n.
Judge and hero of ancient Israel, whose deeds are described in the Old Testament Book of Judges.
The book contains two versions of Gideon's story. In one account, he led his tribe of Manasseh in a victorious campaign against the Midianites, then fashioned an idolatrous image from the booty and led Israel into immorality. In another version, he replaced worship of the local deity, Baal , with that of Yahweh (the God of Israel), and the power of Yahweh enabled his tribe to destroy the Midianites.