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According to the Book of Genesis of Bible, Gad () is the first-born of Zilpah, the seventh son of prophetic Patriarch Jacob. Gad is the founder of the Israelite tribe of Gad. The text of Genesis implies that the name Gad means “luck”/“fortunate”, in Hebrew.
Biblical narrative
The Biblical account shows Zilpah's status as a handmaid change to that of an actual wife of Jacob (Genesis 30:9,11). Many scholars believe that Gad was a late addition to the Israelite confederation. Gad by this theory is assumed to have been a northwards-migrating nomadic tribe, at a time when the other tribes were quite settled in Canaan.
See also
- Tribe of Gad
- Gad (deity), pan-Semitic god of fortune
- Testament of Gad, apocryphal work