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,
Book of Judges recently, this view has been challenged, and there is an increasing willingness to see Judges as the work of a single individual, working by carefully selecting, reworking and positioning his source material to introduce and conclude his themes. A statement repeated throughout the book, "In those days there was no king in Israel" (, , , and ) implies a date in the monarchy for the redaction (editing) of Judges. Twice this statement is accompanied with the statement that "every man did that which was right in his own eyes", implying that the redactor is pro-monarchy, ( and ) and