Judges 20:38

38 The plan between the main force of the Israelites and those in the ambush was that when they sent up a big cloud of smoke from the city,

Judges 20:38 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 20:38

Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel and
the liers in wait
Or an appointed time ^F26 as the Targum; so Kimchi and Abarbinel. There was a time fixed, at which the men of Israel proposed to be at Baaltamar, exactly when the Benjaminites would be drawn at a proper distance from the city, and then the liers in wait were to break forth, and rush upon it, and enter it:

and that they should make a great flame with smoke to rise up out of
the city;
set it on fire, and cause the fire to burn fiercely, that there might be a large ascent of flame and smoke to be seen afar off; which, when the men of Israel saw, they would know the city was taken.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 (dewmh) "tempus constitutum", Panginus, Montanus, Junius et Tremellius, Piscator.

Judges 20:38 In-Context

36 Then the Benjaminites saw that they had been defeated. The Israelites had given ground to the Benjaminites because they relied on the ambush that they had set around Gibeah.

37 Indeed, those in the ambush had dashed swiftly into Gibeah and killed all the people in the city with their swords.

38 The plan between the main force of the Israelites and those in the ambush was that when they sent up a big cloud of smoke from the city,

39 the Israelites would turn around in battle. The Benjaminites had begun to defeat some of the Israelites and had killed about thirty men, thinking, They are definitely going to be wiped out before us, as in the first battle!

40 But then the column of smoke began to rise from the city. When the Benjaminites looked back, there was the entire city going up in smoke to the sky.