GAD
| Lehite GN | 1. | City, burned with fire ca. 34 AD, along with LAMAN, JOSH, and KISHKUMEN (3 Nephi 9:10) |
Etymology
It is likely that this NEPHITE GN comes from the PN of the first person who settled the city (see Alma 8:7). The root gad in Hebrew means “fortune, luck, riches, etc.,” and is quite common in Hebrew, including the PN gād, one of the twelve sons of JACOB (ISRAEL).[1] The (deified) word appears in biblical PNs, e.g., Gaddiel (perhaps, “My fortune is El”) in Numbers 13:5, and in extra-biblical Hebrew texts close to the time of LEHI (JAT).[2]
The biblical noun gĕdȗd, “band, troop,” is a possibility for this GN.[3] However, “fortune” seems a more likely name for a city than “troop.”
Less likely, though not impossible is the biblical Hebrew word for “coriander,” gad. For an example of a Near Eastern GN coming from a plant, see the Arabic GN Ras Shamra, “cape fennel” (JH).
Cf. Book of Mormon GID, AMGID, AMNIGADDAH, GADIANDI, GADIANTON/GADDIANTON, GADIOMNAH, et al.
Variants
Deseret Alphabet: 𐐘𐐈𐐔 (ɡæd)
Notes
- ↑ The King James Bible disguises the meaning of JACOB’s son name by rendering Genesis 30:11 (the first time the personal name appears in the Bible), “And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.” The Matthew Bible (1537) is more accurate, “Then said Lea: Good luck: and called his name Gad.” A more literal translation might be, “And Leah said, “By good fortune!” And she called his name Gad.” (See HALOT sub גד.)The name for troop/band in biblical Hebrew is gĕdȗd, a close homophone (in Semitic languages) of gad.
- ↑ See Shmuel Ahitub, Echoes from the Past: Hebrew and Cognate Inscriptions from the Biblical Period (Jerusalem: Carta, 2008), 503, for the names גד, גדיו, גדעזר.
- ↑ The Hebrew verb gdd that apparently comes from this primary noun means “to band together.” See HALOT sub גדד.
