Genesis 30:11

Gen 30:11 And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.

Ver. 11. A troop cometh.] Or, as some render it, Good luck cometh; compare Isa 65:11. Theodoret saith Leah speaks thus, as one that had been profanely bred; and could not so suddenly forget her old language.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That is, God doth increase me with a multitude of children: for so Jacob doth expound this name Gad, Gen. 49:19.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 11. 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 Ge 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 succour came. See Clarke on Ge 31:19. The Septuagint translate it εν τυχη, with good fortune; the Vulgate, feliciter, happily; but in all this diversity our own translation may appear as probable as any, if not the genuine one, בא גד ba gad, for the keri, or marginal reading, has it in two words, a troop cometh; whereas the textual reading has it only in one, בגד bagad, with a troop. In the Bible published by Becke, 1549, the word is translated as an exclamation, Good luck!

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. Fortunate] Heb. with fortune! Another reading is, Fortune is come. The versions (LXX ἐν τύχῃ = “with fortune,” Lat. feliciter) follow the reading of the Hebrew text (Ke’thîb). The other reading, followed by the Massoretic tradition (Ḳerî), is found in the Targum of Onkelos. Gad seems to have been the name of an ancient Aramaean god of fortune, whose worship existed among the Canaanites. Cf. the names Baal-gad (Jos_11:17), and Migdal-gad (Jos_15:37). The Jews in Babylon made offerings to this god of good fortune; cf. Isa_65:11. In Jdg_5:17, Gilead takes the place of Gad.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest,.... Leah's eldest son, who is supposed to be at this time about four or five years of age (e), who went out from the tent to the field, to play there perhaps; and this was at the time of wheat harvest, in the month Sivan, as the Targum of Jonathan, which answers to part of our May; a time of the year when the earth is covered with flowers:

and found mandrakes in the field; the flowers or fruit of mandrakes, mandrake apples, as the Septuagint. This plant is said to excite love, provoke lust, dispose for, and help conception; for which reasons it is thought Rachel was so desirous of these "mandrakes", which seem to have their name "dudaim" from love: the word is only used here and in Sol 7:13; where they are commended for their good smell, and therefore cannot be the plant which goes now by that name; since they neither give a good smell, nor bear good fruit, and are of a cold quality, and so not likely to produce the above effects ascribed unto them. It is very probable they were lovely and delightful flowers the boy picked up in the field, such as children delight in; some think the "jessamin", others lilies, and others violets (f); it is not easy to determine what they were; See Gill on Sol 7:13,

and brought them unto his mother Leah; as children are apt to do, to show what line flowers or fruit they have gathered:

then Rachel said to Leah, give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes; being taken with the colour or smell of them; for as for the notion of helping conception, or removing barrenness and the like, there is no foundation for it; for Rachel, who had them, did not conceive upon having them; and the conception both of her and Leah afterwards is ascribed to the Lord's remembering and hearkening to them.

(e) Shalshaley Hakabala, fol. 3. 2. (f) Vid. T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 99. 2. & Gloss. in ib.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Happily, fortunately. --- Gad, or Bonaventure. (Haydock) ---"Good-fortune," was acknowledge by the pagans for a divinity; (Isaias lxv. 11.) perhaps for the Sun, or Oromagdes, the Gad of Aram. He was opposed to the wicked Arimenes in the Chaldean theology, by Zoroaster, (Calmet) the inventor of the Two Principles. Whether Lia intended to attribute this child to the influence of the planet Jupiter, the Sun, or some other tool, we cannot determine. (Haydock) --- Her naming my be simply; Behold I am now a mother of a troop, or little army, Gad; and to which (chap. xlix. 19.) Jacob evidently alludes. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

A troop cometh, or, good luck cometh; my design hath well succeeded; a happy star hath shone upon me; and such a star in the opinion of astrologers is that of Jupiter, which by the Arabians is called Gad. This may well agree to Leah and her heathenish education, and the manners of the Chaldeans, who were much given to the study of the stars.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. A troop cometh — Hebrews, בגד, in luck; with good fortune. So Sept. and Vulgate, Syriac and Chaldee. So she called his name Gad, as a memorial of her good fortune. The Masorites explain בגד as an abbreviation for בא גד, and so write it in the margin, and chap. 49:19, is thought by some to favour this; but the simpler sense is that of the Septuagint and other versions, as given above.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

בא גד FOR MY HAPPINESS! — Good luck has come, as (Shabbat 67b) “Be lucky, my luck (גד גדי) and tire not”. Similar, also, is (Isaiah 45:11) “That prepare a table for fortune (גד)”. The Midrashic explanation is that he was born with the sign of the covenant upon him. It would then be like (Daniel 4:11) “cut down (גדו) the tree”. I do not know why it (בגד) is written as one word. Another comment on בגד is: why is it read as one word? It may be connected with the root בגד which denotes faithless as though Leah said to Jacob, “You proved faithless to me when you married my handmaid”, like a man who is faithless (בגד) to the wife of his youth).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ותלד...ותאמר...בגד, the 2 words בא גד have been condensed into a single word, the letter א having been omitted. The meaning of the expression is “this one came or brought with him with good fortune.” It is read as if it had been written as two separate words, i.e. “good fortune has arrived.” The phrase העורכים לגד שלחן, in Isaiah 65,11 is also to be understood as “who set a table for luck?” Rabbi Moshe hacohen Gigatilia says that the word גד refers to a star so named in the language of Kedar. This is a star presumed to forecast good fortune. If we wanted to explain the word גד in terms of גדוד, we could still explain it as having a similar meaning, i.e. בא גודד הגדוד, “with the arrival of this one there is a full troop of sons.”

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.