Gideon

Gideon or Gedeon (Hebrew: גִּדְעוֹן, Modern Gid'on, Tiberian Giḏʻôn "Hewer" also named Jerubbaal יְרֻבַּעַל Yĕrubba`al "Baal will contend") is a character in the Book of Judges (chapters 6 to 8) of the Hebrew Bible.

Gideon is the son of Joash, from the Abiezrite clan in the tribe of Manasseh and lived in Ephra. He is a judge of the Israelites who wins a decisive victory over a Midianite army with a vast numerical disadvantage, leading a troop of three hundred men.

Biblical narrative

As is the pattern throughout the Book of Judges, the Israelites again turned away from Yahweh after forty years of peace brought by Deborah's victory over Canaan, and Midianites, Amalekites and other Bedouin peoples harry Israel for seven years. God chose Gideon, a young man from the tribe of Manasseh, to free the people of Israel and to condemn their idolatry. Gideon requested proof of God's will by three miracles: firstly a sign from an angel (Judges 6:16), and then two signs involving a fleece, performed on consecutive nights and the exact opposite of each other (Judges 6:36–40) On God's instruction, Gideon destroyed the town's altar to Baal and the symbol of the goddess Asherah beside it, receiving the byname of Jerubbaal from his father.

Gideon (play)

Gideon, a play by Paddy Chayefsky, is a seriocomic treatment of the story of Gideon, a judge in the Old Testament. The play had a successful Broadway run in 1961 and was broadcast on NBC in 1971 as a Hallmark Hall of Fame special.

The story

Chayefsky drew from three chapters in the Book of Judges in writing this play, which explores the relationship of an ordinary man to God.

"The Angel of the Lord" appears before Gideon and drafts him to perform one of God's miracles. Gideon is to save his people from idolatry by winning an impossible battle in which 300 Israelites will defeat 120,000 Midianites.

In the second act, which a Time magazine review described as the weaker of the play's two acts, Gideon asks to be released from his "covenant of love" with God. Gideon ignores God's order to kill some idolatrous Hebrew tribal chiefs, one of whom has a daughter who performs a seductive dance.

Gideon tells God, "You are too vast a concept for me." Gideon explains that his pity for fellow humans is above God's law. The Lord acknowledges that man wants to be "a proper god. You know, he might some day."

Gideon (disambiguation)

Gideon is a character in the Hebrew Bible.

Gideon may also refer to:

Religion

Media

Thor (comics)

Thor, the god of Norse mythology, has appeared as a character in various comics over the years, appearing in series from a range of publishers.

Marvel Comics

Thor (often called The Mighty Thor) is a Marvel Comics superhero, based on the thunder god of Norse mythology. The superhero was created by editor Stan Lee and penciller Jack Kirby, who co-plotted, and scripter Larry Lieber, and first appeared in Journey into Mystery #83 (Aug. 1962).

On a mission from his father, Odin, Thor acts as a superhero while maintaining the secret identity of Dr. Donald Blake, an American physician with a partially disabled leg. Blake can transform by tapping his walking stick on the ground; the cane becomes the magical hammer Mjolnir and Blake transforms into Thor.

Thor, a founding member of the superhero group the Avengers, often battles his evil adoptive brother Loki, a Marvel character adapted from the Norse god of mischief. He is among Marvel's most powerful superheroes. Many recurring characters in his stories are based on Norse Mythology. Apart from this main superhero, Marvel features a number of characters based on him.

Jane Foster (comics)

Jane Foster is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as a supporting character of the superhero Thor. Created by writers Stan Lee and Larry Lieber, and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Journey into Mystery #84 (Sept. 1962). For many years, Foster was a nurse employed by Dr. Donald Blake, Thor's first mortal host, before becoming a doctor herself. In 2015, Foster was revealed to be deemed worthy to wield Thor's hammer Mjolnir when the former is no longer able, adopting the name of Thor, the "Goddess of Thunder", and joining the Avengers.

Jane Foster has also appeared in various media adaptations of Thor, including the 2011 feature film Thor, and its 2013 sequel Thor: The Dark World, in which she is portrayed by Natalie Portman.

Publication history

Jane Foster first appeared in Journey into Mystery #84 (Sept. 1962), and was created by plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber and penciler Jack Kirby. Named "Jane Nelson" in her first two appearances, she went on to appear as the love interest of Dr. Donald Blake, the secret identity of the Norse god superhero Thor, in nearly every issue through #136 (Jan. 1967) of the title, by then renamed Thor.

Thor (satellite)

Thor (previously known as Marcopolo) is a family of satellites designed, launched and tested by Hughes Space and Communications (now part of Boeing Satellite Systems) for British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB), and were used for Britain's Direct Broadcast Service. Thor is owned by Telenor. Marcopolo 1 launched on 27 August 1989 on the 187th launch of a Delta rocket, and Marcopolo 2 launched on 17 August 1990, on a Delta II rocket. Marcopolo I had the Hughes designation HS376.

Although the satellites performed as designed, BSB merged with Sky Television to form British Sky Broadcasting and the BSB satellites were sold off and renamed. This also resulted in the obsoletion of the Squarial satellite-reception antenna, which was designed to operate with Thor 1 only.

Marcopolo 1 (Sirius 1/Sirius W)

Sirius W, previously known as Sirius 1, was launched on 27 August 1989. It was Hughes Space and Communications's first satellite. Marcopolo 1 was sold in December 1993 to Nordic Satellite AB of Sweden and operated until 2000 as Sirius 1 at 5°E. It was then moved to 13°W, and renamed Sirius W. It had 5 K_u band transponders.