Gideon
A judge from the tribe of Manasseh, found threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from Midianite raiders when the angel of the Lord greeted him as a mighty man of valour. Hesitant and cautious, he twice tested the call with a fleece, then pulled down his father's altar to Baal by night. God reduced his army from thirty-two thousand to three hundred so that Israel could not claim the victory as its own; with trumpets, jars and torches they routed the Midianite camp. He refused the crown when Israel offered it, saying the Lord would rule them — yet the golden ephod he made became a snare to his family.
What we know — and how we know it
Where in scripture
Judges1 Samuel2 SamuelHebrewsYahweh’s angel came, and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Midianites.
Judges 6:11
Yahweh’s angel appeared to him, and said to him, “Yahweh is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
Judges 6:12 — Called by the angel
Therefore on that day he named him Jerub-Baal, saying, “Let Baal contend against him, because he has broken down his altar.”
Judges 6:32
Yahweh said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men who lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, each to his own place.”
Judges 7:7 — The three hundred
Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house.
Judges 8:29
Yahweh sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and you lived in safety.
1 Samuel 12:11
Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Didn’t a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.’”
2 Samuel 11:21
What more shall I say? For the time would fail me if I told of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets;
Hebrews 11:32
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.
Family
In their own words — 18 recorded sayings
“Then Gideon said to him, O my lord, if the Lord is with us why has all this come on us? And where are all his works of power, of which our fathers have given us word, saying, Did not the Lord take us out of Egypt? But now he has given us up, handing us over to the power of Midian.” — Judges 6:13
“And he said to him, O Lord, how may I be the saviour of Israel? See, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.” — Judges 6:15
“So he said to him, If now I have grace in your eyes, then give me a sign that it is you who are talking to me.” — Judges 6:17
“Do not go away till I come with my offering and put it before you. And he said, I will not go away before you come back.” — Judges 6:18
“Then Gideon was certain that he was the angel of the Lord; and Gideon said, I am in fear, O Lord God! for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” — Judges 6:22
“Then Gideon said to God, If you are going to give Israel salvation by my hand, as you have said, See, I will put the wool of a sheep on the grain-floor; if there is dew on the wool only, while all the earth is dry, then I will be certain that it is your purpose to give Israel salvation by my hand as you have said.” — Judges 6:36-37
“Then Gideon said to God, Do not be moved to wrath against me if I say only this: let me make one more test with the wool; let the wool now be dry, while the earth is covered with dew.” — Judges 6:39
“Then Gideon, hearing the story of the dream and the sense in which they took it, gave worship; then he went back to the tents of Israel, and said, Up! for the Lord has given the army of Midian into your hands.” — Judges 7:15
…and 10 more recorded sayings.
Speaker attribution: Clear Bible MACULA (CC BY 4.0). Wording: Bible in Basic English (public domain).
Events
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