Ttie principal cities of Gad are called by the general appellation, the Cities of Gilead (Josh. xiii :25).
(4) The Prophet. A prophet contemporary with David, and probably a pupil of Samuel, who early attached himself to the son of Jesse (I Sam. xxii :5). Instances of his prophetic intercourse with David occur in 2 Sam. xxiv :It, sq.; Chron. xxi :9, sq.; xxix :25. Gad wrote a history of the reign of David, to which the author of the and book of Samuel seems to refer for further in formation respecting that reign (1 Chron. xxix : 29). (B. C. to62-1017.) (5) An Idol. (Heb. gad), the god (Is.
lxv :it, A. V. "troop") of good fortune. Prop erly "the Gad," with the article. In the A. V. of Is. lxv :it the clause "that prepare a table for that troop" has in the margin in stead of the last word the proper name "Gad," which evidently denotes some idol worshiped by the Jews in Babylon, though it is impossi ble positively to identify it. Huetius would un derstand by it Fortune as symbolized by the Moon, but Vitringa, on the contrary, considers it to be the sun. Gesenius, Minter, and Ewald, consider Gad to be the form under which the planet Jupiter was worshiped as the greater star of good forfune (see especially Gesenius. C0111
ment. fiber der lesaia, ad loc.). J. W.
(6) A Plant. (Hcb. -124, gad) occurs in two places in scripture, in both of which it is trans lated coriander, viz. (Exod. xvi :3r). 'And it (manna) was like coriander (gad) seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made of honey' (Num. xi :7), 'And the manna was as coriander seed, and the color thereof as the color of bdel lium.' The manna which fell in the desert, and on which the Israelites were fed during their so journ there, is usually described, from a collation of the different passages in which it is mentioned. as white, round, and like gad, which last has almost universally been considered to mean 'co riander' seed, though some prefer other seeds. The coriander is an umbelliferous plant, the Co riandrune sativum of botanists. The fruit, com monly called seeds, is globular, greyish-colored, about the size of peppercorn, having its surface marked with fine strix. Both its taste and smell are agfeeable, depending on the presence of a volatile oil, which is separated by distillation. (See CORIANDER.) J. F. R.