Hebrew word · H1567

גַּלְעֵד

gal'ed

Galeed|Ramoth-gilead@Gen.31.47-Hos

A compound of gal ('heap, pile of stones'; also 'wave' in poetry) and ʿēd ('witness', a person or thing that can attest to what happened and testify against someone who breaks an agreement). It can be read as a name, 'Witness-Heap', or as a short sentence, 'the heap is witness'.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

Galeed = "witness heap"

the pile of stones heaped up between Jacob and Laban to certify their covenant; located on Mt Gilead

Another name of ra.mot gi.l.ad (רָמֹת "Ramoth" H7433)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Genesis 31:47

Range of meaning

A compound of gal ('heap, pile of stones'; also 'wave' in poetry) and ʿēd ('witness', a person or thing that can attest to what happened and testify against someone who breaks an agreement). It can be read as a name, 'Witness-Heap', or as a short sentence, 'the heap is witness'.

Against the English

All the major versions transliterate it as 'Galeed'. That is accurate, but the reader loses both its meaning and the pun on 'Gilead'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Found only here and in v. 48. The regional name Gilead (gilʿād) runs through the chapter (31:21, 23, 25). The story gives a popular explanation of how the region got its name: Gilead sounds like Galeed. Other objects made into witnesses: the seven ewe lambs in Genesis 21:30, the great stone in Joshua 24:27 ('it has heard all the words'), the altar called 'Witness' in Joshua 22:34, the pillar in Isaiah 19:19–20, and the song and the law-book in Deuteronomy 31:19, 26.

Where it appears

Genesis · 2

  1. Genesis 31:47 גַּלְעֵֽד׃ Galeed

    Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.

    Here: Hebrew gal ('heap') + ʿēd ('witness'): 'Witness-Heap', or read as a sentence, 'the heap is a witness' (which is exactly what Laban says in v. 48). It is also a pun on Gilead (gilʿād), the hill country where the scene takes place (31:21, 23, 25).

  2. Genesis 31:48 גַּלְעֵֽד׃ Galeed

    Then Laban declared, “This mound is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore the place was called Galeed.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.