GIDEON (gid'e-on), (Heb. 1117., gkid-ohn', tree feller, i. e., warrior or destroyer).
He was surnamed Jerubbaal or Jerubbesheth, fifth Judge in Israel, and the first of them whose history is circumstantially narrated. He was the son of Joash, of the tribe of Manasseh ( Judg. vi: 11), and resided at Ophrali in Gilead beyond the Jordan.
(1) Condition of Israel. The Midianites, in conjunction with the Amalekites and other nomade tribes, invaded the country every year, at the sea son of produce, in great numbers, with their flocks and herds. They plundered and trampled down the fields, the v:neyards, and the gardens; they seized the cattle, and plundered man and house, rioting in the country, after the manner which the Bedouin Arabs practice at this day.
(2) Call of Gideon. After Israel had been humbled by seven years of this treatment, the Lord raised up a deliverer in the person of Gideon. He was threshing corn by stealth, for fear of its being taken away by the Midianites, when an angel of God appeared before him, and thus saluted him :--`The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.' Gideon expressed some doubt whether God was still with a people subject to such affliction, and was answered by the most un expected conlinission—.Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianitcs; have not' I sent thee'? Gidcon still urged, 'W;lierewith shall I save Israel? I3ehold my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.' The 'Wherewith' was answcrcd by 'Surely I will be with thee.' He thcn demurred no more, but pressed his hospitali ty upon the heavenly stranger, who, however, ate not of what was set' before him, but directing Gideon to lay it out upon the rock as upon an altar, it was consumed by a supernatural fire, and the angel disappeared.
(3) Destroys Baal's Altar. Assured by this of his commission, Gideon proceeded at once to cast down the local image and altar of Baal; and, when the people would have avenged this insult to their false god, their anger was averted through the address of his father, who, by dwelling on the inability of Baal to avenge him self, more than insinuated a doubt of his com petency to protect his followers. This was a
favorite argument among the Hebrews against idolatry. It occurs often in the prophets, and was seldom urged upon idolatrous Israelites with out some effect upon their consciences.
(4) The Sign of the Fleece. Gideon soon found occasion to act upon his high commission. The allied invaders were encamped in the great plain of Jezreel or Esdraelon, when he blew the trumpet, and thus gathered round him a daily increasing host, the summons to arms which it implied having been transmitted through the northern tribes by special messengers. The in quietude connected with great enterprises is more sensibly felt some days before than at the mo ment of action; and hence the two miraculous signs which, on the two nights preceding the march, were required and given as tokens of vic tory. The first night a fleece was laid out in the middle of an open threshing-floor, and in the morning it was quite wet, while the soil was dry all around. The next night the wonder was reversed, the soil being wet and the fleece per fectly dry (Judg. vii).
(5) Midianites Defeated. Encouraged by these Divine testimonies, Gideon commenced his march, and advanced to the brook Harod, in the valley of Jezreel. He was here at the head of 32,000 men ; but, lest so large a host should as sume the glory of the coming deliverance, which of right belonged to God only, two operations, remarkable both in motive and procedure, re duced this large host to a mere handful of men. First, by Divine direction, proclamation was made that all the faint-hearted might withdraw ; and no fewer than 22,000 availed themselves of the indulgence. The remaining to,000 were still de clared too numerous; they were therefore all taken down to the brook, when only those who lapped the water from their hands, like active men in haste, were reserved for thc enterprise, while all those who lay down leisurely to drink were excluded. The former numbered no more than 3oo, and these were the appointed vanquish ers of the huge host which covered the great plain (Judg. vii:1-8).