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The Inheritance of Gad

Joshua 13:24-28

24 And Moses gave to the tribe of Gad, to the sons of Gad for their families;

25 and the border for them was Jaazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the sons of Ammon even to Aroer which is against the face of Rabbah;

26 and from Heshbon even to Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim; and from Mahanaim even to the border for Debir;

27 and in the valley, Beth-haram, and Beth-nimrah, and Succoth, and Zaphon, the remainder of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, the Jordan and its border, even to the edge of the Sea of Chinnereth¹ across the Jordan toward the sunrise.

28 This is the inheritance of the sons of Gad, according to their families, the cities and their villages.

AE 435:6. That an inheritance beyond Jordan was given to the tribe of Gad is evident in Moses: To Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh an inheritance was given beyond Jordan, which was a place for cattle; and it was given with the condition that they should cross over, armed, with the rest, to take possession of the land of Canaan (Num. 32:1 to the end; 34:14)... (Deut. 3:16, 17); and in Joshua...(13:24-28).

The signification of “Gad” can be seen not only from the passages in the Word where Gad is mentioned, but also from the lands given to that tribe for an inheritance, where these also are mentioned in the Word, as Heshbon, Jazer, Rabbah, Ramath of Mispeh, the brook of Arnon, Chinnereth, the springs of Pisgah, and many other places. What these lands signify in the spiritual sense no one can know unless he knows the signification of “the tribe of Reuben, of Gad, and of the half tribe of Manasseh,” to whom these lands were given for a possession; for they signify such things as are signified by those tribes in a wide and in a restricted sense.

AE 435:7. As in Jeremiah:

Against the sons of Ammon: Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then has their king inherited Gad, and his people dwelt in the cities thereof? Therefore behold, the days come in which I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon; and it shall become a heap of desolation, and her daughters shall be burned with fire, and Israel shall be heir to them that were his heirs. Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is devastated; cry out, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird ye with sackcloth; lament, and wander about among the walls, for their king shall go into exile, and his priests and his princes together (49:1-3).

Unless one knows what is signified by “Gad” and by “Israel,” he cannot know what is here signified by “the sons of Ammon,” by “Heshbon,” and by “Rabbah.” For Rabbah, Heshbon, and half of the land of Ammon were given to the tribe of Gad for an inheritance. Therefore those lands signify such things in particular as are signified in general by Gad. For it is said, “Why then has the king of the sons of Ammon inherited Gad, and his people dwelt in the cities thereof?” For all names of lands, of regions, of cities, of rivers, and of peoples, in the Word signify the things of the church.

“Gad” here signifies the good of life according to the truths of doctrine; “Israel” is the church in respect to truth. “The sons of Ammon” signify the falsifications of truth; “Heshbon” signifies the fructification of truth in the natural man; “the daughters of Rabbah” signify the affections of truth in the natural man, and “Ai” the doctrine of truth. When these things are known, the spiritual sense of these words follows in this series: “Against the sons of Ammon” signifies against the falsifications of truth. “Has Israel no sons? has he no heir?” signifies, Are there in the church no knowledges of truth and good? “Israel” meaning the church, “his sons” truths, and “heir” the good of truth. “Why then has their king inherited Gad, and his people dwelt in the cities thereof?” signifies, Why has truth falsified destroyed the good of life, and also perverted the doctrinals according to which is life? “Behold, the days come, in which I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and it shall become a heap of desolation,” signifies the destruction of that doctrine, that is, of truth falsified, and the destruction of those who are in it. “And her daughters shall be burned with fire,” signifies that the affections of that doctrine shall become lusts of evil. “And Israel shall be heir to those who were his heirs,” signifies that the church in respect to goods is going to perish. “Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is devastated,” signifies that there is no longer any fructification of truth from good, because the doctrine of truth is destroyed. “Cry out, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird ye with sackcloth, lament,” signifies that there are no longer any affections of truth. “And wander about among the walls,” signifies thought and life from falsities. “For their king has gone into exile,” signifies because truth is no more. “And his priests and his princes together,” signifies that both goods and the truths of good are no more.

This makes clear that “the lands of the inheritance of Gad” signify similar things in particular as “Gad” does in general, and that the significations of the lands mentioned in the Word can be known from the signification of the tribes to which they were given for inheritance.

¹The Sea of Chinnereth is also known as the Lake of Gennesaret, the Sea of Galilee and Lake Tiberias.

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