Galeed

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Galeed (‘cairn of witness’). The name which, according to   Genesis 31:47 , was given by Jacob to the cairn erected on the occasion of the compact between him and Laban. There is evidently a characteristic attempt also to account in this way for the name Gilead . The respective proceedings of Jacob and of Laban are uncertain, for the narrative is not only of composite origin, but has suffered through the introduction of glosses into the text. It is pretty certain that we should read ‘Laban’ instead of ‘Jacob’ in   Genesis 31:45 . The LXX [Note: Septuagint.] seeks unsuccessfully to reduce the narrative to order by means of transpositions.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

("a witness heap".) A Hebrew name given by Jacob to the heap which he and Laban reared on mount Gilead, a memorial of their brotherly covenant ( Genesis 31:47-48). Laban called it in Aramaic (Chaldee or Syriac), Jegar-Sahadutha. (See Jegar-Sahadutha Apparently Nahor's family originally spoke Syriac, and Abraham and his family acquired Hebrew in Canaan, where the Hebrew was indigenous when he first settled there, the Hamitic Canaanites having learned it from an earlier Semitic race. The memorial heap marked the crisis in Jacob's life when he became severed from his Syrian kindred, and henceforth a sojourner in, and heir of, Canaan.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

The name given by Jacob to the heap of stones raised to witness the covenant made between him and Laban. It signifies, as in the margin, "heap of witness."  Genesis 31:47,48 .

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 31:43-52

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 31:47,48

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

gal´ē̇ - ed ( גּלעד , gal‛ēdh ): Derived from the Hebrew gal , "a heap of stones," and ‛ēdh , "witness." The meaning therefore is "cairn" or "heap of witness," corresponding to yeghar - sāhădhūthā' in Aramaic ( Genesis 31:47 ). It is applied to the cairn raised by Jacob and Laban, beside which they sealed their covenant in a common meal, the memory of which they appealed to the silent cairn to preserve. The ancient custom of associating events with inanimate objects as witnesses is often illustrated in Hebrew history ( Joshua 4:4 , etc.). There may be in this narrative a suggestion of how the name "Gilead" came to be applied to that country.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Bibliography Information McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Galeed'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/g/galeed.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.