GIDEON, gid'e-on (Heb. Gideon; perhaps con nected with gada‘, to fell). A Hebrew warrior, also called Jerubbaal and once (II. Sam. xi. 21) Jerubbesheth. According to the biblical nar rative, Gideon delivered the Hebrews from the oppression of the Midianites, and became one of the 'judges' of Israel, and his son Abimelech was made 'king' in Shechem (Judges vi.-ix). The mod ern critics look upon Gideon as a popular hero, whose story has received embellishments of a more or less distinctly legendary character. Even when stripped of these legendary features, the narrative is still regarded as quite complicated, and, in order to explain it, it is assumed that Gideon and Jerubbaal are two distinct person ages. Changes are also made in the text, which is undoubtedly very corrupt. On this assump tion Gideon belongs to the western section of Manasseh, Jerubbaal to the eastern, or perhaps to the clan of Gad. The stories and legends re garding these heroes, after being confused in the minds of the people, have been combined by successive narrators and redactors into a single tale. In the case of both heroes, the opponents against whom they contend success fully are Midianites, a. term which becomes in the hands of Old Testament writers a general designation for the rude Bedawin hordes which at all times, even to the present day, have rendered life uncertain among the peaceful agricultural population of Palestine and Syria. According to the original Gideon nar rative, these Bedawin invaders choose the har vest-time as the most favorable moment of at tack, when they are certain of reaping a rich booty. Gideon at Ophrah receives the summons through Yahweh to gather his clansmen in order to resist the expected attack of the nomads. Warriors of Ephraim join with those of Manas seh, and the march is begun to Mount Gilboa, be neath which the Midianites are encamped. Gideon approaches the camp stealthily, and encouraged by hearing one of the Midianites relating to his fellow a significant dream, returns to the Hebrew camp. With the war cry 'for the Lord and for Gideon' the Hebrews rush upon the Midianites, who are utterly routed, and flee to the distant slopes of Abel Meholah, or, as some critics pro pose, Dread, Abel-both-maacah. They are fol lowed by the victorious Hebrews, who succeed in capturing two of the princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Lech, and their heads are brought to Gideon. In the original Jerubbaal story the hero,
residing at Jazer, is represented as proceeding with ten members of his household at night against the Midianites, and inflicting a slaughter among them. In revenge the Midianites turned against Jerubbaal's brethren, slew them, and went on plundering and killing far to the north. Jerubbaal now gathers three hundred warriors of his clan around him, and after enduring many hardships on the road, finally encounters the Midianites at Karkor. By means of a stratagem he surprises and throws the Midianites into a panic, the result of which is a complete defeat of the marauders. Jerubbaal caught the two kings of Midian, Zebali and Zalniunna, and put them to death. In the legendary amplification of this narrative, Jerubbaal is recognized as king by his people, and since, as a worshiper of Jehovah, it seemed distasteful to later editors that he should have a name which contained Baal as an element, the name is interpreted and modified as though it indicated 'opposition to Baal' (Judges vi. 32), and in one instance (II. Sam. xi. 21) is disguised by substituting besheth for it. (See BAAL.) In general, however, the name Gideon is quietly sub stituted for Jerubbaal. The similarity of the two stories no doubt was one element which led to their confusion in the minds of the people, but the combination is essentially the work of nar rators who aimed at reconstructing the past from the point of view of zealous devotees of Jehovah. In the course of the narratives stress is laid on the fact that the oppression of the Midianites is a punishment sent because the people had fallen away from Jehovah, while Gideon is represented as a Jehovah purist, who at the risk of his life destroyed the Baal altars in his town (Judges vt. 25-32). Consult the chapters on Gideon Jerubbaal in the Hebrew histories of Stade, Kit tel, Guthe, Wellhausen, and the commentaries on the Book of Judges by Studer, Bachmann, Moore, and Budde; also Niebuhr, Studien zur Geschichte des alten. Orients, vol. i. (Berlin, 1894) ; Budde, Richter und Samuel (Giessen, 1890).