Gideon’s Revenge: Gideon has just led the Israelites to defeat a coalition of their enemies. In a surprise attack, he and his men routed the armies and pursued them all the way to the Jordan River. Then they called in reinforcements from the tribe of Ephraim to help them in the sweeping-up effort. After a brief altercation, these took over the pursuit and executed two Midianite leaders. This would have been a good place to stop. The author could have closed the story with the stereotypic notices that the land had peace for forty years (Judg. 8:28) and Gideon died and was buried in his family tomb in Ophrah (8:32). But he did not stop there. He continued on with the story of Gideon, a story that reveals a different side of Israel’s judge—the dark side, to be sure. Judges 8 begins with a pos…