《旧约全书。士师记》中以色列人的士师和救星。他率领部族攻击游牧部族米甸人；但崇拜所掠获的偶像。同书另一处又说，基甸拒绝崇拜偶像而崇奉上帝雅赫维，因而雅赫维激励基甸及其族人击败米甸人。
　　Judge and hero of ancient Israel， whose deeds are described in the Old Testament Book of Judges. The book contains two versions of Gideon's story. In one account， he led his tribe of Manasseh in a victorious campaign against the Midianites， then fashioned an idolatrous image from the booty and led Israel into immorality. In another version， he replaced worship of the local deity， Baal， with that of Yahweh （the God of Israel）， and the power of Yahweh enabled his tribe to destroy the Midianites.