GAD
“fortune”.
The seventh son of Jacob and first of Zilpah, Leah’s maid. Little is known of Gad, except that he had seven sons (Gen. 30:11; 46:16; 1 Chron. 5:11). In his blessing to his sons, Jacob said of Gad: “An army will attack him; but he will attack at the end” (Gen. 49:19).
Moses said, “Blessed is he who enlarged Gad; Like a lion he rests, and he snatches arm and head. He chooses the best of the earth for himself, because there the legislator’s portion was reserved for him. And he came in front of the people; With Israel he carried out the commandments and righteous decrees of Jehovah” (Deut. 33:20, 21). When they left Egypt, the number of those capable of bearing weapons in the tribe was 45,650, but by crossing the Jordan, this number had decreased by 5,000.
Since their territory was located east of the Jordan, with Reuben and half a tribe of Manasseh, they were necessarily going to have to endure the first blows of the enemies attacking from the east (1 Chron. 5:18-22). They were a warlike tribe, suited to maintaining such an exposed position.
Of those who joined David it is said that they were “men of war, very valiant in fighting, skilled with shield and buckler; Their faces were like the faces of lions, and they were as light as gazelles on the mountains” (1 Chron. 12:8-15). Jephthah and Barzillai were from this tribe.
Gad possessed a large district from a point a little north of the Dead Sea to the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee, with a very fertile plain suitable for his cattle and herds, which included the highlands of Gilead. The tribes east of the Jordan were the first to be taken captive by the king of Assyria in 740 BC, with the Ammonites taking possession of the territory of Gad (1 Chron. 5:25, 26; Jer. 49:1).
Twelve thousand of this tribe will be sealed at a future day for blessing (Rev. 7:5).
Their territory in the restoration of Israel will be at the southern end of the earth (Ez. 48:27).