Who was Gideon?
Quick answer
Gideon was a judge of Israel whom God called from threshing wheat in a winepress, hiding from the Midianites, to deliver his people. With just 300 men and trumpets and torches, he won an impossible victory — so that God alone got the glory.
God greeted the fearful Gideon as "mighty man of valor" — calling him what God would make him, not what he was.
Gideon famously tested God with a fleece. God patiently reassured him, then deliberately shrank his army from 32,000 to 300 "lest Israel boast."
Gideon’s story shows God using weak, doubting people for great deliverance — and warns, in its sad ending, how victory can breed compromise.
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Original BibleDawn answer · reviewed 2026-06. Drafted with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy.