Righteous Gad the Forefather

Gad was the seventh son of the Patriarch Jacob, born to Zilpah, the maidservant of his wife Leah, who was given to Jacob as a concubine (Genesis 30:9-13). He became the ancestor of one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, named after him. In his deathbed blessing of his sons, the Patriarch Jacob prophesied concerning Gad: "Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last" (Genesis 49:19) — a prophecy traditionally associated with the martial character of his descendants. No independent narrative of Gad's life beyond the genealogical listings of the Book of Genesis has survived. As one of the twelve Old Testament patriarchs included in the genealogical line of the Israelite people, Gad has no individually established feast day in the Orthodox calendar; he is venerated collectively, together with the other forefathers and foremothers, on the movable Sunday of the Holy Forefathers, kept two Sundays before the Nativity of Christ.