Gideon of Judges 6–8 was regarded by the "critical school" as a composite narrative, combining Jahwist, Elohist and Deuteronomic sources, with further interpolations and editorial comments of the Second Temple period. Emil Hirsch alleged a historical nucleus in the narrative, reflecting the struggle of the tribe of Manasseh with hostile Bedouins across the Jordan, along with "reminiscences of tribal jealousies on the part of Ephraim" in the early period of Hebrew settlement, later conflated with the religious context of connecting Yahweh with the shrine at Ophrah. The core (Jahwist) narrative consists of Gideon wishing to avenge the death of his brothers,
The Greatest Story Ever Told (radio program) announcer. William Stoess composed the music and initially conducted the 35-piece orchestra, with Jacques Belasco and Willard Young following him as conductors. Young also directed the show's 16-member chorus. Wadill Catchings was the producer; Marx Loeb was the director, and Leonard Blair was Loeb's assistant. With Oursler as consultant, Henry Denker wrote the scripts, which received "screenwriting credit over and above the Oursler book" for the film "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (1965). In 1950, ABC produced more than 5,000 albums of recordings of selected episodes of "The Greatest Story Ever Told", with half going to the Protestant Radio Commission