Gideon

(redirected from Gideons)
Also found in: Encyclopedia.

Gid·e·on 1

 (gĭd′ē-ən)
In the Bible, a Hebrew judge who vehemently opposed the Baal cult and defeated the Midianites.

Gid·e·on 2

 (gĭd′ē-ən)
n.
A member of an interdenominational and international society known for placing Bibles in hotel rooms.

[From Gideons International, formerly the Gideon Society, after Gideon.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Gideon

(ˈɡɪdɪən)
n
(Bible) Old Testament a Hebrew judge who led the Israelites to victory over their Midianite oppressors (Judges 6:11–8:35)
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Gid•e•on

(ˈgɪd i ən)

n.
a judge of Israel and conqueror of the Midianites. Judges 6–8.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
Translations
Gedeone
References in classic literature ?
Bless his counsels, his undertakings, and his work; strengthen his kingdom by Thine almighty hand, and give him victory over his enemy, even as Thou gavest Moses the victory over Amalek, Gideon over Midian, and David over Goliath.
She listened to every word about the victory of Moses over Amalek, of Gideon over Midian, and of David over Goliath, and about the destruction of "Thy Jerusalem," and she prayed to God with the tenderness and emotion with which her heart was overflowing, but without fully understanding what she was asking of God in that prayer.
There is nothing about Tabor (except we concede that it was the scene of the Transfiguration,) but some gray old ruins, stacked up there in all ages of the world from the days of stout Gideon and parties that flourished thirty centuries ago to the fresh yesterday of Crusading times.
The plain of Esdraelon--"the battle-field of the nations"--only sets one to dreaming of Joshua, and Benhadad, and Saul, and Gideon; Tamerlane, Tancred, Coeur de Lion, and Saladin; the warrior Kings of Persia, Egypt's heroes, and Napoleon--for they all fought here.
Riches are mine, fortune is in my hand; They whom I favour thrive in wealth amain, While virtue, valour, wisdom, sit in want." To whom thus Jesus patiently replied:-- "Yet wealth without these three is impotent To gain dominion, or to keep it gained-- Witness those ancient empires of the earth, In highth of all their flowing wealth dissolved; But men endued with these have oft attained, In lowest poverty, to highest deeds-- Gideon, and Jephtha, and the shepherd lad Whose offspring on the throne of Juda sate So many ages, and shall yet regain That seat, and reign in Israel without end.
Well hast thou spoken, Sir Knight, until the God of Jacob shall raise up for his chosen people a second Gideon, or a new Maccabeus, it ill beseemeth the Jewish damsel to speak of battle or of war.''
Huddersfield hit the headlines when Digs, a firm which manages halls of residence for Huddersfield University students, banned the Gideons from placing copies of the Bible in its bedrooms.
Rene Chouinard, a Grimsby, Ont., father of two children, told the National Post that he wanted to distribute atheist and other non-religious literature in schools in response to a longtime practice in which the Gideons International hand out Bibles.
GIDEONS As a child, I attended a Church service in which we were told to raise our Bibles and shout out, "The Sword of the Lord and the Sword of Gideon!" I never understood why because I knew nothing about this Gideon.
The Gideons, established in Britain in 1949, are renowned for placing Bibles in a variety of places such as hotels, schools, hospitals and waiting rooms across the country.
NHS bosses there are considering whether Gideons International should continue to leave a Bible in every locker as they might carry MRSA or offend people of other faiths.
The University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust is worried that the Gideons testaments could offend people from other faith groups who are receiving treatment.