Gideon in the "The Book of Judges"

Paper Summary:

Gideon's story is an interesting tale of a man who had little faith, little courage and almost no power and yet he was chosen to save Israel from mightier forces. This paper examines the story of Gideon as it appears in "The Book of Judges" in the Old Testament. It includes quotations from the original text.

From the Paper:

"After victory, Gideon severely punished the people of Succoth and Penuel who had refused to supply his army with food. In his essay entitled: "The Punishment by Gideon of Succoth and Penuel in the Light of Ancient Near Eastern Treaties" (pp. 148-50), Malamat maintains that such cruel punishment was justified since "the expected punishment for the breach of a treaty made with Israel" (p. 150). He further assumes that "there existed a kind of vassal-treaty between Gideon and the cities of northern Trans-Jordan, obliging them to supply his army with food during a military campaign" (p. 149). But the existence of such a treaty is not mentioned in the Bible so we can only conclude that Gideon expected Succoth and Penuel to help out since they were Israeli cities but it also makes one wonder about Gideon's leadership skills and his human side."

More papers on Gideon in the "The Book of Judges" :

• Term Paper # 124644 : "Joshua, Judges, and "The Exodus Decoded"
• Book Review # 103544 : "The Old Testament": 'Judges 6'"
• Analytical Essay # 7282 : "Anthony Lewis' "Gideon's Trumpet"

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