Gilead or Gilad is the ancient, historic, biblical name of the mountainous northern part of the region of Transjordan, present-day Jordan.Easton's Bible Dictionary, Galeed The region is bounded in the west by the Jordan River, in the north by the deep ravine of the river Yarmouk and the region of Bashan, and in the southwest by what were known during antiquity as the "plains of Moab", with no definite boundary to the east. In some cases, "Gilead" is used in the Bible to refer to all the region east of the Jordan River. Gilead is situated in modern-day Jordan, corresponding roughly to the Irbid, Ajloun, Jerash and Balqa Governorates.
Etymology Gilead is explained in the Hebrew Bible as derived from the Hebrew word ('cairn'), which in turn comes from ('heap, mound, hill') and ('witness, testimony').Hebrew Dictionary, Strong's Concordance of the Bible, reference #5707 If that is the case, Gilead means 'heap [of stones] of testimony'. There is also an alternative theory that it means 'rocky region'.Smith's Bible Dictionary, "Gil'e-ad"
From its mountainous character, it is called the Mount or hill-country of Gilead (; ). It is called also the Land of Gilead (, ) in many translations, and sometimes simply Gilead (; ; ), also mentioned in .
History of the term Hebrew Bible The name Gilead first appears in the biblical account of the final meeting of Jacob and Laban in the Book of Genesis.: KJV Laban's entourage camped on Gilead, while Jacob and his family, fleeing from Laban, camped in unnamed hill-country,: English Standard Version presumably a neighbouring location.Ryle, H. E. (1921), Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on Genesis 31, accessed on 7 September 2026 Gilead was also referred to by the Aramaic name Yegar-Sahadutha, which carries the same meaning as the Hebrew Gilead, namely "heap [of stones] of testimony".Bible Atlas, Jegar-sahadutha (Ramoth-gilead).
Later in the biblical narrative, during the Exodus, "half Gilead" was possessed by Sihon, and the other half, separated from it by the river Jabbok, by Og, king of Bashan. After the two Amorite kings were defeated, the region of Gilead was allotted by Moses to the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and the eastern half of Manasseh.;
In the Book of Judges, the thirty sons of the biblical judge Jair controlled the thirty towns of Gilead (), and later the biblical judge Jephthah defeated the Ammonites attempting to retake the former Ammonite territory in Gilead conquered by Moses (). In the First Book of Chronicles, Segub controlled twenty-three towns in Gilead (). It was bounded on the north by Bashan, and on the south by Moab and Ammon (; ).
"Gilead" mentioned in the Book of Hosea may refer to the cities of Ramoth-Gilead, Jabesh-Gilead, or the whole Gilead region; "Gilead is a city of those who work iniquity; it is stained with blood" ().
The kingdoms Ammon and Moab sometimes expanded to include southern Gilead. King David fled to Mahanaim in Gilead during the rebellion of Absalom. Gilead is later mentioned as the homeplace of the prophet Elijah.
Neo-Assyrian province King Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria established the province of Gal'azu (Gilead) .
Arabic In Arabic, "Gilead" () is a term used to refer to the mountainous land extending north and south of Jabbok. It was used more generally for the entire region east of the Jordan River. It corresponds today to the northwestern part of the Kingdom of Jordan. The region appears in the ancient Safaitic inscriptions.
See also Balm of Gilead Machir Machir (tribal group) Shibboleth Tribe of Manasseh Perea Balqa Republic of Gilead
Notes
References