never mind
I thought of its use in “The Raven.” Also, it reminds me of the word “gilded,” but that’s just an association because the words sound similar.
Balm of Gilead. Both from the biblical expression and the name of a racehorse that I liked probably in the mid 60s.
I’m rarely on 71, I must have a thing for memorizing exit signs! 
First for me was the balm (there’s a species of poplar here that is colloquially known as B o G because you can make an unguent out of the sticky buds)
And then, Zenna Henderson. Another Reader!
Tiny town in Maine, near Bethel.
It’s #741 in the United Methodist Hymnal! Your minister was slacking…
Edgar Allan Poe
My first thought would be The Handmaid’s Tale, though I’m familiar with the phrase “balm in Gilead” (if a little uncertain about the context prior to reading this thread).
sigh
I guess I’m the only one to think of Justin Gilead, the protagonist in the Murphy/Cochran series Grandmaster (intended as a cold war trilogy, but then the Soviet Union conceded).
Still an awesome pair of tales.
–G!
Balm. Quoted in one of my favourite books ever, Amaryllis Night and Day by Russel Hoban.
Heh. My first thought is the pharma company.
It stuck in my head because one Sunday when we were kids, my brother had the hymnal open to “There is a Balm in Gilead” and he whispered to me in a faux-horror voice “There is a bomb in Gilead” :eek: We occasionally sing that one in church these days but not too often.
I have never heard the word before. It sounds to me like the name of someone in one of those Old English epic poems.
I just remembered something: The land of Gilead figures in the story of Jephthah, judge of Israel, because he lived there. He led the Israelites against the Ammonites (Judges, Chap. 10-12) and swore an oath that, if victorious, he would sacrifice the first family member he sees when he returns home. When he returned home, victorious, his only daughter was the first to greet him. Jephthah was devastated, but felt he could not renege on his oath, so he sacrificed his daughter.
So if anyone is getting bad vibes off the name Gilead, perhaps it’s some remembrance of this story that’s doing it.
Overview of the story in Jephthah’s Wiki page.
Jephthah is also remembered for killing 42,000 fugitive Ephraimites who couldn’t say “Shibboleth”.
Ugh… honestly? The first thought that came to mind was that of a knight in armor. Then I paused and realized I was probably thinking of Sir Galahad. I don’t guess I’ve heard the word Gilead enough to associate it with anything.
Nothing.
Nothing for me as well. It reminded me of the old ESPN fitness guy Gilad.
Someone close to me participated in the clinical trial for this drug. I saw that the study was sponsored by Gilead Sciences and I thought to myself - How Dystopian! (Thinking of the Handmaids Tale and the Dark Tower Series.)
Apparently I’ve conflated a commentary with the actual scripture there, as I could have sworn that Jepthah just turned her over to the temple, and that this was used as a precedent for what happens if you accidentally offer your child as a sacrifice.