Judge living before Israel's Monarchy
Gideon, also called Jerubbaal or Jerubbesheth, was a judge of Israel who, with God's help, defeated the Midianites and delivered Israel from oppression.
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Also known as Jerubbaal · Jerubbesheth · Gedeon
Gideon, also known as Jerubbaal or Jerubbesheth, was a judge of Israel during the period of the judges, as recorded in the book of Judges, chapters 6-8. He is also mentioned in Heb.11.32 as an example of faith. Gideon was the son of Joash, from the clan of Abiezer in the tribe of Manasseh (Jdg.6.11, 15). During a time when Israel was oppressed by the Midianites, God called Gideon to deliver His people (Jdg.6.14). Gideon initially doubted his ability to save Israel, but God reassured him through various signs, including a fleece wet with dew (Jdg.6.36-40). Gideon destroyed the altar of Baal and the Asherah pole, earning him the name Jerubbaal, which means "let Baal contend against him" (Jdg.6.25-32).
With a reduced army of 300 men, chosen by God, Gideon defeated the Midianites through a surprise attack, using trumpets, empty jars, and torches (Jdg.7.1-25). He pursued the Midianite kings, Zebah and Zalmunna, and captured them (Jdg.8.4-21). After the victory, the Israelites asked Gideon to rule over them, but he refused, stating that only God should rule over Israel (Jdg.8.22-23). However, Gideon made an ephod from the gold taken from the Midianites, which became a snare to him and his family (Jdg.8.24-27).
Gideon had seventy sons and many wives, including a concubine from Shechem who bore him a son named Abimelech (Jdg.8.29-31). After Gideon's death, Abimelech killed his seventy brothers and became king of Shechem, but his rule was short-lived and ended in his death (Judges 9). Gideon is remembered as a deliverer of Israel, and his story is referenced in 1Sa.12.11 and 2Sa.11.21. The name Jerubbesheth (2Sa.11.21) is a variation of Jerubbaal, with "besheth" (meaning "shame") replacing "baal" to avoid using the name of the pagan god.
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Called also Jerubbaal (Judg. 6:29, 32), was the first of the judges whose history is circumstantially narrated (Judg. 6-8). His calling is the commencement of the second period in the history of the judges. After the victory gained by Deborah and Barak over Jabin, Israel once more sank into idolatry, and the Midianites (q.v.) and Amalekites, with other “children of the east,” crossed the Jordan each year for seven successive years for the purpose of plundering and desolating the land. Gideon received a direct call from God to undertake the task of delivering the land from these warlike invaders. He was of the family of Abiezer (Josh. 17:2; 1 Chr. 7:18), and of the little township of Ophrah (Judg. 6:11). First, with ten of his servants, he overthrew the altars of Baal and cut down the asherah which was upon it, and then blew the trumpet of alarm, and the people flocked to his standard on the crest of Mount Gilboa to the number of twenty-two thousand men. These were, however, reduced to only three hundred. These, strangely armed with torches and pitchers and trumpets, rushed in from three different points on the camp of Midian at midnight, in the valley to the north of Moreh, with the terrible war-cry, “For the Lord and for Gideon” (Judg. 7:18, R.V.). Terror-stricken, the Midianites were put into dire confusion, and in the darkness slew one another, so that only fifteen thousand out of the great army of one hundred and twenty thousand escaped alive. The memory of this great deliverance impressed itself deeply on the mind of the nation (1 Sam. 12:11; Ps. 83:11; Isa. 9:4; 10:26; Heb. 11:32). The land had now rest for forty years. Gideon died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of his fathers. Soon after his death a change came over the people. They again…
