Gad

About Gad

Gad appears in the biblical narratives as a prophet associated with David, not as the son of Jacob who bears the same name. The Catholic Encyclopedia distinguishes the prophet from the patriarch, tribe and deity also called Gad.

In First Samuel, Gad tells David to leave his stronghold and return to Judah. David follows the instruction and goes to the forest of Haret.

After David numbers the people, Gad brings him a choice of punishments. Later in the same account, Gad directs him to build an altar on the threshing-floor of Areuna. David obeys, buys the site and makes offerings; the narrative ends with the plague stopped.

The Jewish Encyclopedia also notes the association of Gad with a written account of David's deeds and with the ordering of worship. The 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica treats the musical arrangements as a later tradition. These notices preserve his remembered role beside the king, but do not establish that a surviving manuscript was written by Gad himself.