Gideon appears abruptly in the narrative, without any background. From his actions, we can easily surmise his military experience. Verse 22 mentions the “men of Gideon,” clearly positioning him as a leader. Mosiah 20:21 shows that Gideon knows Abinadi’s prophecy about Noah and his people. These bits of information let us deduce that Gideon was a man of physical action, skilled in handling weapons, not a man given to political intrigue. He must have been assigned to the palace and either heard Abinadi’s statements directly or through the palace gossip network. His dissatisfaction with Noah, combined with the knowledge of Abinadi’s prophecy suggests that he had left Noah’s military service and would have been sympathetic to the dissenters. It also seems likely that his military unit defected with him, helping to account for the reduction of Noah’s army.