Gideon

Gideon was a leader of a faction that opposed King Noah. He is initially described as "a strong man and an enemy to the king" (Mosiah 19:4). This description suggests that he may have been a soldier. Following the departure of the people of Alma, he attempted to kill Noah, but spared the king’s life when this attempt was interrupted by an attack by the Lamanites (Mosiah 19:5-8). When Noah, his priests, and some of the men fled into the wilderness during the attack, Gideon stayed with the remainder of the people, who submitted to the Lamanites under Noah’s son Limhi (Mosiah 19:15-18).

When Noah’s fugitive priests kidnapped the daughters of the Lamanites, precipitating another Lamanite attack, Gideon persuaded King Limhi that it was the priests, rather than his own people, who had committed the crime (Mosiah 20:16-20). He told the king that their bondage was a fulfillment of the words of the slain prophet, Abinadi (Mosiah 20:21). This suggests that, by this time, Gideon had become a believer in Abinadi’s words. When Ammon I and his brethren arrived in the land of Nephi-Lehi, Gideon proposed a successful escape plan by intoxicating the Lamanite guards (Mosiah 23:3-9).

Several decades later, after the people of Limhi had relocated to the land of Zarahemla, Gideon had joined the Church of God and was active as a teacher. He was murdered by the dissident Nehor during a dispute over the teachings of the Church (Alma 1:7-9). He was described by Alma as "a righteous man, yea, a man who has done much good" among the people of Nephi (Alma 1:13).

Gideon uses the word "pacify" twice in 406 words, while the word is only used one other time in the rest of the Book of Mormon. He also uses the word "pacified" once; it is used only five times in the remaining 264,000 words in the Book of Mormon. Gideon is almost 14 times more likely, on average, to refer to "this people" than other speakers in the Book of Mormon.

Key Insights

We can learn from Gideon to be loyal to our church and people, to help when we can, and to stand up for what is right, even when it is difficult.