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Gideon's name as nobody is left to keep Gideon in remembrance. Fur-
thermore, immediately after the narrator has described the Israelites'
disloyalty against God in 8:34, it is asserted in v. 35 that Israel "did not
exhibit loyalty to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all
the good that he had done to Israel." Thus Gideon does not receive
honor as reward for saving the Israelites from the Midianite oppression-
maybe another sign that the narrator assesses the contribution of Gideon
in a negative light. 57 Moreover, it seems as if revenge becomes an ever-
increasing characteristic of the last part of the book; for example, Jephthah
and Samson's careers are all about revenge and promoting their self-
interests.58 This downward movement reaches a low point in the last
chapters of the book (19-21), where Israel's revenge mission is linked to
the social chaos and disintegration with which the book ends. In light of
this critique within the narrative world, Gideon's revenge mission may
well evoke questions about the use of power, and God's reaction in the
story may compel the reader to rethink his or her own use of power.59
This paper was an attempt to show that a lesser known story such as
the Gideon narrative in Judges 6-8 contains compelling literary and theo-
logical themes, and has the potential to serve as a theological and moral
resource. Particularly the way the character of God functions in this nar-
rative could fruitfully be read for ethical insight; that is, if contemporary
communities of faith are led to reflect on this narrative.

57 In light of this criticism, one is left with the question of why the narrator calls Gideon's
contribution good (8:35). This is a problematic issue to resolve. Maybe one can argue that
in the first instance, Gideon does do what he is called to do, i.e., to be instrumental in the
salvation of the Israelites from the Midianites. Surely this can be described as good. But the
second part of the story, i.e., Gideon's revenge mission, distracts attention from God and
causes Israel not to recognize God-a conception which might have lead to the implied
criticism.
580ne can also ask how active God is in these narratives. This is an intriguing question,
and, although beyond the scope of this paper, something that may make an interesting
research topic, perhaps as part of a larger project of how God is portrayed in the book of
Judges at large.
59Even though one should be careful not to instill modern prejudices concerning violence
of the biblical text, the reader of the Gideon text will surely show some kind of reaction to
the violence portrayed in the story.