Judges 20:36

36 So the sons of Benjamin saw that they were smitten, for the men of Israel had given place to the Benjamites because they trusted those of the ambushes which they had set behind Gibeah.

Judges 20:36 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 20:36

So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten
Their forces broken and worsted, many being killed:

for the men of Israel gave place to the Benjaminites;
at first, and made as if they were afraid of them, and so fled before them, which was only to decoy them to a greater distance from the city Gibeah:

because they trusted unto the liers in wait, which they had set beside
Gibeah;
that these would not only enter the city, and burn it, but meet the Benjaminites fleeing back to it, when they should turn upon them and smite them, and so cut off all that remained of them.

Judges 20:36 In-Context

34 And ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel came against Gibeah, and the battle was sore; but they did not know that evil was near them.

35 And the LORD smote Benjamin before Israel, and the sons of Israel destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty-five thousand one hundred men; all these drew the sword.

36 So the sons of Benjamin saw that they were smitten, for the men of Israel had given place to the Benjamites because they trusted those of the ambushes which they had set behind Gibeah.

37 Then the men of the ambushes rushed upon Gibeah and spread out and smote all the city with the edge of the sword.

38 Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel and the men of the ambushes that they should make a great signal by causing much smoke to rise up out of the city.