Editing Gideon (section)

==Christian reception==
[[File:Unicorn annunciation.jpg|thumb|upright|Gideon's fleece, as symbol of Mary, in a "Hunt of the Unicorn [[Annunciation]]" (ca. 1500) from a Netherlandish [[book of hours]]. For the complicated [[iconography]], see [[Hortus Conclusus]].]]

In the [[New Testament]], Gideon is mentioned in [[Hebrews 11|chapter 11]] of the [[Epistle to the Hebrews]] as an example of a man of faith, one of several "heroes of faith" mentioned there:<ref>[http://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/hebrews/11.htm Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges] on Hebrews 11, accessed 16 January 2017</ref>

{{Blockquote | Time would fail me to tell of Gideon [and others] who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.<ref>{{bibleverse||Hebrews|11:32–34|NKJV}}</ref>}}

Gideon is regarded as a [[saint]] by the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] and [[Catholic Church]]. He is also commemorated, together with the other righteous figures of the Old Testament, on the Sunday before Christmas (Fourth Sunday of [[Advent]]). He is commemorated as one of the [[Saints]] of the [[Armenian Apostolic Church]] on July 30, and in the [[Roman Martyrology]] on September 26.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

In the [[Protestant Reformation]], the Gideon narrative was employed in polemics against the Catholic clergy. [[Hans von Rüte]]'s ''Gideon'' (1540) compares the removal of saints' relics from churches to Gideon's destruction of Baal's altar.

[[Gideons International]] is an American organization dedicated to Christian evangelism, founded in 1899, dedicated to the distribution of free Bibles. The organization's logo represents a two-handled pitcher and torch, symbolizing the implements used by Gideon to scare the Midianite army.