I. Name

A location on the northern border of the allotments of the twelve tribes (Josh. 11.17; Josh. 12.7; Josh. 13.5). Perhaps Baal should be taken as the name of the god and gad as an appellative (‘Baal is fortune’) rather than the other way round (‘Lord Gad’). Gad is known both from place names (Migdal-gad) and personal names (Gaddi, Gaddiel, Gaddiyau) and is best understood as an appellative, i.e., ‘fortune’. Gad as a divine name is attested only in the post-exilic period (Isa. 65.11) and since that time appears as a theophoric e…