Judges 20:36

So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten: for the men of Israel gave place to the Benjamites, because they trusted unto the liers in wait which they had set beside Gibeah.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
children	בְנֵֽי ve.nei-	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Benjamin	בִנְיָמִ֖ן vin.ya.Min	H1144	Binjamin · proper noun, a man's name
saw	וַיִּרְא֥וּ vai.yir.'U	H7200	to see · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
smitten	נִגָּ֑פוּ ni.Ga.fu	H5062	to push · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person common plural
men	אִֽישׁ 'ish-	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֤ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
gave	וַיִּתְּנ֨וּ vai.yi.te.Nu	H5414	to give · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
place	מָקוֹם֙ ma.kOm	H4725	properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Benjamites	בֶּן־יְמִינִי Ben-yᵉmîynîy	H1145	a Benjaminite
trusted	בָֽטְחוּ֙ va.te.Chu	H982	figuratively · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
wait	הָ֣אֹרֵ֔ב ha.'o.Rev	H693	to lurk · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
set	שָׂ֖מוּ Sa.mu	H7760	to put (used in a great variety of applications · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
Gibeah	הַגִּבְעָֽה ha.giv.'Ah	H1390	Gibah · definite article + proper noun, a place name

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Joshua 8:15-29 And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 20:26–end

We have here a full account of the complete victory which the Israelites obtained over the Benjamites in the third engagement: the righteous cause was victorious at last, when the managers of it amended what had been amiss; for, when a good cause suffers, it is for want of good management. Observe then how the victory was obtained, and how it was pursued. I. How the victory was obtained. Two things they had trusted too much to in the former engagements - the goodness of their cause and the superiority of their numbers. It was true that they had both right and strength on their side, which were great advantages; but they depended too much upon them, to the neglect of those duties to which now…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 20:34

there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men--This was a third division, different both from the ambuscade and the army, who were fighting at Baal-tamar. The general account stated in Jdg 20:35 is followed by a detailed narrative of the battle, which is continued to the end of the chapter.

John Gill on 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.

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 20:29–end

The Victory on the Third Day's Engagement. - Jdg 20:29. The account of this commences with the most important point, so far as their success was concerned: Israel set liers in wait (troops in ambush) round about Gibeah. Jdg 20:30 They then advanced as on the former occasions. Jdg 20:31-32 The Benjaminites came out again to meet the people (of Israel), and were drawn away from the town (the perfect הנתּקוּ without ו is subordinate to the preceding verb, and defines more precisely the advance itself, whilst the mode in which they were drawn away from the town is not described more fully till Jdg 20:32, Jdg 20:33), and began to smite the beaten of the people (who pretended to fly) as formerly u…

Dictionary and topics

Congregation — (Heb. kahal), the Hebrew people collectively as a holy community (Num. 15:15). Every circumcised Hebrew from twenty years old and upward was a member of the congregation. Strangers resident in the…
Gibeah — A hill or hill-town, “of Benjamin” (1 Sam. 13:15), better known as “Gibeah of Saul” (11:4; Isa. 10:29). It was here that the terrible outrage was committed on the Levite’s concubine which led to the…
War — The Israelites had to take possession of the Promised Land by conquest. They had to engage in a long and bloody war before the Canaanitish tribes were finally subdued. Except in the case of Jericho…
Ambush · .At Gibeah — .At Gibeah
Benjamin, Tribe Of · Almost annihilated for protecting the men of Gibeah — Almost annihilated for protecting the men of Gibeah
Jews, The · Obliged to unite against enemies — Obliged to unite against enemies
Strategy · In war — In war

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 20:26–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 20:34

John Gill on Judges 20:36

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 20:29–end

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 20:26–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 20:34

John Gill on Judges 20:36

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 20:29–end

Dictionary and topics

Rashi on Judges 20:36