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Gilead or Gilad (, ; Gilʿāḏ, , Jalʻād) is the ancient, historic, Hebrew Bible name of the mountainous northern part of the region of Transjordan. 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 River 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.
From its mountainous character, it is called the Mount of Gilead (; ). It is called also the Land of Gilead (, ) in many translations, and sometimes simply Gilead (; ; ), also mentioned in .
According to 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 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 judges Jair controlled the thirty towns of Gilead (), and 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.
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