Gad (deity)

Gad was the name of the pan-Semitic god of fortune, usually depicted as a male but sometimes as a female,[2] and is attested in ancient records of Aram and Arabia.

The root verb in Gad means cut or divide, and from this comes the idea of fate being meted out.

How widespread the cult of Gad, the deity, was in Canaanite times may be inferred from the names Baalgad, a city at the foot of Mount Hermon, and Migdal-gad, in the territory of Judah.

Compare also the proper names Gaddi and Gaddiel in the tribes of Manasseh and Zebulun (Numbers 13:10, 11).

Hence any of the greater gods supposed to favour men might be thought of as the giver of good fortune and be worshiped under that title.

Relief from the Temple of the Gadde , Dura-Europos depicting the god "God" of Dura (center), king Seleucus I Nicator (right) and Hairan son of Maliko son of Nasor (left). [ 1 ]