Bible Figure
Gad
person in the Hebrew Bible; personal prophet of David (1 Sam 22:5; 2 Sam 24:11–13; 2 Sam 24:18; 1 Chron 21:18; 1 Chron 29:29)
Gad was a prophet and seer who advised David during Saul's persecution and later delivered God's judgment and instructions after David's census.
Biography
Gad first appears while David is in a stronghold, instructing him not to remain there but to return to Judah. Later, after David's sinful census, Gad came with three choices of judgment from the Lord. When plague struck Israel, Gad instructed David to build an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah or Ornan the Jebusite. David obeyed, offered sacrifices, and the plague was stopped. Chronicles also associates Gad with arrangements for Levitical music, and 1 Chronicles 29:29 refers to records of David's reign written by Samuel, Nathan, and Gad.
Biblical Significance
Gad served as a prophetic counselor who spoke God's word to David in both danger and discipline. His direction concerning Araunah's threshing floor is especially important because that location became associated with the future Temple site.