(he that cuts down), youngest son of Joash of the Abiezrites, an undistinguished family who lived at Ophrah, a town probably on the west of Jordan, (Judges 6:15) in the territory of Manasseh, near Shechem. He was the fifth recorded judge of Israel, and for many reasons the greatest of them all. When we first hear of him he was grown up and had sons, (Judges 6:11; 8:20) and from the apostrophe of the angel, ch. (Judges 6:12) we may conclude that he had already distinguished himself in war against the roving bands of nomadic robbers who had oppressed Israel for seven years. When the angel appeared, Gideon was threshing wheat with a flail in the wine-press, to conceal it from the predatory tyrants. His call to be a deliverer, and his destruction of Baal’s altar, are related in Judges 6. After this begins the second act of Gideon’s life. Clothed by the Spirit of God, (Judges 6:34) comp. 1Chr 12:18; Luke 24:49 He blew a trumpet, and was joined by Zebulun, Naphtali and even the reluctant Asher. Strengthened by a double sign from God, he reduced his army of 32,000 by the usual proclamation. (20:8) comp. 1 Macc. 3:56. By a second test at “the spring of trembling the further reduced the number of his followers to 300. (Judges 7:5) seq. The midnight attack upon the Midianites, their panic, and the rout and slaughter that followed are told in (Judges 7:1) ... The memory of this splendid deliverance took deep root in the national traditions. (1 Samuel 12:11; Psalms 83:11; Isaiah 9:4; 10:26; Hebrews 11:32) After this there was a peace of forty years, and we see Gideon in peaceful possession of his well-earned honors, and surrounded by the dignity of a numerous household. (Judges 8:29-31) It is not improbable that, like Saul, he owed a part of his popularity to his princely…
he that bruises or breaks; a destroyer
GID'EON (a hewer), the son of Joash the Abiezrite, and fifth judge of Israel. He first comes into notice when an angel appears to him under the oak in Ophrah and assures him of God's special favor, Jud 6:11-12. Subsequently, God commanded him to offer as a sacrifice to the Lord the bullock which his father had set apart for Baal, and to destroy the altar of Baal. He did both of these things, but only escaped the murderous wrath of his fellow-citizens through the wily intervention of his father, Jud 6:31. The great works of Gideon's life were the abolition of idolatry, Jud 8:33, and the deliverance of the land from the invasions of the Midianites. Before undertaking the latter enterprise, he secured a pledge of the divine favor in the phenomena of the dew and the fleece, Jud 6:36-40. God, desirous of showing the victory to be the immediate result of supernatural agency, diminished Gideon's army from 32,000 to 300. With this small force Gideon had recourse to stratagem, and in an assault by night completely terrified and successfully routed the enemy, Judges 7. Gideon refused the crown, Jud 8:23, from the whole nation, which his son Abimelech afterward received from a part. He judged Israel for 40 years, Jud 8:28, and the nation enjoyed peace and engaged in the worship of God, Jud 8:33. He was one of her greatest rulers, and is honorably mentioned Heb 11:32.
GID'EON (a hewer), the son of Joash the Abiezrite, and fifth judge of Israel. He first comes into notice when an angel appears to him under the oak in Ophrah and assures him of God's special favor, Jud 6:11-12. Subsequently, God commanded him to offer as a sacrifice to the Lord the bullock which his father had set apart for Baal, and to destroy the altar of Baal. He did both of these things, but only escaped the murderous wrath of his fellow-citizens through the wily intervention of his father, Jud 6:31. The great works of Gideon's life were the abolition of idolatry, Jud 8:33, and the deliverance of the land from the invasions of the Midianites. Before undertaking the latter enterprise, he secured a pledge of the divine favor in the phenomena of the dew and the fleece, Jud 6:36-40. God, desirous of showing the victory to be the immediate result of supernatural agency, diminished Gideon's army from 32,000 to 300. With this small force Gideon had recourse to stratagem, and in an assault by night completely terrified and successfully routed the enemy, Judges 7. Gideon refused the crown, Jud 8:23, from the whole nation, which his son Abimelech afterward received from a part. He judged Israel for 40 years, Jud 8:28, and the nation enjoyed peace and engaged in the worship of God, Jud 8:33. He was one of her greatest rulers, and is honorably mentioned Heb 11:32.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
50 verses in 4 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H1439
Then the angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites.
“Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wonders of which our fathers told us, saying, ‘Has not the LORD brought us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hand of Midian.”
So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread and an ephah of flour. He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot and brought them out to present to Him under the oak.
When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he said, “Oh no, Lord GOD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”
So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD had told him. But because he was too afraid of his fatherʼs household and the men of the city, he did it by night rather than in the daytime.
“Who did this?” they said to one another. And after they had investigated thoroughly, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.”
So on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend with him,” because he had torn down Baalʼs altar.
So the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, who blew the ramʼs horn and rallied the Abiezrites behind him.
Then Gideon said to God, “If You are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said,
Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me; let me speak one more time. Please allow me one more test with the fleece. This time let it be dry, and the ground covered with dew.”
Early in the morning Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the men with him camped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh.
Then the LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for Me to deliver Midian into their hands, lest Israel glorify themselves over Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’
Then the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go. But if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”
So Gideon brought the men down to the water, and the LORD said to him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel to drink.”
Then the LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped the water I will save you and deliver the Midianites into your hand. But all the others are to go home.”
And as Gideon arrived, a man was telling his friend about a dream. “Behold, I had a dream,” he said, “and I saw a loaf of barley bread come tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent so hard that the tent overturned and collapsed.”
His friend replied: “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has delivered Midian and the whole camp into his hand.”
When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Get up, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.”
When I and all who are with me blow our horns, then you are also to blow your horns from all around the camp and shout, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon!’”
Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after the changing of the guard. They blew their horns and broke the jars that were in their hands.
The three companies blew their horns and shattered their jars. Holding the torches in their left hands and the horns in their right hands, they shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!”
Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim to say, “Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth-barah.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth-barah.
They also captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian; and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. So they pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.
Then Gideon and his three hundred men came to the Jordan and crossed it, exhausted yet still in pursuit.
“Very well,” Gideon replied, “when the LORD has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with the thorns and briers of the wilderness!”
And Gideon went up by way of the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked their army, taking them by surprise.
After this, Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle along the Ascent of Heres.
Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Get up and kill us yourself, for as the man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon got up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments from the necks of their camels.
Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you and your son and grandson—for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”
But Gideon replied, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The LORD shall rule over you.”
Then he added, “Let me make a request of you, that each of you give me an earring from his plunder.” (For the enemies had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.)
From all this Gideon made an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.
In this way Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. So the land had rest for forty years in the days of Gideon,
and he—Jerubbaal son of Joash—returned home and settled down.
Gideon had seventy sons of his own, since he had many wives.
Later, Gideon son of Joash died at a ripe old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
And as soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves with the Baals, and they set up Baal-berith as their god.
They did not show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) for all the good things he had done for Israel.
Now Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to his motherʼs brothers at Shechem and said to them and to all the clan of his mother,
“Please ask all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Is it better for you that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or just one man?’ Remember that I am your own flesh and blood.”
He went to his fatherʼs house in Ophrah, and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, survived, because he hid himself.
Now if you have acted faithfully and honestly in making Abimelech king, if you have done well by Jerubbaal and his family, and if you have done to him as he deserves—
if you have acted faithfully and honestly toward Jerubbaal and his house this day, then may you rejoice in Abimelech, and he in you.
in order that the crime against the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come to justice and their blood be avenged on their brother Abimelech and on the leaders of Shechem, who had helped him murder his brothers.
Then Gaal son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is not Zebul his officer? You are to serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem. Why should we serve Abimelech?
And God also brought all the wickedness of the men of Shechem back upon their own heads. So the curse of Jotham son of Jerubbaal came upon them.
So the LORD sent Jerubbaal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel, and He delivered you from the hands of your enemies on every side, and you dwelt securely.
Who struck Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who dropped an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If he asks you this, then you are to say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well.’”
And what more shall I say? Time will not allow me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets,
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.