GAAL

(Gaʹal) [loathing].

The son of Ebed who, along with his brothers, came to Shechem and gained the confidence of the landowners there. (Judg. 9:26) These landowners had previously strengthened the hand of Abimelech to kill the seventy sons of Jerubbaal (Gideon) and then had proceeded to make him king over them. (Judg. 9:1-6) Apparently Abimelech constituted Zebul as resident prince of Shechem, while he himself personally lived in Arumah. In time a bad spirit developed between the landowners of Shechem and Abimelech. So Gaal and his brothers now incited the city to revolt against Abimelech. Zebul, hearing of this, at once sent word to Abimelech, with a recommendation on how to cope with the situation that was developing. Gaal and those with him were defeated in the ensuing battle with King Abimelech and fled back to the city. Finally Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem.—Judg. 9:22-41.

GAASH

(Gaʹash) [perhaps, shaking, or, earthquake].

The name of a hill in the mountainous region of Ephraim S of Timnath-heres (or Timnath-serah). (Josh. 24:30; Judg. 2:9) The torrent valleys of Gaash, mentioned in 2 Samuel 23:30 and 1 Chronicles 11:32, apparently refer to ravines in the vicinity of that hill.

GABBAI

(Gab·baʹi) [tax gatherer].

A Benjamite jurisdictional district head whose name appears in a listing of those residing in Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s day.—Neh. 11:3, 7, 8.

GABBATHA

See STONE PAVEMENT.

GABRIEL

(Gaʹbri·el) [an able-bodied one of God].

The only holy angel other than Michael named in the Bible; the only materialized angel to give his name. Twice Gabriel appeared to Daniel: first, near the Ulai River “in the third year of the kingship of Belshazzar” to explain Daniel’s vision of the he-goat and the ram (Dan. 8:1, 15-26); and second, “in the first year of Darius” the Mede, to deliver the prophecy concerning the “seventy weeks.” (Dan. 9:1, 20-27) To Zechariah the priest, Gabriel brought the good news that he and his aging wife Elizabeth would have a son, John (the Baptist). (Luke 1:11-20) To Mary, the virgin girl betrothed to Joseph, Gabriel addressed himself, saying: “Good day, highly favored one, Jehovah is with you.” He then told her that she would give birth to a son, Jesus, who “will be called Son of the Most High; and Jehovah God will give him the throne of David his father, . . . and there will be no end of his kingdom.”—Luke 1:26-38.

From the Bible record it is learned that Gabriel is a high-ranking angelic creature in close association with the heavenly court, one “who stands near before God”; that he was one “sent forth” by God to deliver special messages to servants of Jehovah here on earth (Luke 1:19, 26); that his personal envisioned or materialized form was, true to the meaning of his name, “like an able-bodied man.”—Dan. 8:15.

GAD

[good fortune].

1. Son of Jacob by Leah’s maidservant Zilpah, who also bore Gad’s younger brother Asher. At his birth in Paddan-aram about 1770 B.C.E., Leah exclaimed: “With good fortune!”; hence the name Gad. (Gen. 30:9-13; 35:26) Gad accompanied his brothers in two trips to Egypt to get grain from Joseph. (Gen. 42:3; 43:15) He was about forty-two years old when he and his family moved to Egypt along with his father Jacob in 1728 B.C.E. (Gen. 46:6, 7, 16) Seventeen years later, when Jacob was about to die, he blessed his twelve sons, saying of Gad: “As for Gad, a marauder band will raid him, but he will raid the extreme rear.”—Gen. 49:1, 2, 19.

2. The tribe that sprang from the seven sons of Gad. The tribe’s warriors numbered 45,650 in the second year of the exodus from Egypt. (Gen. 46:16; Num. 1:1-3, 24, 25) Gad was in the three-tribe division with Reuben and Simeon. Their campsite was to the S of the tabernacle. (Num. 2:10-16) When on the march Judah’s division was first, followed by the Levites of the families of Gershon and Merari carrying the tabernacle and, after them, the division of which Gad was a part. Eliasaph son of Deuel was chieftain of their army. (Num. 10:14-20) At the end of the wilderness journey the fighting men of Gad numbered but 40,500, a decrease of 5,150.—Num. 26:15-18.

TERRITORY

The men of the tribe of Gad followed the occupation of their fathers as raisers of livestock. (Gen. 46:32) For this reason they requested as their allotment of territory the cattle country E of the Jordan. Moses responded by assigning this territory to Gad, Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh, who also possessed much livestock. However, Moses stipulated that this was on the condition that these tribes would assist the others in subduing the territory W of the Jordan. To this they readily agreed, and, after constructing stone pens for their livestock and cities for their little ones, they supplied their quota of fighters to cross the Jordan for the conquest of the land. (Num. 32:1-36; Josh. 4:12, 13) Gad’s territory had been occupied by the Amorites, whom the Israelites had defeated under Moses’ leadership.—Num. 32:33; Deut. 2:31-36; 3:8-20.

The country occupied by Gad was comprised of the lowlands along most of the Jordan River’s E bank, S almost to the Dead Sea and N near to the Sea of Chinnereth. East of the lowlands, from the S extremity to Mahanaim, Gad’s territory took in the higher tablelands, which included the torrent valley of Jabbok. A large part of Gilead was therefore in Gad’s allotment. (Deut. 3:12, 13) Gad was bordered on the N by Manasseh and on the S by Reuben.—Josh. 13:24-28.

After the conquest of the land, Joshua gave Gad a share in the spoil and sent them back. Gad then joined with Reuben and Manasseh in constructing a great altar by the Jordan. The other tribes were alarmed at this, but were calmed when it was explained that the altar was built as a witness that they, like the tribes W of the Jordan, would engage exclusively in the worship of Jehovah. The altar was to provide assurance that there was no division between the tribes E and W of the Jordan.—Josh. 22:1-34.

All these things were in harmony with Jacob’s blessing of Gad:

“As for Gad, a marauder band will raid him,

but he will raid the extreme rear.”—Gen.

49:19.

The tribe was not afraid to have one side (the E) of their boundary open to marauder bands. They did not choose to live on the eastern highlands just to get out of fighting for the land of Canaan. Jacob’s parting words to Gad were as a command to strike back confidently at those marauding him and violating his borders. Moreover, the Gadites raided the raiders, making these turn about in flight and pursuing their extreme rear.

Moses also spoke of Gad’s good qualities when he said:

“Blessed is the one widening the borders of Gad.

As a lion he must reside,

And he must tear the arm, yes, the crown

of the head.

And he will pick out the first part for himself,

For there the allotment of a statute-giver is

reserved.

And the heads of the people will gather themselves

together.

The righteousness of Jehovah will he

certainly execute

And his judicial decisions with Israel.”—Deut.

33:20, 21.