Gideon (Easton)

DIC dictionary-entry · status:draft · license:PD

Called also Jerubbaal (Judges 6:29,32 ), was the first of the judges whose history is circumstantially narrated (Judges 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"> StudyL ı ght .org Plug in, Turn on and Be En light ened! Not Yet a Member? Click to Sign Up Now! --> --> Bible Study Tools Lang uage Tools Study Lib rary Hist orical Writings Pas toral Resources Per sonal Resources Site Resources Lectionary Calendar Saturday, June 6th, 2026 the Week of Proper 4 / Ordinary 9 video advertismenet advertisement advertisement advertisement Attention! Take your personal ministry to the Next Level by helping StudyLight build churches and supporting pastors in Uganda. Click here to join the effort! Home » Bible Dictionaries » Easton's Bible Dictionary » Letter G Bible Dictionaries Gideon Easton's Bible Dictionary Search for… Enter query below: or A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z Prev Entry Gibeon Next Entry Gier Eagle Resource Toolbox Print Article Additional Links Concordances Nave Topical Bible Gideon Thompson Chain Reference Gideon Dictionaries American Tract Society Gideon or Jerubbaal Bridgeway Bible Dictionary Gideon Chabad Knowledge Base Gideon Easton's Bible Dictionary Gideon Fausset Bible Dictionary Gideon Holman Bible Dictionary Gideon Hitchcock Bible Names Gideon Hastings' BibleDictionary Gideon Hastings' NT Dictionary Gideon Morrish Bible Dictionary Gideon 1910 New Catholic Dictionary Gideon Hawker's Poor Man's Dictionary Gideon People's Bible Dictionary Gideon Whyte's Bible Characters Gideon Watson's Theological Dictionary Gideon Encyclopedias 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica Ernst Gideon, Freiherr von Loudon Gideon Gideon Algernon Mantell (only first 3 shown) International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Gideon Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia Gideon McClintock and Strong's Bible Encyclopedia Abudiente, Moses ben-Gideon Barr, Gideon T. Blackburn, Gideon, D.D. (only first 3 shown) The Nuttall Encyclopedia Gideon Mantell, Gideon The Catholic Encyclopedia Gideon The Jewish Encyclopedia Brecher, Gideon (Gedaliah B. Eliezer) Gideon Gideon, Samson Lexicons ܓ݁ܶܕ݂ܥܽܘܢ Γεδεών גִּדְעוֹן Called also Jerubbaal ( Judges 6:29,32 ), was the first of the judges whose history is circumstantially narrated ( Judges 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 ( Joshua 17:2 ; 1 Chronicles 7:18 ), and of the little township of Ophrah ( Judges 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" ( Judges 7:18 , RSV). 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 Samuel 12:11 ; Psalm 83:11 ; Isaiah 9:4 ; 10:26 ; Hebrews 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 forgot Jehovah, and turned to the worship of Baalim, "neither shewed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal" ( Judges 8:35 ). Gideon left behind him seventy sons, a feeble, sadly degenerated race, with one exception, that of Abimelech, who seems to have had much of the courage and energy of his father, yet of restless and unscrupulous ambition. He gathered around him a band who slaughtered all Gideon's sons, except Jotham, upon one stone. (See OPHRAH .)

Source

• part_of source-manifest/easton — Easton's Bible Dictionary (PD)