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 Testament of Gideon Mack to approach true happiness. The issue of belief within modernity receives sharp focus in the question of whether or not Gideon is insane, or whether he did actually meet the Devil. This debate is further complicated in the epilogue, which gives a third person overview of Gideon’s story, and suggests that he may, to some extent, be an unreliable narrator. The Testament of Gideon Mack The Testament of Gideon Mack is a novel written by the Scottish author James Robertson, first published in 2006. It pays conscious homage to ideas and themes originally explored with powerful effect in the novel