Judges 20:42

42 And they retreated from before the men of Israel to the way of the wilderness, but the battle caught up to them, and [those] who [came] from the cities destroyed them in the midst of them.

Judges 20:42 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 20:42

Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel,
&c.] And fled from them:

unto the way of the wilderness;
what wilderness is not certain, perhaps the wilderness of Judah; they did not turn directly back towards Gibeah, perceiving that was taken, and in the hands of a body of men that would meet them, and therefore they turned on one side towards the wilderness, if happily they could make their escape thither, and shelter themselves:

but the battle overtook them;
that is, they that made war, as the Targum, the Israelites that were engaged in battle with them pursued them, and overtook them:

and them which came out of the cities they destroyed in the midst of
them;
either the Israelites that came out of their cities to assist their brethren destroyed the Benjaminites as they fled, or the Benjaminites who came out of other cities to Gibeah, these were destroyed in the midst of it with the inhabitants, by the liers in wait, when they entered it.

Judges 20:42 In-Context

40 And the cloud of smoke began to go up from the city in a column of smoke, and Benjamin turned backward, and behold, the whole city was going up {in smoke}!

41 And the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed because they saw that disaster was {closing in} on them.

42 And they retreated from before the men of Israel to the way of the wilderness, but the battle caught up to them, and [those] who [came] from the cities destroyed them in the midst of them.

43 They surrounded Benjamin; they pursued them without rest [and] trod them down opposite Gibeah to the east.

44 And eighteen thousand men from Benjamin fell, all of them {able men}.

Footnotes

• [a]. Other ancient translations "city"