THE PROPHET GAD, “DAVID’S SEER” · UNITED KINGDOM

Gad. Counsel in the hold, three choices after the census, and an altar on a threshing floor.

SCRIPTURE CALLS

Prophet

ERA

United kingdom c. 1050–930 BC

IN THE DAYS OF

David

BOOK

None bears the name

HOW THE WORD CAME

The word came to him as a message to carry: “the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, Go and say unto David”.

THE CALL

How the word came

  • The word came to him as a message to carry: “the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, Go and say unto David”. 2 Samuel 24:11–12
  • Chronicles tells the same scene as “the LORD spake unto Gad, David’s seer”, and says that for the altar “the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David” where to build it. 1 Chronicles 21:9 1 Chronicles 21:18
  • Chronicles names a written record: the acts of David are “written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer”. 1 Chronicles 29:29
  • It also names him as one of those whose commandment ordered the temple music: “for so was the commandment of the LORD by his prophets”. 2 Chronicles 29:25

BEFORE THE KINGS

Before David

KING OF JUDAH, THEN OF ALL ISRAEL

David

“Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.”

2 Samuel 24:12 (KJV) →

THE MESSAGE

The word in its main themes

Where David should go

“Abide not in the hold; depart, and get thee into the land of Judah.”

1 Samuel 22:5 (KJV) →

Three choices after the census

“now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.”

2 Samuel 24:13 (KJV) →

The altar on the threshing floor

“Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.”

2 Samuel 24:18 (KJV) →

THE WORD TO …

To whom the word was spoken

TO DAVID, IN THE HOLD

“Abide not in the hold; depart, and get thee into the land of Judah.”

1 Samuel 22:5 (KJV) →

TO DAVID, AFTER THE CENSUS

“Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days’ pestilence in thy land?”

2 Samuel 24:13 (KJV) →

TO DAVID, ON THE DAY THE PLAGUE WAS STAYED

“Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.”

2 Samuel 24:18 (KJV) →

COMPANIONS AND OPPONENTS

Who stood with him, and against him

Nathan the prophet

Samuel the seer

Araunah (Ornan) the Jebusite

HOW THE STORY ENDS

Scripture says, tradition says

SCRIPTURE SAYS

  • From the textScripture does not tell how Gad's life ended. After the census story he is named only as the writer of a book of David's acts and, in Hezekiah's day, as one whose commandment had ordered the temple music. 1 Chronicles 29:29 2 Chronicles 29:25

TRADITION SAYS

  • Among the antiquities of Hebron the Jewish Encyclopedia lists “the tombs of Gad, Nathan the prophet, Abner”.[45] Who says so: A local tradition at Hebron, listed in the Jewish Encyclopedia, reported 1904; its earliest source has not been identified

OPEN QUESTIONS

Where readers have differed

Three is the original number

A. F. Kirkpatrick (1881); the Pulpit Commentary (1880–1897); Ellicott's commentary (c. 1878–1884)

The Greek Septuagint also reads “three years” in 2 Samuel (Brenton's translation), and three fits the three months and three days. Kirkpatrick calls the reading of the Septuagint and Chronicles “unquestionably to be preferred”; the Pulpit Commentary says three is “probably right”. 2 Samuel 24:13 1 Chronicles 21:12 [72][98][18][7]

IN SCRIPTURE

Every passage

CHAPTERS · 5

1 Samuel 22 2 Samuel 24 1 Chronicles 21 1 Chronicles 29 2 Chronicles 29

PASSAGES · 5

1 Samuel 22:5 2 Samuel 24:11–19 1 Chronicles 21:9–19 1 Chronicles 29:29 2 Chronicles 29:25

WHAT SCRIPTURE DOES NOT SAY

  • Scripture gives no father, tribe or home for Gad.
  • It does not say when or how he became “David’s seer”.
  • The “book of Gad the seer” (1 Chronicles 29:29) is not among the books of the Bible; whether any of it survives in Samuel is a question above.
  • 2 Samuel 24:19 says David went up “according to the saying of Gad”; neither account says what became of Gad afterwards.

SOURCES

Where this page comes from

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament: Matthew and Mark (1832), note on Matt 23:35 (read on Bible Hub).
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818), note on 1 Kgs 16:7 (read on Bible Hub).
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818), note on 2 Chr 15:3 (read on Bible Hub).
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818), note on 2 Chr 15:8 (read on Bible Hub).
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818), note on 2 Chr 26:5 (read on Bible Hub).
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818), note on Jer 26:20 (read on Bible Hub).
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