Judges 20:29-39

29 Yisra'el set liers-in-wait against Gevah round about.
30 The children of Yisra'el went up against the children of Binyamin on the third day, and set themselves in array against Gevah, as at other times.
31 The children of Binyamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to strike and kill of the people, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goes up to Beit-El, and the other to Gevah, in the field, about thirty men of Yisra'el.
32 The children of Binyamin said, They are struck down before us, as at the first. But the children of Yisra'el said, Let us flee, and draw them away from the city to the highways.
33 All the men of Yisra'el rose up out of their place, and set themselves in array at Ba`al-Tamar: and the liers-in-wait of Yisra'el broke forth out of their place, even out of Ma`areh-Geva.
34 There came over against Gevah ten thousand chosen men out of all Yisra'el, and the battle was sore; but they didn't know that evil was close on them.
35 The LORD struck Binyamin before Yisra'el; and the children of Yisra'el destroyed of Binyamin that day twenty-five thousand one hundred men: all these drew the sword.
36 So the children of Binyamin saw that they were struck; for the men of Yisra'el gave place to Binyamin, because they trusted to the liers-in-wait whom they had set against Gevah.
37 The liers-in-wait hurried, and rushed on Gevah; and the liers-in-wait drew themselves along, and struck all the city with the edge of the sword.
38 Now the appointed sign between the men of Yisra'el and the liers-in-wait was that they should make a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city.
39 The men of Yisra'el turned in the battle, and Binyamin began to strike and kill of the men of Yisra'el about thirty persons; for they said, Surely they are struck down before us, as in the first battle.

Judges 20:29-39 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JUDGES 20

This chapter relates, how that there was an assembly of the children of Israel at Mizpeh, upon what had happened to the concubine of the Levite, where he appeared and related the whole affair to them, Jud 20:1-7 upon which they unanimously agreed to chastise the inhabitants of Gibeah for what they had done, Jud 20:8-11, and in order to do that sent to the tribe of Benjamin to deliver the guilty, but instead of that they took to their arms, and prepared for battle in defence of them, Jud 20:12-17 and two battles ensued on this, in which the Israelites, who were on the right side of the question, were worsted, Jud 20:18-25 but upon their seeking the Lord again, and their humiliation before him, they engaged a third time in battle, and got an entire victory over the Benjaminites, and destroyed them all excepting six hundred men, Jud 20:26-48.

The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.