Judges 20:38

38 Now the Israelites had set up a signal with the men in hiding. The men in the surprise attack were to send up a 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 were defeated. The Israelites had moved back because they were depending on the surprise attack they had set up near Gibeah.

37 The men in hiding rushed into Gibeah, spread out, and killed everyone in the city with their swords.

38 Now the Israelites had set up a signal with the men in hiding. The men in the surprise attack were to send up a cloud of smoke from the city.

39 Then the army of Israel turned around in the battle. The Benjaminites had killed about thirty Israelites. They were saying, "We are winning, as in the first battle!"

40 But then a cloud of smoke began to rise from the city. The Benjaminites turned around and saw that the whole city was going up in smoke.