Gideon (גִּדְעוֹן, Standard Hebrew Gidʻon, Tiberian Hebrew Giḏʻôn), also known as Jerubbaal, is a character that appears in the Book of Judges, in the Bible. His story is told in chapters 6 to 8. He is also named in the Epistle to the Hebrews as an example of a man of faith. He is the son of Joash, from the clan of Abiezer in the tribe of Manasseh. The name Gideon means "Destroyer", "Mighty warrior" or "Feller (of trees)". Book of Judges (Hebrew: Sefer Shoftim ספר שופטים) is a book of the Bible originally written in Hebrew. ... Ehud Ben Gera (אֵהוּד Union, Standard Hebrew Ehud, Tiberian Hebrew ʼĒhûḏ), in the biblical Book of Judges (3:12-4:1) was the judge who fought against the Moabites, which were ruled by King Eglon. ... The Philistines from the maritime plain had made incursions into the Hebrew upland for the purposes of plunder, when Shamgar, the son of Anath, otherwise unknown, headed an uprising for the purpose of freeing the land from this oppression. ... For information on the nurse of Rebeccah, mentioned in Genesis, see Deborah (Genesis) Deborah or Dvora (דְּבוֹרָה Bee, Standard Hebrew DÉ™vora, Tiberian Hebrew Dəḇôrāh) was a prophetess and the fourth Judge and only female Judge of pre-monarchic Israel in the Old Testament (Tanakh). ... Barak (בָּרָק Lightning, Standard Hebrew Barak, Tiberian Hebrew Bārāq) is one of the Judges from the Book of Judges in the Bible. ... In the Tanakh or Old Testament, Abimelech was a son of the great judge Gideon (Judges 9:1). ... For tola, an Indian unit of mass, see Tola (measure) Tola (תּוֹלָע Worm; grub, Standard Hebrew Tolaʿ, Tiberian Hebrew Tôlāʿ) was one of the judges of Israel whose career is documented in Judges 10:1-2. ... JAIR: Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research (ISSN 1076-9757) covers all areas of artificial intelligence (AI), publishing refereed research articles, survey articles, and technical notes. ... Jephtha (יפתח) is a character in the Old Testament who served as one of the Judges in Israel for a period of six years (Judges 12:7) between the conquest of Canaan and the first king. ... In the Bible, Ibzan was one of the Judges of Israel. ... In the Bible, Elon (Hebrew אֵילֹן Oak, Standard Hebrew Elon, Tiberian Hebrew ʾÊlōn) was a judge of Israel. ... Abdon the son of Hillel, a Pirathonite, the tenth judge of Israel mentioned in the Book of Judges. ... Samson or Shimshon (שִׁמְשׁוֹן Of the sun (perhaps proclaiming he was radiant and mighty) or [One who] Serves [God], Standard Hebrew Å imÅ¡on, Tiberian Hebrew Å imšôn) is the third to last of the Judges of the ancient Children of Israel mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. ... Eli (עֵלִי Ascent, Standard Hebrew ʿEli, Tiberian Hebrew ʿĒlî) is the name of one of the last Israelite judges before the rule of kings in ancient Israel. ... This article is about the Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. ... The Modern Hebrew language is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. ... Tiberian Hebrew is an oral tradition of pronunciation for ancient forms of Hebrew, especially the Hebrew of the Bible, that was given written form by masoretic scholars in the Jewish community at Tiberias in the early middle ages, beginning in the 8th century. ... Book of Judges (Hebrew: Sefer Shoftim ספר שופטים) is a book of the Bible originally written in Hebrew. ... The Gutenberg Bible owned by the United States Library of Congress The Bible (Hebrew: תנ״ך tanakh, Greek: η Βίβλος hÄ“ biblos, the book) (sometimes The Holy Bible, Scripture, is the name used by Jews and Christians for their differing (and overlapping) canons of sacred texts. ... The Epistle to the Hebrews (abbreviated Heb. ... Jehoash (Jehovah-given), was the name of two kings mentioned in the Bible: Jehoash of Judah, king of Judah, Jehoash of Israel, king of Israel. ... Categories: Hebrew Bible/Tanakh-related stubs | Hebrew Bible/Tanakh people ... The Tribe of Manasseh (Hebrew alphabet מְנַשֶּׁה, Samaritan Hebrew Manatch, Standard Hebrew MÉ™naÅ¡Å¡e, Tiberian Hebrew MÉ™naÅ¡Å¡eh: from נשני naššānî who makes to forget) is one of the Hebrew tribes, which the Bible claims was founded by Manasseh, the son of Joseph. ...

As is the pattern throughout the book of Judges, the Israelites again turned away from God after forty years of peace brought by Deborah's victory over Canaan and were allowed to be attacked by the neighbouring Midianites and Amalekites. God chose Gideon, a young man from an otherwise unremarkable clan from the tribe of Manasseh, to free the people of Israel and to condemn their worship of idols. Very unsure of both himself and God's command, he requested proof of God's will by a miracle: Motto: none Anthem: Hatikvah Capital Jerusalem[1] Largest city Jerusalem Official language(s) Hebrew, Arabic Government Parliamentary democracy  - President Moshe Katsav  - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Independence From the UK   - Declaration 14 May 1948 (05 Iyar 5708)  Area    - Total 22,145 km² (149th)   8,019 sq mi   - Water (%) ~2% Population    - May... God denotes the deity believed by monotheists to be the sole creator and ruler of the universe. ... According to the Bible, Midian (מִדְיָן Strife; judgment, Standard Hebrew Midyan, Tiberian Hebrew Miḏyān,Arabic مدين) was a son of Abraham and his concubine Keturah (Genesis 25:1-6). ... According to the Book of Genesis and 1 Chronicles, Amalek (עֲמָלֵק; Standard Hebrew , Tiberian Hebrew ) was the son of Eliphaz and the grandson of Esau (Gen. ... The Tribe of Manasseh (Hebrew alphabet מְנַשֶּׁה, Samaritan Hebrew Manatch, Standard Hebrew MÉ™naÅ¡Å¡e, Tiberian Hebrew MÉ™naÅ¡Å¡eh: from נשני naššānî who makes to forget) is one of the Hebrew tribes, which the Bible claims was founded by Manasseh, the son of Joseph. ...

