Deuteronomy 33:20-21 And of Gad he said, Blessed be he that enlarges Gad: he dwells as a lion, and tears the arm with the crown of the head.… We are able to form a more than usually distinct idea of the personal character which pertained to Gad, and which he transmitted to his descendants. Scripture hints and Jewish traditions bear one another out in suggesting that this man was wild and turbulent and headstrong above his brethren; and that, being by no means content with the peaceful occupations of pastoral life which belonged to his family, he threw himself with ardour into the fierce forays which then, as now, kept the land of Canaan in a state of chronic warfare and unsettlement. It was to this feature that Jacob probably referred in his dying prophecy, in which he introduces a characteristic play upon the name which Leah had bestowed— "Gad, a plundering troop is plundering him, But he is plundering at their heels." — Genesis 49:19.When the children of Israel went out of Egypt, Gad marched and encamped, not as we might have expected with his whole brother Asher, but with Reuben and with Simeon, two tribes which closely resembled his own in character and occupation. All these three retained the nomad habits of their father's earlier life in a marked degree, and had not, like some other Hebrew tribes, settled down in Egypt into the ways of an organised and civilised nation. They still preferred to live in tents as did the unreclaimed Ishmaelites of the desert. All their wealth consisted in huge flocks and herds of cattle. All their sympathies were with the freebooting mode of life which lies on the border line between civilisation and barbarism. Thus, when Canaan was settled, although Simeon parted from his former companions and sought his fortunes alone in the dry south land of Judah, Gad and Reuben kept their alliance fast, and took possession of the country east of Jordan, where alone there was room for their immense flocks, and opportunity for predatory raids. In this alliance Reuben seems to have willingly yielded the first place to his younger brother, whose character was evidently stronger than his own; and it is curious to notice how invariably Gad speaks and acts as the leader in all the transactions that attended this settlement. We recognise the same masterful character in all the men who rise up before us in the after history of the Bible as members of the tribe of Gad; namely, Jephthah, the eleven heroes who joined David at the most critical period of his fortunes, and Elijah the Tishbite, in whose rude strength and fearlessness we seem to behold the Gadite type in its best development, and to recognise the noblest aspect of the comparison which Moses had instituted in his blessing between this tribe and the shaggy forest lord "which is mightiest among beasts, and turneth not away for any." (T. G. Rooke, B. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And of Gad he said, Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad: he dwelleth as a lion, and teareth the arm with the crown of the head. |
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