Alt. of Guide
Word of the Day: Catachrestical
Gideon
Encyclopedia Britannica
GIDEON, liberator, reformer, and “judge” of Israel, was the youngest son of Joash, of the “house” of Abiezer, and tribe of Manasseh, and had his home at Ophrah, the site of which is probably to be sought westward of Jordan, somewhat to the south of the plain of Jezreel. Gideon lived at a time when Israel, grown idolatrous, had been brought very low by periodic incursions of the “Midianites” and “Amalekites,” nomad tribes from the east of Jordan, who in great numbers were wont to overrun the country, destroying all that they could not carry away. In the beginning of the narrative of his public life he is represented as an unambitious man, quietly engaged in agricultural pursuits, who yet had already distinguished himself as a “mighty man of valour,” probably in guerilla warfare against the common foe. According to that narrative, his first exploit worthy of special commemoration was the destruction, by divine command, of the altar of Baal belonging to his father, and of the Ashera beside it, and the substitution of an altar to Jehovah. But immediately before this he had also been summoned by “the angel of the Lord” to undertake, in dependence on supernatural direction and help, the work of liberating his country from its long oppression, and, in token that he accepted the mission, had already erected in Ophrah an altar which he called “Jahveh-Shalom” (Jehovah is prosperity). The great gathering of the Midianites and their allies on the north side of the plain of Jezreel “stretching from the hill of Moreh”; the general muster first of Abiezer, then of all Manasseh, and lastly of the neighbouring tribes of Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali; the signs by which the wavering faith of Gideon was steadied; the methods by which an unwieldy mob was ...reduced to a small but trusty band of energetic and determined men; and the stratagem by which the vast army of Midian was surprised and routed by the handful of Israelites descending from “above Endor,” are indicated with sufficient clearness in the Scripture narrative, and need not be detailed minutely here. There is some difficulty in following the account of the subsequent flight of the Midianites, which seems to have taken place in two directions,—Oreb and Zeeb making for the lower fords of Jordan towards the south-east, while Zebah and Zalmunna took the upper passage, a little below the place where the river flows out of the Sea of Galilee. Leaving the Ephraimites (who had now risen in force) to deal with the former, Gideon with his 300 appears to have kept up the pursuit of the latter to Nobah and Jogbehah, points beyond Succoth and Penuel, where a bloody contest resulted in the destruction of that portion of the Midianite army, and in the ultimate capture and execution of Zebah and Zalmunna. Almost simultaneously with these occurrences eastward of Jordan, messengers from Ephraim bearing the heads of Oreb (“raven”) and Zeeb (“wolf”), who with their followers had been crushed at “theraven’s rock” and “the wolf’s den” respectively, announced the completeness of Israel’s victory. Having taken unrelenting vengeance on the men of Penuel and Succoth, who had shown a timid neutrality when the patriotic struggle was at its crisis, Gideon returned to his native Ophrah, where he further distinguished himself by his pious magnanimity in refusing the kingship which had been put within his reach—an act of self-denial, however, which, according to the sacred historian, was somewhat neutralized by his subsequent folly in establishing a shrine which proved a snare to all Israel, not excluding his family or even himself. For forty years after the great victory he lived at his own house in Ophrah in considerable wealth and magnificence, yet always in a private station—there being no direct scriptural evidence at least that his judgeship lasted during all that period, or that it ever gave him any position of legally recognized authority. The name of Gideon occurs in Heb. xi. 32, in the list there given of those who became heroes by faith; but, except in Judges vi.-viii,, it is not to be met with anywhere in the Old Testament. In 1 Sam. xii. 11 and 2 Sam. xi. 21 (LXX.) he is called Jerubbaal (the reading Jerubbesheth having been introduced into the latter passage in accordance with the usage explained in the article Baal). The fact that in Judges ix., which appears to be the oldest part of the narrative, he is invariably called Jerubbaal, has suggested to Kuenen and others that this ought to be regarded as his original and proper name, that of Gideon (l⅛∏2, i.e. “hewer” or “warrior,” cf Isa. x, 33) having been a later designation. In confirmation of this it is pointed out that the derivation of Sy31' as equivalent to ∕ ’ y3∏ 13 3Ύ (“Let Baal contend against him,” v. 32, or “Let Baal contend for himself,” v. 31) is much less probable than that which interprets it as precisely analogous with such names as Merib-baal, Jehoiarib or Joarib, Seraiah, Israel, and perhaps also Josadec, all meaning “God fights” or “contends.” The nature of the grounds on which it is conjectured that Gideon’s conquest of the Midianites was somewhat slower than the narrative on a first reading would lead one to suppose, and that his religious reforms, far from being confined to a solitary act of his early manhood, were rather the principal employment of his later life, is indicated in the histories of Israel by Ewald, Hitzig, and Kuenen. See also especially Wellhausen, Geschichte, i. 252 sq.
9th ed. Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 10, p. 588
[937 words — estimated reading time: 6 minutes]
[937 words — estimated reading time: 6 minutes]
Gideon
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary
the son of Joash, of the tribe of Manasseh; the same with Jerubbaal, the seventh judge of Israel. He dwelt in the city of Ophra, and was chosen by God in a very extraordinary manner to deliver the Israelites from the oppression of the Midianites, under which they had laboured for the space of seven years. See Judges vi, 14–27; viii, 1–24, &c.
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary
[63 words — estimated reading time: 1 minute]
[63 words — estimated reading time: 1 minute]
No thesaurus entries found for "Gide".
King James Bible KJV Bible
Berean Standard Bible BSB Bible
42 KJV and 61 BSB verses contain “Gide” — showing the first 20. Show all 62 verses (searchable)
Of Benjamin; Abidan the son of Gideoni.
from Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni;
Then the tribe of Benjamin: and the captain of the sons of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni.
Next will be the tribe of Benjamin. The leader of the Benjamites is Abidan son of Gideoni,
On the ninth day Abidan the son of Gideoni, prince of the children of Benjamin, offered:
On the ninth day Abidan son of Gideoni, the leader of the Benjamites, drew near.
And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni.
and a peace offering of two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Abidan son of Gideoni.
And over the host of the tribe of the children of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gideoni.
and Abidan son of Gideoni was over the division of the tribe of Benjamin.
And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it.
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.
And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.
And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so.
Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father’s household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.