Gideon’s Ephod and Death: These final episodes in Gideon’s life reveal two sides of Israel’s judge: Gideon the zealous defender of the covenant and Gideon the apostate defector of the covenant, who also led Israel down the same path. This is the first time we have met the idea, although not in the exact words, that Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord before the judge’s death (8:27), which marks a significant turning point in Israel’s history. The two major judges who follow, Jephthah and Samson, will demonstrate a similar mixture of good and bad, though each of them increasingly worse.

8:28–32 Against the backdrop of these events, it is astonishing that during Gideon’s lifetime, the land enjoyed peace forty years (v. 28). It would appear that Gideon made the ephod early in his period of…