Gideon

In the Book of Judges (chapters 6–8) Gideon is introduced as the son of Joash, of the Abiezrite clan of Manasseh, from the town of Ophrah. During a period when Israel has 'turned away from Yahweh' and suffers seven years of oppression by Midianites, Amalekites and 'children of the east', the Angel of the Lord appears to Gideon calling him to condemn idolatry (to destroy an altar to Baal and an Asherah pole) and to lead Israel in deliverance. Gideon's byname Jerubbaal (literally cited in the narrative as 'Let Baal contend with him') and the variant Jerubbesheth reflect later textual sensitivity to the theophoric element 'Baal.' His calling is accompanied by miraculous signs (an angelic fire from a rock and consecutive 'fleece' signs) which Gideon requests as confirmation of divine will.

The supplied narrative sources do not provide a physical description of Gideon (height, clothing, or facial features). Judges 6–8 focus on Gideon's actions, his encounters with the Angel of the Lord, his ritual and military deeds (destruction of an altar, receiving signs, organizing an army) and theophanies validating his commission rather than on corporeal description.

Gideon is depicted as a mortal human leader whose authority and successful actions are presented as contingent upon divine mandate and angelic mediation (Judges 6–8). The narrative attributes miraculous phenomena—fire issuing from a rock at the Angel's appearance and the dew/fleece signs performed on consecutive nights—to divine validation rather than to an intrinsic supernatural power of Gideon himself. His notable capacities in the account are leadership and military strategy under divine instruction: assembling an army, following God’s command to reduce his force from tens of thousands to a select 300 by tests of fear and by the manner of drinking at water, and executing a night stratagem using shofar (trumpets), clay jars concealing torches, and coordinated shouting to rout a larger Midianite force. He enforces justice on captured enemy leaders, punishes towns that refused aid, makes an ephod from war spoils as cultic commemoration, and refuses the offer to become king, asserting that God alone is Israel's ruler.