t12papocrypha
Testament of Gad 8
Gad delivers his final charge to his children: honor Judah and Levi, because from their lines Jehovah will raise up a Savior to Israel. His prophecy is shadowed by grief — he knows the generations will depart from those tribes, walking in wickedness and corruption. He then commands burial near his fathers and dies in peace. His body rests in Hebron five years before being carried to rest with the patriarchs. The chapter closes the testament by anchoring lineage, covenant fidelity, and the messianic promise in Judah and Levi as the appointed tribal vessels.
1
And do ye also tell these things to your children, that they honour Judah and Levi, for from them shall the Lord raise up a Saviour to Israel. For I know that at the last your children shall depart from them, and shall walk in all wickedness, and mischief, and corruption before the Lord. And when he had rested for a little while, he said again to them, My children, obey your father, and bury me near to my fathers. And he drew up his feet, and fell asleep in peace. And after five years they carried him up, and laid him in Hebron with his fathers.
