Judges 20:32
in Judges 20“We are defeating them as before,” said the Benjamites. But the Israelites said, “Let us retreat and draw them away from the city onto the roads.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the children of Benjamin said, They are smitten down before us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and draw them away from the city unto the highways.
KJV
And the children of Benjamin said, They are smitten down before us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and draw them from the city unto the highways.
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This verse in Judges 20
Commentary
9 notes on this verseLet us - draw them from the city - They had two reasons for this: 1. They had placed an ambuscade behind Gibeah, which was to enter and burn the city as soon as the Benjamites had left it. 2. It would seem that the slingers, by being within the city and its fortifications, had great advantage against the Israelites by their slings, whom they could not annoy with their swords, unless they got them to the plain country.
This site's exposition
We are defeating them as before
on Judges 20:32-34
Benjamin reads the third day by the first two and says “We are defeating them as before”. The flight is ordered, and verse 34 says “the Benjamites did not realize that disaster was upon them”, as Joshua 8:14 says the king of Ai did not know an ambush was set against him. Verse 41 turns the same words over when Benjamin realizes that disaster has come.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
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 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.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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
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 said, they are smitten down before us, as at first,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Sometimes God suffers wicked men to be lifted up in successes and hopes, that their fall may be the sorer. See how short their joy is, and their triumphing but for a moment. Let not him that girdeth on the harness boast, except he has reason to boast in God. [2.] Evil was near them and they did not know it,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
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].
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] descendants of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| בִנְיָמִ֔ן | vinyamin | Benjamin | H1144 → | 166 times |
| נִגָּפִ֥ים | nigafim | [are] defeated | H5062 → | 49 times |
| הֵ֛ם | hem | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| לְפָנֵ֖ינוּ | lefaneinu | <to> before us | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| כְּבָרִאשֹׁנָ֑ה | kevarishonah | as at the former [time] | H7223 → | 182 times |
| וּבְנֵ֧י | uvenei | and [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֣ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אָמְר֗וּ | ʾameru | they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| נָנ֙וּסָה֙ | nanusah | let us flee | H5127 → | 159 times |
| וּֽנְתַקְּנֻ֔הוּ | unetakenuhu | and we will draw away him | H5423 → | 27 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הָעִ֖יר | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַֽמְסִלּֽוֹת׃ | hamsilot | the highways | H4546 → | 27 times |
וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙and they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
בְּנֵ֣י[the] descendants of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
בִנְיָמִ֔ןBenjamin
vinyaminH1144 →166 times
נִגָּפִ֥ים[are] defeated
nigafimH5062 →49 times
הֵ֛םthey
hemH1992 →553 times
לְפָנֵ֖ינוּ<to> before us
lefaneinuH6440 →2123 times
כְּבָרִאשֹׁנָ֑הas at the former [time]
kevarishonahH7223 →182 times
וּבְנֵ֧יand [the] people of
uveneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֣לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אָמְר֗וּthey said
ʾameruH559 →5305 times
נָנ֙וּסָה֙let us flee
nanusahH5127 →159 times
וּֽנְתַקְּנֻ֔הוּand we will draw away him
unetakenuhuH5423 →27 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הָעִ֖ירthe city
hairH5892 →1090 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַֽמְסִלּֽוֹת׃the highways
hamsilotH4546 →27 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
About Judges
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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.