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Judges 20:31

in Judges 20

The Benjamites came out against them and were drawn away from the city. They began to attack the people as before, killing about thirty men of Israel in the fields and on the roads, one of which led up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite and kill of the people, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to Beth-el, and the other to Gibeah, in the field, about thirty men of Israel.

KJV

And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite of the people, and kill, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to the house of God, and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel.

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This verse in Judges 20

Commentary

9 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

Israel set up an ambush around Gibeah

on Judges 20:29-31

The third day is fought by the plan that took Ai at Joshua 8, with an ambush behind the city, a feigned retreat, the town set on fire and the smoke as the signal. Every one of those parts stands in verses 29 to 40. Verse 31 shows the bait taking hold, as Benjamin came out “killing about thirty men of Israel in the fields and on the roads”.

This site's exposition

were drawn away from the city

Leaving the city costs the Benjamites the walls that had given their slingers the advantage in the first two battles, a point Clarke makes on verse 32. Ambrose calls the Israelite withdrawal a pretext. About thirty Israelites fall in the open.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

On the Duties of the Clergy 3.19.115-16 · Written before 397.

proposed

The war remained doubtful with an uncertain issue, but in the third engagement the people of Benjamin were delivered to the people of Israel, and being condemned by the divine judgment [they] paid the penalty for their widely immoral behavior.

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

LETTER 33 · Written before 397.

proposed

Begging the Lord's peace, they returned more boldly to war, and they to whom prayer had given courage and who had entertained much hope were now able to do what they planned. On a pretext of withdrawing their front lines, setting ambushes at night in the rear of the city, where a segment of the enemy was located, they followed as some retired and thus were provided with an opportunity for invading the unprotected city. Fires were quickly set and flared up while raging flames and waves of heat revealed the sight of the taken city.

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

3 (Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.) Then said the children of Israel, Tell us, how was this wickedness? 4 And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Folly - That is, a lewd folly; most ignominious and impudent wickedness. Ye are - The sons of that holy man, who for one filthy action left an eternal brand upon one of his own sons: a people in covenant with the holy God, whose honour you are obliged to vindicate, and who hath expressly commanded you to punish all such notorious enormities.
And the children of Benjamin went out against the people,....
2 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

And Israel set liers-in-wait round about Gibeah--A plan was formed of taking that city by stratagem, similar to that employed in the capture of Ai [Jos 8:9].
To the house of God - “To Bethel,” as in the margin. On “Gibeah in the field,” see Jos 18:24 note.

The words behind it

26 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֵּצְא֤וּand they went out

    vaiyetzeuH3318 →1067 times

  • בְנֵֽי־[the] descendants of

    venei-H1121 →4930 times

  • בִנְיָמִן֙Benjamin

    vinyaminH1144 →166 times

  • לִקְרַ֣אתto meet

    likratH7122 →139 times

  • הָעָ֔םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • הָנְתְּק֖וּthey were drawn away

    hanetekuH5423 →27 times

  • מִן־from

    min-H4480 →1188 times

  • הָעִ֑ירthe city

    hairH5892 →1090 times

  • וַיָּחֵ֡לּוּand they began

    vaiyacheluH2490 →143 times

  • לְהַכּוֹת֩to strike down

    lehakotH5221 →499 times

  • מֵהָעָ֨םsome of the people

    mehaamH5971 →1873 times

  • חֲלָלִ֜יםfatally wounded

    chalalimH2491 →94 times

  • כְּפַ֣עַם׀as time

    kefaamH6471 →118 times

  • בְּפַ֗עַםon time

    befaamH6471 →118 times

  • בַּֽמְסִלּוֹת֙in the highways

    bamsilotH4546 →27 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֨רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • אַחַ֜תone

    ʾachatH259 →971 times

  • עֹלָ֣ה[is] going up

    ʾolahH5927 →890 times

  • בֵֽית־Beth-

    veit-H1008 →142 times

  • אֵ֗ל-el

    ʾelH1008 →142 times

  • וְאַחַ֤תand one

    veachatH259 →971 times

  • גִּבְעָ֙תָה֙Gibeah towards

    givatahH1390 →45 times

  • בַּשָּׂדֶ֔הin the field

    basadehH7704 →334 times

  • כִּשְׁלֹשִׁ֥יםabout thirty

    kishloshimH7970 →172 times

  • אִ֖ישׁman

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • בְּיִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃in Israel

    beyisraelH3478 →2507 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

5 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Joshua 8:16Then all the men of Ai were summoned to pursue them, and they followed Joshua and were drawn away from the city.4 worksJoshua 8:14–16When the king of Ai saw the Israelites, he hurried out early in the morning with the men of the city to engage them in battle at an appointed place overlooking the Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set up against him behind the city.3 worksJoshua 7:5And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of them, chasing them from the gate as far as the quarries and striking them down on the slopes. So the hearts of the people melted and became like water.2 worksIsaiah 10:29They have crossed at the ford: “We will spend the night at Geba.” Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees.2 worksJudges 19:13–14He continued, “Come, let us try to reach one of these towns to spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.”2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Joshua 7:5

    And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of them, chasing them from the gate as far as the quarries and striking them down on the slopes. So the hearts of the people…

    it leads to

    • Joshua 2:9

      and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that the fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who dwell in the land are melting…

    • Joshua 2:11

      When we heard this, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth below.

    • Leviticus 26:36

      As for those of you who survive, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that even the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to…

  • Through

    Isaiah 10:29

    They have crossed at the ford: “We will spend the night at Geba.” Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees.

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 13:23

      And a garrison of the Philistines had gone out to the pass at Michmash.

    • 1 Samuel 7:17

      Then he would return to Ramah because his home was there, and there he judged Israel and built an altar to the LORD.

    • Joshua 21:17

      And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave them Gibeon, Geba,

    • Jeremiah 31:15

      This is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

    • 1 Samuel 11:4

      When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and relayed these words in the hearing of the people, they all wept aloud.

About Judges

Jael, Deborah and Barak, Salomon de Bray, 1635. Public domain.
Jael, Deborah and Barak, Salomon de Bray, 1635. Public domain.
Judges: the study guide →Read Judges 20 →
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, LETTER 33; Ambrose of Milan, On the Duties of the Clergy 3.19.115-16; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Judges 20 →