Genesis 30:11
in Genesis 30Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Leah said, Fortunate! and she called his name Gad.
KJV
And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.
⋯
This verse in Genesis 30
Commentary
6 notes on this verseAnd Leah said, a troop cometh,.... A troop of children, having bore four herself, and now her maid another, and more she expected; or the commander of a troop cometh, one that shall head an army and overcome his enemies; which agrees with the prophecy of Jacob, Gen 49:19, and she called his name Gad: which signifies a "troop", glorying in the multitude of her children, that she had or hoped to have.
This site's exposition
she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife
on Genesis 30:9-11
Leah answers a maidservant with a maidservant of her own, Zilpah. Four women are now bearing sons into the same house. Her name for this son is Gad, a word carrying fortune or a troop arriving, and Jerome and Clarke both take up that double sense.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 10 and 11.) And Zilpah, the maid of Leah, bore Jacob a son, and Leah said, 'In fortunate circumstances,' and she called his name Gad. Where we have placed ourselves, in fortunate circumstances, and in Greek it is said ἐν τύχῃ, which can be translated as 'event.' In Hebrew, it is Bagad (), which Aquila interprets as 'girdle' or 'belt.' But we can say 'in readiness.' For Ba can sound like the preposition 'in,' and gad means 'coming.' Therefore, from the event or readiness, the son of Zilpah, Gad, was called.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), promising herself a little troop of children; and children are the militia of a family, they fill the quiver, Ps. cxxvii. The other she called Asher ( happy ), thinking herself happy in him, and promising herself that her neighbours would think so too: The daughters will call me blessed,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Commentary on Chapter 30 1. Rachel envied her sister - Envy is grieving at the good of another, than which no sin is more injurious both to God, our neighbour, and ourselves.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
She called his name Gad - This has been variously translated. גד gad, may signify a troop, an army, a soldier, a false god, supposed to be the same as Jupiter or Mars; for as Laban appears to have been, if not an idolater, yet a dealer in a sort of judicial astrology, (see Gen 31:19), Leah, in saying בגד bagad, which we translate a troop cometh, might mean, By or with the assistance of Gad - a particular planet or star, Jupiter possibly, I have gotten this son; therefore she called him after the name of that planet or star from which she supposed the succor came.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Bagad (fortune is come) is really two words. It is a combination of two words ba (spelled bet, alef ) and gad (Weiser).
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתֹּ֥אמֶר | vatomer | and she said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לֵאָ֖ה | leah | Leah | H3812 → | 34 times |
| בָּ֣אגָ֑ד | begad | it has comegood fortune | H935 →H1409 → | 2568 times |
| וַתִּקְרָ֥א | vatikra' | and she called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שְׁמ֖וֹ | shemo | name his | H8034 → | 864 times |
| גָּֽד׃ | gad | Gad | H1410 → | 72 times |
וַתֹּ֥אמֶרand she said
vatomerH559 →5305 times
לֵאָ֖הLeah
leahH3812 →34 times
בָּ֣אגָ֑דit has comegood fortune
וַתִּקְרָ֥אand she called
vatikra'H7121 →733 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שְׁמ֖וֹname his
shemoH8034 →864 times
גָּֽד׃Gad
gadH1410 →72 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 49:19Gad will be attacked by raiders, but he will attack their heels.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 33:20–21
Concerning Gad he said: “Blessed is he who enlarges the domain of Gad! He lies down like a lion and tears off an arm or a head.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Chronicles 5:11–22
The descendants of Gad lived next to the Reubenites in the land of Bashan, as far as Salecah:
- Deuteronomy 33:20–21
Through
Genesis 46:16The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.
it leads to
- Numbers 26:15–17
These were the descendants of Gad by their clans: The Zephonite clan from Zephon, the Haggite clan from Haggi, the Shunite clan from Shuni,
- Numbers 26:15–17
Through
Isaiah 65:11But you who forsake the LORD, who forget My holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:17
They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they had not known, to newly arrived gods, which your fathers did not fear.
- Isaiah 2:2
In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to…
- Isaiah 1:28
But rebels and sinners will together be shattered, and those who forsake the LORD will perish.
- Deuteronomy 32:17
Through
Genesis 35:26And the sons of Leah’s maidservant Zilpah were Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan-aram.
it leads to
- Genesis 30:9–13
When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife.
- Genesis 25:20
and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean.
- Genesis 30:9–13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.