "and that furnished a drink offering for that number." [meni] (Isaiah 65:11) The dying patriarch Jacob blessing his sons, made a memorable prophecy concerning Gad: "A troop" (said Jacob) "shall overcome him, but he shall overcome at the last." (Genesis 49:19) Considered in a temporal sense, this was literally true. For the Gadites were a numerous tribe, and a warlike tribe. We find no less than forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty, came out of Egypt, (Numbers 2:15) "men both of might, and men of war, fit for the battle, that could handle shield and buckler; whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains." (1 Chronicles 12:8) And considered in a spiritual sense, the seed of Israel, though frequently overcome by troops of foes, yet though conquered, still they are a conquering people. Troops of lusts, troops of corruptions, troops from hell, and troops from the world, may, and will, bring the poor exercised soul too often under: yet the victory is still on the side of Jacob's seed. The praying seed of Jacob, at length come off as the prevailing Israel; for they must overcome "by the blood of the Lamb," and be more than conquerors through his grace making them so.
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Hawker, Robert D.D. Entry for 'Gad'. Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance and Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/pmd/g/gad.html. London. 1828.
