See also:

• GIDEON (in Hebrew, perhaps " hewer " or " warrior ")

GIDEON (in See also:

• HEBREW

Hebrew, perhaps " hewer " or " See also:

• WARRIOR

warrior ")  , liberator, reformer and " See also:

• JUDGE (Lat. judex, Fr. juge)

judge " of See also:

• ISRAEL (Hebrew for " God strives " or " rules "; see Gen. xxxii. 28; and the allusion in Hosea xii. 4)

Israel, was the son of See also:

• JOASH, or JEHOASH (Heb. " Yahweh is strong, or bath given ")

Joash, of the Manassite See also:

• CLAN (Gaelic clann, O. Ir. cland, connected with Lat. planta, shoot or scion, the ancient Gaelic or Goidelic substituting k for p)

clan of Abiezer, and had his See also:

• HOME
• HOME, DANIEL DUNGLAS (1833-1886)
• HOME, EARLS OF

home at Ophrah near See also:

• SHECHEM (mod. Nablus)

Shechem . His name occurs in Heb. xi . 32, in a See also:

• LIST (O.E. lisle, a Teutonic word, cf. Dut. lust, Ger. Leiste, adapted in Ital. lista and Fr. lisle)
• LIST, FRIEDRICH (1789-1846)

list of those who became heroes by faith; but, except in See also:

• JUDGES, THE BOOK OF

Judges vi.-viii., is not to be met with elsewhere in the Old Testament . He lived at a See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time when the See also:

• NOMAD (Gr. voµas, voµabes, wandering)

nomad tribes of the See also:

• SOUTH
• SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

south and See also:

• EAST
• EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

east made inroads upon Israel, destroying all that they could not carry away . Two accounts of his deeds are preserved (see JUDGES) . According to one (Judges vi . 11-24) Yahweh appeared under the See also:

• HOLY

holy See also:

• TREE (0. Eng. treo, treow, cf. Dan. tree, Swed. Odd, tree, trd, timber; allied forms are found in Russ. drevo, Gr. opus, oak, and 36pv, spear, Welsh derw, Irish darog, oak, and Skr. dare, wood)
• TREE, SIR HERBERT BEERBOHM (1853- )

tree which was in the See also:

• POSSESSION
• POSSESSION (Lat. possessio, possidere, to possess)

possession of Joash and summoned See also:

• GIDEON (in Hebrew, perhaps " hewer " or " warrior ")

Gideon to undertake, in dependence on supernatural direction and help, the See also:

• WORK

work of liberating his See also:

• COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country from its See also:

• LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
• LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

long oppression, and, in token that he accepted the See also:

• MISSION

mission, he erected in Ophrah an See also:

• ALTAR (Lat. altare, from alias, high; some ancient etymological guesses are recorded by St Isidore of Seville in Etymologiae xv. 4)

altar which he called " Yahweh-Shalom " (Yahweh is See also:

• PEACE
• PEACE, BREACH OF THE

peace) . According to another See also:

• ACCOUNT
• ACCOUNT (through O. Fr. acont, Late Lat. comptum, cornputare, to calculate)

account (vi . 25-32) Gideon was a See also:

• GREAT

great reformer who was commanded by Yahweh to destroy the altar of See also:

• BAAL

Baal belonging to his See also:

• FATHER

father and the asherah or sacred See also:

• POST

post by its See also:

• SIDE
• SIDE (mod. Eski Adalia)

side . The townsmen discovered the See also:

• SACRILEGE

sacrilege and demanded his See also:

• DEATH

death . His father, who, as See also:

• GUARDIAN

guardian of the sacred See also:

• PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place, was See also:

• PRIEST (Ger. Priester, Fr. pretre)

priest of Baal, enjoined the men not to take up Baal's See also:

• QUARREL

quarrel, for " if Baal be a See also:

• GOD

god, let him contend (See also:

• RIB (from 0. Eng. ribb; the word appears' in many Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Rippe, Swed. reb)

rib) for himself." Hence Gideon received the name Jerubbaal.' From this latter name appearing regularly in the older narrative (cf. ix.), and from the varying usage in vi.-viii., it has been held that stories of two distinct heroes (Gideon and Jerubbaal) have been fused in the complicated account which follows.' The great gathering of the Midianites and their See also:

• ALLIES, THOMAS WILLIAM (1813-1903)

allies on the See also:

• NORTH
• NORTH, BARONS
• NORTH, MARIANNE (1830—1890)
• NORTH, ROGER (1653-1734)
• NORTH, SIR THOMAS (1535?-16o1?)

north side of the See also:

• PLAIN (O. Fr. plain, from Lat. plenum)

plain of See also:

• JEZREEL (Heb. " God sows ")

Jezreel; the See also:

• GENERAL
• GENERAL (Lat. generalis, of or relating to a genus, kind or class)

general See also:

• MUSTER (Mid. Eng. mostre, moustre, adapted from the similar O. Fr. forms; Lat. monstrare)

muster first of Abiezer, then of all See also:

• MANASSEH (7th cent. B.C.)
• MANASSEH (apparently Hebrew for " he who causes to for-get," but see H. W. Hogg, Encyc. Bib., s.v.); in the Bible, a tribe of Israel, the elder but less important of the "sons" of Joseph. Its seat lay to the north of Ephraim, but its boundaries can scarce

Manasseh, and lastly of the neighbouring tribes of See also:

• ASHER

Asher, See also:

• ZEBULUN

Zebulun and See also:

• NAPHTALI

Naphtali; the signs by which the wavering faith of Gideon was steadied; the methods by which an unwieldy See also:

• MOB

mob was reduced to a small but trusty See also:

• BAND

band of energetic and determined men; and the stratagem by which the vast See also:

• ARMY
• ARMY (from Fr. armee, Lat. armata)

army of See also:

• MIDIAN (properly Madyan, so Sept.)

