<P> Gideon went on to make an ephod out of the gold won in battle, which eventually caused the whole of Israel to turn away from God yet again . Gideon had 70 sons from the many women he took as wives . He also had a Shechemite concubine who bore him a son whom he named Abimelech, which means "my father is king" (Judges 8: 31). </P> <P> There was peace in Israel for 40 years during the life of Gideon . As soon as Gideon died of old age, the Israelites again turned to worship the false god Baal - Berith and ignored the family of Gideon (Judges 8: 33). </P> <P> In the early twentieth century, the text 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 . </P> <P> The core (Jahwist) narrative consists of Gideon wishing to avenge the death of his brothers, gathering 300 men of his own clan and pursuing the Midianite chiefs Zebah and Zalmunna, slaying them and consecrating an idol (ephod) made from the spoils of war, which makes his city of Ophrah the seat of an oracle and giving Gideon himself the status of a rich chief with a large harem (Judges 8 4: 4 - 10a, 11 - 21, 24 - 27a, 29 - 32). </P>

Where did the story of gideon take place