a fleece, performed on consecutive nights and the exact opposite of each other. First Gideon woke up to his fleece covered in dew, but the surrounding ground dry; then the next morning, his fleece was dry but the surrounding ground covered in dew. On God's instruction, Gideon destroyed the town's altar to Baal and the symbol of the goddess Asherah beside it, receiving the byname of Jerubbaal from his father: Gathering an army Gideon then sent out messengers to gather men from the tribes of Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, as well as his own tribe of Manasseh, in order to meet an armed force of Midian and Amalek that had crossed the Jordan River. Gideon's force encamped at the Well of Harod in the Valley of Jezreel, while the Midianites camped nearby at Givat HaMoreh. God informed Gideon that the men he had gathered were too many: with so many men, the Israelites might claim the victory as their own, rather than crediting God. God first instructed Gideon to send home those men who were afraid. Gideon invited any man who wanted to leave, to do so; 22,000 men returned home and 10,000 remained. God then told Gideon that this number was still too many, and instructed Gideon to bring the men to the water to drink. God commanded to send home those who had bowed down to drink, as well as those who drank directly from the water "like a dog". Only 300 men, who had cupped the water with their hands to drink it, were allowed to remain. Night attack During the night, God instructed Gideon to approach the Midianite camp. There, Gideon overheard a Midianite man tell a friend of a dream in which "a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian", causing their tent or camp to collapse. This was interpreted as meaning that God had given the Midianites over to Gideon. Gideon returned to the Israelite camp and gave each of his men a shofar and a clay jar with a torch hidden inside. Divided into three companies, Gideon and his 300 men marched on the enemy camp. He instructed them to blow the trumpet, give a battle cry and light torches, simulating an attack by a large force. As they did so, the Midianite army fled. Gideon sent messengers ahead into Israel calling for the Ephraimites to pursue the retreating Midianites