Gideon’s father has made a Baal altar and an Asherah pole in Gideon’s hometown.80 Jephthah is the son of a prostitute and becomes the leader of a gang of criminals. Samson is from the renegade tribe of Dan, and his parents evince spiritual dullness in the two theophanies prophesying his birth and mission. Moreover, there is a notable religious deterioration from Gideon on: Gideon/Abimelek (idolatry and the worship of Baal Berith) to Jephthah (human sacrifice) to Samson (doing what seems right in his own eyes, violating all his Nazirite vows).81
