Gad the Seer גד החוזה
the seer who was with David already in his flight; he brought him the choice of three punishments
The first mention is short and practical: "Gad the prophet said to David: do not remain in the stronghold; go to the land of Judah." David is still a fugitive from Saul, and the prophet works beside him as a man whose word decides where to move tomorrow.
The central scene comes at the end of the reign. David numbered the people, which was not to be done, and in the morning "the word of the LORD came to Gad, David's seer." The prophet arrives with a choice: seven years of famine, three months of flight before enemies, or three days of plague. David's answer is one of the strongest lines in the book: "I am in great distress; let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercy is great, and let me not fall into the hand of man."
The plague stopped at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, and Gad told the king to go up and raise an altar there. David bought the floor, refusing to take it for nothing: "I will not offer to the LORD burnt offerings that cost me nothing." On that place the Temple would later stand.
Chronicles names Gad with Samuel and Nathan among those whose records preserved David's history.
On the timeline
Sources
Tanakh
- Shmuel I 22:5 — “do not remain in the stronghold; go to the land of Judah”
- Shmuel II 24:11–14 — the choice of three punishments and David's answer
- Shmuel II 24:18–25 — the altar on the threshing floor of Aravna, bought for money
Basis: stated in the Tanakh.