Editing Gideon (section)

==Biblical narrative==
[[File:Maarten van Heemskerck 024.jpg|thumb|upright|Gideon thanking God for the Miracle of the Dew, painting by Maarten van Heemskerck ([[Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg]])]]
As is the pattern throughout the [[Book of Judges]], the [[Israelites]] again turned away from [[Yahweh]] after 40 years of peace brought by [[Deborah]]'s victory over [[Canaan]]; as punishment, the [[Midian]]ites, [[Amalek]]ites and other [[Bedouin]] peoples harried Israel for seven years.<ref>Holman Bible Editorial Staff, ''Holman Concise Bible Dictionary'', B&H Publishing Group, US, 2011, p. 264</ref>

===Calling===
God chose Gideon, a young man from the [[tribe of Manasseh]], to free the people of Israel and to condemn their [[idolatry]]. The [[Angel of the Lord#Hebrew Bible|Angel of the Lord]], or "the Lord's angelic messenger"<ref>{{Bibleverse|Judges|6:11|HE}}</ref> came "in the character ... of a traveller who sat down in the shade [of the terebinth tree] to enjoy a little refreshment and repose"<ref>[http://biblehub.com/commentaries/jfb/judges/6.htm Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary] on Judges 6, accessed 21 October 2016</ref> and entered into conversation with Gideon. The narrative has echoes of the meeting between [[Abraham]] and the visitors who came to him in the [[terebinth]]s of [[Mamre]] and promised Abraham and [[Sarah]], in their old age, that they would have a son ({{Bibleverse|Genesis|18:1–15|HE}}).{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} The angel greeted Gideon: "The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!"<ref>{{Bibleverse|Judges|6:12|HE}}</ref>

Gideon requested proof of God's will by three miracles: firstly a sign from the angel, in which the angel appeared to Gideon and caused fire to shoot up out of a rock,<ref>{{Bibleverse|Judges|6:11–22|HE}}</ref> and then two signs involving a [[Wool|fleece]], performed on consecutive nights and the exact opposite of each other. First Gideon woke up to his fleece covered in dew, but the surrounding ground dry; then the next morning, his fleece was dry but the surrounding ground covered in dew.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Judges|6:36–40|HE}}</ref>

On God's instruction, Gideon destroyed the town's altar to [[Baal]] and the symbol of the Goddess [[Asherah]] beside it, receiving the byname of ''Jerubbaal'' from his father:
{{blockquote|Therefore on that day he (Joash) called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Judges|6:32|HE}}</ref>}}

===Gathering an army===
Gideon then sent out messengers to gather men from the tribes of [[tribe of Asher|Asher]], [[tribe of Zebulun|Zebulun]], and [[tribe of Naphtali|Naphtali]], as well as his own tribe of Manasseh, in order to meet an armed force of Midian and Amalek that had crossed the [[Jordan River]]. Gideon's force encamped at [[En Harod]], while the Midianites camped near the "Hill of Moreh".<ref>{{Bibleverse|Judges|7:1|HE}}</ref>

God informed Gideon that the men he had gathered were too many: with so many men, the Israelites might claim the victory as their own, rather than crediting God. God first instructed Gideon to send home those men who were afraid. Gideon invited any man who wanted to leave, to do so; 22,000 men returned home and 10,000 remained. God then told Gideon that this number was still too many, and instructed Gideon to bring the men to the water to drink. God commanded Gideon to separate those who had bowed down on their knees to drink like dogs, and those who lapped the water from their hands. Only the 300 men who had lapped the water from their cupped hands were allowed to remain.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Judges|7:4–7|HE}}</ref>

===Night attack===
[[File:Schnorr von Carolsfeld Bibel in Bildern 1860 075.png|thumb|right|''Gideon's Call'', 1860 woodcut by [[Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld]]]]
During the night, God instructed Gideon to approach the Midianite camp. There, Gideon overheard a Midianite man tell a friend of a dream in which "a loaf of [[barley bread]] tumbled into the camp of Midian",<ref>{{Bibleverse|Judges|7:13|HE}}</ref> causing their tent or camp to collapse. This was interpreted as meaning that God had given the Midianites over to Gideon. Gideon returned to the Israelite camp and gave each of his men a [[shofar]] and a clay jar with a torch hidden inside. Divided into three companies, Gideon and his 300 men marched on the enemy camp. He instructed them to blow the trumpet, give a battle cry and light torches, simulating an attack by a large force. As they did so, the Midianite army fled.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Judges|7:17–22|HE}}</ref>

Gideon sent messengers ahead into Israel calling for the [[Tribe of Ephraim|Ephraimites]] to pursue the retreating Midianites and two of their leaders, [[Oreb and Zeeb]]. Gideon and the three hundred pursued [[Zebah and Zalmunna]], the two Midianite kings. When he had asked for provisions in his pursuit, the men of [[Sukkot (place)|Succoth]] and [[Peniel (biblical)|Peniel]] refused and taunted Gideon. After capturing the two kings, Gideon punished the men of Succoth, and pulled down the tower of Peniel killing all the men there.  Gideon invited his eldest son, [[Jether]], to slay Zebah and Zalmunna, but being still young at the time, he did not have the confidence to carry out his father's request, so Zebah and Zalmunna called on Gideon to perform the deed himself. Gideon then killed Zebah and Zalmunna as justice for the death of his brothers ({{Bibleverse|Judges|8:19–21|HE}}). The place where Gideon slew Oreb after the defeat of the Midianites was called the ''Rock of Oreb''. It was probably the place now called Orbo, on the east of Jordan, near [[Bethshean]]. Zeeb was killed at "the wine press of Zeeb".

===Subsequent events===
The Israelites invited Gideon to become their king and to found a [[dynasty]], but he refused, telling them that only God was their ruler.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Judges|8:22–23|HE}}</ref>

Gideon went on to make an ''[[ephod]]'' out of the gold won in battle. This action eventually caused the whole of Israel to turn away from God yet again and the ruin of Gideon and his family.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Judges|8:24-27|HE}}</ref> Gideon had 70 sons from the many women he took as wives. He also had a [[Shechem]]ite concubine who bore him a son whom he named [[Abimelech (Judges)|Abimelech]], which means "my father is king".<ref>{{Bibleverse|Judges|8:31|HE}}</ref>

There was peace in Israel for 40 years during the life of Gideon. As soon as Gideon died of old age, the Israelites again turned to worship the false god [[Baal Berith]] and ignored the family of Gideon ({{Bibleverse|Judges|8:33|HE}}). Gideon was succeeded for a brief time as ruler of Shechem by his son Abimelech.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Judges|9|HE}}</ref>