In the Book of Mosiah, we encounter a man named Gideon (Mosiah 19:4), who leads a revolt against the wicked practices of king Noah, and with the help of Ammon, helps free the people of Limhi from bondage. It is interesting that in the Old Testament, we find an account of a great Israelite war hero named Gideon, who was from the tribe of Manasseh, and was chosen as a man of valour by an angel (Judges 6:11-12). With the help of the Lord, Gideon threw down the altar of Baal and cut down the grove that was by it (Judges 6:25-32). With the Lord's help, Gideon and 300 men also delivered Israel out from under the bondage of the Midianites and the Amalekites (Judges 6:33--7:21). "Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us . . . And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the Lord shall rule over you" (Judges 7:22-23).
Perhaps the name "Gideon" and the role he plays in the Book of Mormon is a coincidence; perhaps there was foreknowledge and expectation of Gideon's accomplishments by his Nephite parents; or perhaps this is an example of Metonymic naming (after-the fact editorial naming) by Mormon. [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes] [See the commentary on Metonymic naming in 1 Nephi 3:3]
“Gideon”
According to Gary Sturgess, the twin records of Zeniff and Alma appear to have been heavily influenced by the Old Testament book of Judges, which also bears a strong antimonarchist flavor. One of the heroes of the record of Zeniff, a man described in Mosiah 19:4 as having taken an oath to slay King Noah (and having very nearly done so), is named Gideon. Gideon, of course, was the name of one of the great deliverers of Israel in the time of the judges and is said to have refused the throne when it was offered to him. Judges also records a poem attributed to Jotham, one of Gideon's nephews, in which he warned against the institution of the monarchy (Judges 9:7-20).
Some scholars have suggested that the present book of Judges was based, in part, on an earlier "Book of Saviors" or "mosi' im," of whom Gideon may have been one. If so, then the association between the record of Zeniff and the book of Judges is even closer, for the book of Mormon Gideon is quite clearly a savior or deliverer in this sense, as is Alma the Elder. Indeed, Gideon is described in precisely these terms: "Now the name of the man was Gideon; and it was he who was an instrument in the hands of God in delivering the people of Limhi out of bondage" (Alma 1:8).
Yet another link between the book of Judges and the record of Zeniff is the close association between the rape of the women of Shiloh recorded in Judges 21:15-25 and the kidnapping of the daughters of the Lamanites by the priests of Noah recorded in Mosiah 20. Given the possibility that the Limhites were influenced by the book of Judges, the question might be asked whether Gideon was not a name that had been deliberately acquired later in life for symbolic purposes. [Gary L. Sturgess, "The Book of Mosiah: Thoughts about Its Structure, Purposes, Themes, and Authorship," in Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Fall 1995, pp. 120-121, 128] [See the commentary on Mosiah 20:1]
“Gideon”
According to Alan Goff, in the biblical narrative of the Old Testament, the Israelites moved from leadership by judges to kings. As they did so they foolishly insisted they wanted a "king like all the nations." They rejected leadership by Yahweh, who provided ad hoc leaders through the period of judges when the Israelites needed to be delivered. Gideon, in the book of Judges, is one such mosiah ("savior" is what the Hebrew word means) who delivers or "saves" his people. After the deliverance Gideon explicitly rejects the kingship offered by the Israelites (see Judges 8:22-23), but there are ambiguous counterindications. He keeps a harem (see Judges 8:30, something only kings could afford) and names his son Abimelech, "my father is a king" (Judges 8:31). Abimelech himself becomes a king over Shechem for a short time (see Judges 9:6). Gideon is a narrative bridge between judges and kings--a proto-king. So it is noteworthy when a second Gideon emerges in the Book of Mormon to oppose King Noah (see Mosiah 19), and to help Limhi's people escape from captivity--therefore becoming a mosiah (see Mosiah 22:4). Later in the narrative, after the political transition to judges (see Alma 1:8-9; 2:1), Gideon will confront the would-be king-men and the allusion back to the earlier Gideon will be complete. Thus just as Gideon is a biblical bridge between judges and kings, Gideon in the Book of Mormon is a bridge in the political transition between kings and judges. The mistake the Israelites made in converting to leadership by kings (see 1 Samuel 8-12) was undone by wise rulers in the Book of Mormon (see Mosiah 23 and 29).
As a comment on this narrative interplay, Goff notes that according to Robert Alter, in the Bible often "the juxtaposition of disparate materials that are purposefully linked by motif, theme, analogy and, sometimes, by a character who serves as a bridge between two different narrative blocks otherwise separated in regard to plot and often in regard to style and perspective or even genre" serves to connect stories. This is a device often used in "Numbers, Joshua, Kings, and, above all, in the Book of Judges, but [is] also discernible elsewhere. [Alan Goff, "Scratching the Surface of Book of Mormon Narratives," in FARMS Review of Books, Vol. 12, Num. 2, 2000, pp. 73-74]