H1409 H1409
fortune, good luck — prosperity viewed as a force or deity; also the god Fortune worshiped in place of Yahweh
This word operates on two levels in Scripture: as the concept of good fortune or luck, and as the name of a deity personifying fortune worshiped in the ancient Near East. When Leah exclaims at Gad's birth, the Hebrew preserves textual ambiguity—is she saying 'good fortune!' or invoking a god's name? Later, Isaiah 65:11 clearly condemns those who 'prepare a table for Fortune (Gad)' instead of serving Yahweh, showing how the abstract concept could slip into idolatrous personification. The Arabic cognate and widespread ancient references show Fortune-worship was a real temptation in Israel's polytheistic environment.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Good fortune as a concept or Fortune as a deity. Genesis 30:11 contains an ambiguous exclamation at Gad's birth—either 'with good fortune!' or invoking the god Fortune—while Isaiah 65:11 unmistakably condemns worship of Fortune (Gad) as a deity. The progression from abstract 'luck' to personified divine power was common in ancient thought. Translations reflect this ambiguity: some render it as mere exclamation, others acknowledge the theological danger of treating fortune as a power separate from God. 2×
AR["(جَادُ)", "[بِحَظٍّ]"]·ben["(ভাগ্য)", "[ভাগ্য]"]·DE["Glück", "Glück!"]·EN["-", "fortune"]·FR["-", "fortune"]·heb["(גד)", "ב-[בגד]"]·HI["गाद", "सौभाग्य-में"]·ID["(ketib: dengan keberuntungan)", "(qere: keberuntungan)"]·IT["-", "fortune"]·jav["Kabegjan", "kabegjan"]·KO["행운이"]·PT["(sorte)", "[em-sorte]"]·RU["(удача)", "[удача]"]·ES["(ketiv)", "fortuna"]·SW["[ketiv]", "bahati-njema"]·TR["(talih)", "[şans]"]·urd["خوش-قسمتی", "نصیب"]
Related Senses
G3588 1. definite article (18298×)H0853 1. definite direct object marker (10915×)G2532 1. (8312×)H3068 1. YHWH (the divine name) (6522×)H0834a 1. relative pronoun (who/which/that) (4839×)H3588a 1. causal: because, for (3498×)G1161 1. and (2806×)H3478 1. Israel (proper name and nation) (2507×)G4771 1. you (plural address) (1853×)H1931 1. personal pronoun he/she/it (1431×)G3739 1. relative pronoun who/which/that (1149×)H1732 1. David (proper name) (1075×)H2088 1. this, this one (demonstrative) (1059×)G1063 1. (1047×)G3778 1. this thing, these things (1003×)H???? 2. (1002×)G2424 1. (924×)G3754 1. that (content clause) (881×)H2009 1. presentative particle: behold, look (881×)H0589 1. I (first person singular pronoun) (874×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† II. [גַּד] 1. n.[m.] fortune, good fortune (Arabic جَدٌّ id., Aramaic גַּדָּא, ܓܰܕܳܐ )—Gn 30:11 בּגד Kt, i.e. בְּגָד (בָּא גָד֑ Qr), 𝔊 ἐν τύχῃ, by or with good fortune. 2. n.pr.m. god of fortune (Arabic جَدّ WeSkizzen iii. 171; גד named often in Ph. & Aramaic inscript., & found in Ph. & Aramaic n.pr., BaeRel 76 f. NöZMG 1888, 479; v. especially SiegfJPTh 1875, 356 ff.)—c. לְ + art. לַגַּד Is 65:11 cf. Che.