Gedeon is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name Gideon (H1439), meaning 'hewer' or 'one who cuts down.' Gideon was the judge of Israel who defeated the Midianites with 300 men after God reduced his army to demonstrate that the victory was God's, not man's. He appears in Hebrews 11 as a hero of faith.
Gideon's story is a paradigm of grace over human strength. When God reduced his army from 32,000 to 300, He declared: 'lest Israel boast against me' (Judges 7:2). This is the theology of divine incomprehensibility — God often works through weakness and small numbers to make His glory undeniable. The New Testament preserves Gedeon in the Hall of Faith (Hebrews 11:32) as one who 'through faith conquered kingdoms... whose weakness was turned to strength.' The one who started by hiding becomes the one who conquers.