TS98En 1998 Explanatory notes on
Gad or God
Apart from Gad, the son of Yaʽqoḇ, there
was another “Gad.” The astrologers of
Baḇel called Jupiter (Zeus) by the name
“Gad.” He was also well known among
the Canaanites (the Kenaʽanites) where
his name was often coupled with Baʽal,
Baʽal Gad, which according to the
Massoretic vowel pointing in the Book of
Yehoshua is pronounced: Baʽal God.
• This same name is discovered in the
ancient Germanic languages as Gott, Goda,
Gode, God, Gud, Gade. And searching
further back into its Indo-Germanic (IndoEuropean) roots, we find that it traces back
to the word GHODH, which means “union,”
even “sexual union.” No wonder this
meaning is still evident in the Dutch and
German gade. It is also not difficult to see it
in the English “gadfly” and “gadding
about.”
• Θεός Greek 2316
• theos
• Thayer Definition:
• 1) a god or goddess, a general
name of deities or divinities
• Θεός Strong’s Hebrew Greek Dictionary
• Theos theh'-os
• Of uncertain affinity; a deity, especially
(with G3588) the supreme Divinity;
figuratively a magistrate; by Hebraism
very: - X exceeding, God, god [-ly, -ward].
• International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Gad (3) (‫ּגד‬, gadh, “fortune”): A god of Good Luck,
possibly the Hyades. The writer in Isa_65:11 (margin)
pronounces a curse against such as are lured away to
idolatry. The warning here, according to Cheyne, is
specifically against the Samaritans, whom with their
religion the Jews held in especial abhorrence. The
charge would, however, apply just as well to
superstitious and semi-pagan Jews. “But ye that forsake
YHUH ‫יהוה‬, that forget my Kodesh mountain, that
prepare a table for Fortune, and that fill up mingled
wine unto Destiny;
• Continued; ISBE
• Canaanitish place-names also attest the prevalence of
the cult, as Baal-gad, at the foot of Hermen (Jos_11:17;
Jos_12:7; Jos_13:5); Migdal-gad, possibly Mejdel near
Askalon (Jos_15:37); Gaddi and Gaddiel (Num_13:10 f).
In Talmudic literature the name of Gad is frequently
invoked (compare McCurdy in Jewish Encyclopedia, V,
544). Indeed the words of Leah in Gen_30:11 may refer
not to good fortune or luck but to the deity who was
especially regarded as the patron god of Good Fortune
(compare Kent, Student's Old Testament, I, 111). Similar
beliefs were held among the Greeks and Romans, e.g.
Hor. Sat. ii.8, 61:
• Continued ISBE
• The question has also an astronomical interest.
Arabic tradition styled the planet Jupiter the
greater fortune, and Venus the lesser fortune.
Jewish tradition identified Gad with the planet
Jupiter, and it has been conjectured that Meni is
to be identified with the planet Venus. See,
however, ASTROLOGY, 10.
• Easton Bible Dictionary
• God
• (A.S. and Dutch God; Dan. Gud; Ger. Gott), the
name of the Divine Being. It is the rendering
• (1.) of the Hebrew 'El, from a word meaning to
be strong;
• Wikipedia Encyclopedia
• The English word God continues the
Old English God (guþ, gudis in
Gothic, gud in modern Scandinavian,
God in Dutch, and Gott in modern
German), which is thought to derive
from Proto-Germanic *ǥuđán
• Continued Wikipedia
• Obsolete etymologies
• In 19th century scholarship, there were a number of alternative
etymologies suggested. Morgan Peter Kavenaugh in The Origin of
Language and Myths claimed that the word god was taken from
the Buddha's patriarchal name of Gotama. John Campbell
connected further theonyms, "I have shown elsewhere that the
English word God, the German Gott, the Persian Khoda and the
Hindustani Khuda are all derived from the same root as that
which appears in Celtic Aeddon or Guydion, the Germanin Odin,
Woden or Goutan and the Indian Buddha or Gotama."[2] The
Reverend Henry Scadding D.D. and Henry Le Mesurier in his book
Mer-cur-ius, or The Word Maker, also connected Lombard
Guodan to Gotama Buddha.[3] The connection of Gwydion with
Wotan (but not with god) is due to Jacob Grimm
• Continued Wikipedia
• Proto-Germanic name of a god of Germanic
paganism, known as Odin in Norse mythology,
Wōden in Old English, Wodan or Wotan in Old
High German and Godan in the Lombardic
language. Godan was shortened to God over
time and was adopted/retained by the
Germanic peoples of the British isles as the
name of their deity, in lieu of the Latin word
Deus used by the Latin speaking Christian
church, after conversion to Christianity.
• Continued Wikipedia
• Augustine of Canterbury. Augustine's mission to the
Saxons in southern Britain was conducted at a time
when the city of Rome was a part of a Lombardic
kingdom. The translated bibles which they brought on
their mission were greatly influenced by the Germanic
tribes they were in contact with, chief among them
being the Lombards and Franks. The translation for the
word deus of the Latin bible was influenced by the
then current usage by the tribes for their highest deity,
namely Wodan by Angles, Saxons and Franks of northcentral and western Europe and Godan by the
Lombards of south-central Europe around Rome. There
are many instances where the name Godan and Wodan
are contracted to God and Wod.[
• Word Origin & History;From On line
Dictionary
god
O.E. god "supreme being, deity," from
P.Gmc. *guthan (cf. Du. god, Ger. Gott,
O.N. guð, Goth. guþ), from PIE *ghut"that which is invoked" (cf. Skt. huta"invoked," an epithet of Indra), from root
*gheu(e)- "to call, invoke." But some
trace it to PIE *ghu-to- "poured," from
root *gheu- "to