Midian was surprised and routed by the handful of Israelites descending from " above See also:

• ENDOR

Endor," are indicated fully in the narratives, and need not be detailed here . The difficulties in the account of the subsequent See also:

• FLIGHT

flight of the Midian: ites appear to have arisen from the composite See also:

• CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character of the narratives, and there are signs that in one of them Gideon was accompanied only by his own clansmen (vi .

34) . So, when the Midianites are put to flight, according to one See also:

• REPRESENTATION

representation, the Ephraimites are called out to intercept them, and the two chiefs, See also:

• OREL
• OREL, OR ORLOV

Orel) (" See also:

• RAVEN (O.E. hrafn, ,Icel. hrafn, Dan. ravn, Du. raaf, Ger. Rabe)

raven ") and Zeeb (" See also:

• WOLF
• WOLF (Canis lupus)
• WOLF, FRIEDRICH AUGUST (1759-1824)
• WOLF, HUGO (1860-1903)
• WOLF, JOSEPH (1820-1899)

wolf "), in making for the fords of the See also:

• JORDAN (the down-comer; Arab. esh-Sheri'a, the watering-place)
• JORDAN, CAMILLE (1771—1821)
• JORDAN, DOROTHEA (1762—1816)
• JORDAN, THOMAS (1612 ?–1685)
• JORDAN, WILHELM (1819–1904)

Jordan, are slain at " the raven's See also:

• ROCK
• ROCK (O.Fr. rake, Sp. rota, Ital. rocca; possibly from a Lat. form rupica, from rupes, rock)
• ROCK, DANIEL (1799–187t)

rock" and " the wolf's See also:

• PRESS (through Fr. presse from Lat. pressare, frequentative of premere, to crush, squeeze, press)

press " respectively . As the sequel of this we are told that the Ephraimites quarrelled with Gideon because their assistance had not been invoked earlier, and their anger was ' " Baal contends " (or Jeru-baal, " Baal founds," cf . Jeru-el), but artificially explained in the narrative to mean " let Baal contend against him," or " let Baal contend for himself," v . 31 . In 2 Sam. xi . 21 he is called Jerubbesheth, in accordance with the See also:

• CUSTOM (from O. Fr. costume, costume or coustume; Low Lat. costuma, a shortened form of consuetudo)

custom explained in the See also:

• ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article BAAL . 2 See, on this, See also:

• CHEYNE, THOMAS KELLY (1841— )

Cheyne, Ency . Bib. See also:

• COL
• COL (Fr. for " neck," Lat. collum)

col . 1719 seq.; Ed . See also:

• MEYER, CHRISTIAN ERICH HERMANN VON (18or-1869)
• MEYER, HEINRICH AUGUST WILHELM (1800-1873)
• MEYER, JULIUS LOTHAR (183o-1895)
• MEYER, KONRAD FERDINAND (1825-1898)
• MEYER, VICTOR (1848-1897)
• MEYER, [MARIE] PAUL HYACINTHE (184o- )

Meyer, See also:

• DIE
• DIE (Fr. de, from Lat. datum, given)

Die Israelites, pp . 482 seq.only appeased by his tactful reply (viii .

1-3; contrast xii . 1-6) . The other narrative speaks of the pursuit of the Midianite chiefs Zebah and Zalmunna3 across the See also:

• NORTHERN

northern end of Jordan, past Succoth and Penuel to the unidentified place $arkor . Having taken relentless vengeance on the men of Penuel and Succoth, who had shown a timid See also:

• NEUTRALITY

neutrality when the patriotic struggle was at its crisis, Gideon puts the two chiefs to death to avenge his See also:

• BROTHERS, RICHARD (1757-1824)

brothers whom they had killed at See also:

• TABOR

Tabor.' The overthrow of Midian (cf . Is. ix . 4, x: 26; Ps. lxxxiii . 9-12) induced " Israel" to offer Gideon the See also:

• KINGDOM

kingdom . It was refused—out of religious scruples (viii . 22 seq.; cf . 1 Sam. viii . 7, X . 19, xii .

12, 17, 19), and the See also:

• EPHOD

ephod idol which he set up at Ophrah in See also:

• COMMEMORATION

commemoration of the victory was regarded by a later editor (v . 27) as a cause of See also:

• APOSTASY (aaoafiavis, in classical Greek a defection or revolt from a military commander)

apostasy to the See also:

• PEOPLE

people and a snare to Gideon and his See also:

• HOUSE
• HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in Gothic it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

house; see, however, Ernon . Gideon's achievements would naturally give him a more than merely See also:

• LOCAL

local authority, and after his death the See also:

• ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt was made by one of his sons to set himself up as See also:

• CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief (see AEIMELECH) . See further See also:

• JEWS
• JEWS (Heb. Y8hudi, man of Judah; Gr. 'Iovbaiot; Lat. Judaei)

JEws, See also:

• SECTION
• SECTION (Lat. sectio, cutting, secare, to cut)

section 1; and the literature to the See also:

• BOOK

book of Judges . (S . A .