³⁶Then Gideon said to God, "You say that you have decided to use me to rescue Israel. ³⁷Well, I am putting some wool on the ground where we thresh the wheat. If in the morning there is dew only on the wool but not on the ground, then I will know that you are going to use me to rescue Israel." ³⁸That is exactly what happened. When Gideon got up early the next morning, he squeezed the wool and wrung enough dew out of it to fill a bowl with water. ³⁹Then Gideon said to God, "Don't be angry with me; let me speak just once more. Please let me make one more test with the wool. This time let the wool be dry, and the ground be wet." ⁴⁰ That night God did that very thing. The next morning the wool was dry, but the ground was wet with dew. (Judges 6:36-40, Good News Bible)

On God's instruction, Gideon destroyed the town's altar to the foreign god Baal and the symbol of the goddess Ashera beside it. He went on to send out messengers to gather together men from the tribes of Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, as well as his own tribe of Manasseh in order to meet an armed force of the people of Midian and the Amalek that had crossed the Jordan River and were encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. Baal () is a Semitic title and honorific meaning lord that is used for various gods, spirits and demons particularly of the Levant. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... The Tribe of Asher (אָשֵׁר happy, Standard Hebrew Ašer, Tiberian Hebrew ʼĀšēr) is one of the Hebrew tribes, founded by Asher the eighth son of Jacob. ... This entry incorporates text from Eastons Bible Dictionary, 1897, with some modernisation. ... The Hebrew Tribe of Naphtali (My wrestling), was founded by Naphtali, son of Jacob. ... The Tribe of Manasseh (Hebrew alphabet מְנַשֶּׁה, Samaritan Hebrew Manatch, Standard Hebrew Mənašše, Tiberian Hebrew Mənaššeh: from נשני naššānî who makes to forget) is one of the Hebrew tribes, which the Bible claims was founded by Manasseh, the son of Joseph. ... According to the Bible, Midian (מִדְיָן Strife; judgment, Standard Hebrew Midyan, Tiberian Hebrew Miḏyān,Arabic مدين) was a son of Abraham and his concubine Keturah (Genesis 25:1-6). ... According to the Book of Genesis and 1 Chronicles, Amalek (עֲמָלֵק; Standard Hebrew , Tiberian Hebrew ) was the son of Eliphaz and the grandson of Esau (Gen. ... This article is about the Jordan River and its valley in western Asia. ... The Jezreel Valley is a large plain and inland valley in the north of Israel. ...

God instructed Gideon that the men he had gathered were too many. With so many men, there would be reason for Gideon's army to claim the victory as their own, instead of giving the credit to God. He instructed Gideon to send home those men who were afraid. 22,000 men returned home and 10,000 remained:

⁴Then the Lord said to Gideon, "You still have too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will separate them for you there. If I tell you a man should go with you, he will go. If I tell you a man should not go with you, he will not go." ⁵Gideon took the men down to the water, and the Lord told him, "Separate everyone who laps up the water with his tongue like a dog, from everyone who gets down on his knees to drink." ⁶There were three hundred men who scooped up water in their hands and lapped it; all the others got down on their knees to drink. ⁷ The Lord said to Gideon, "I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites with the three hundred men who lapped the water. Tell everyone else to go home." (Judges 7:4-7, Good News Bible)

God waited until night fell before instructing Gideon to attack the Midianite camp. Gideon gave each of his men a trumpet, a torch, and a clay jar. They quietly surrounded the enemy camp, each torch hidden inside a jar. At Gideon's signal, every man blew his trumpet and broke his jar. God confused the Midianites, and made them turn on one another. The confused survivors ran and continued to retreat across Israel.

Although God did not instruct him to do so, Gideon then called for a large number of men to pursue the Midianites and cut off their retreat. He eventually caught them and subsequently murdered Zebah and Zalmunna, the two Midianite Kings, in cold blood, in order to avenge his brothers, who had been killed in battle. Zebah - man-killer, or sacrifice, one of the two kings who led the vast host of the Midianites who invaded the land of Israel, and over whom Gideon gained a great and decisive victory (Judg. ... Zebah - man-killer, or sacrifice, one of the two kings who led the vast host of the Midianites who invaded the land of Israel, and over whom Gideon gained a great and decisive victory (Judg. ...

The Israelites pleaded with Gideon to be their king, but he refused, telling them that only God was their ruler. Interestingly, however, he carries on to make an "ephod" out of the gold won in battle, which causes the whole of Israel again to turn away from God, and marries a large but unspecified number of women. He also had a concubine who bore him a son that he named Abimelech (which means "my father is king"). There was peace in Israel for forty years during the life of Gideon. The ephod (pronounced either ē´fod or ef´od) was one of eight ritual garments worn by the Israelite and later the Jewish High Priest while serving in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. ... In the Tanakh or Old Testament, Abimelech was a son of the great judge Gideon (Judges 9:1). ...

External links

• The Book of Judges from the King James version of the Bible (at the University of Virginia)
• The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran (Chronology for Israel's Period of the Judges 1412 BCE to 1039 BCE)