Gideon

Gideon is called by God to free Israel from the Midianites. With a group of 300 soldiers, he attacks the Midianites and drives them away. The Israelites then ask him to reign over them, but he refuses. But although Gideon is officially not a king of Israel, he in fact behaves like one.

The name Gideon means “the one who cuts down”. One night, when Gideon breaks down the altar of the false god Baal and cuts down the symbol of Asherah, his father calls him “Jerubbaal” (Judges 6:32). This means “Baal will fight” or “he fights with Baal”.
The prophet Samuel refers to him as one of the most important judges of Israel (1 Samuel 12:11) and Hebrews 11:32 call him one of the heroes of the faith, together with Barak, Jephthah and Samson.
Gideon is also the name of one of the forefathers of Judith (Judith 8:1).

Gideon is the youngest son of Joash and lives in Ophrah. He belongs to the clan of Abiezer within the tribe of Manasseh.
Although Gideon is very modest about his origins, an angel of God commands him to free the Israelites from the Midianites who have been oppressing them for seven years.

Gideon assembles soldiers for the battle from the tribes of Israel. But God thinks that there are too many. He does not want Gideon to rely on his own strength and commands him to send home the greater part of the army.
This results in Gideon only keeping a group of 300 men. With this army he surrounds the camp of the Midianites by night. They blow their rams’ horns and wave torches, causing great panic and sending the Midianites fleeing.

After his victory over the Midianites, the Israelites ask Gideon if he will reign over Israel with his sons. But Gideon thinks that God should be the ruler of the people, and not a person (Judges 8:23).
Although Gideon is not a ruler of Israel, he does behave like one. He has many wives and fathers 70 sons. In addition to these, he has one more son by a concubine, whom he calls Abimelech (“my father is king”).