Judges 20:39

And when the men of Israel retired in the battle, Benjamin began to smite and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons: for they said, Surely they are smitten down before us, as in the first battle.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
men	אִֽישׁ 'ish-	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
retired	וַיַּהֲפֹ֥ךְ vai.ya.ha.Fokh	H2015	to turn about or over · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
battle	בַּמִּלְחָמָ֑ה ba.mil.cha.Mah	H4421	a battle (i.e. the engagement) · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Benjamin	וּבִנְיָמִ֡ן u.vin.ya.Min	H1144	Binjamin · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
began	הֵחֵל֩ he.Chel	H2490	properly · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
smite	לְהַכּ֨וֹת le.ha.Kot	H5221	to strike (lightly or severely · preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct
kill	חֲלָלִ֤ים cha.la.Lim	H2491	pierced (especially to death) · adjective, masculine plural absolute
men	בְּאִֽישׁ be.'ish-	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
thirty	כִּשְׁלֹשִׁ֣ים kish.lo.Shim	H7970	thirty · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
persons	אִ֔ישׁ 'Ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
said	אָמְר֔וּ 'a.me.Ru	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
Surely	נִגּ֨וֹף ni.Gof	H5062	to push · verb, niphal infinitive absolute
down	נִגָּ֥ף ni.Gaf	H5062	to push · verb, niphal active participle, masculine singular absolute
before	לְפָנֵ֔ינוּ le.fa.Nei.nu	H6440	the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
first	הָרִאשֹׁנָֽה ha.ri.sho.Nah	H7223	first · definite article + ordinal number, feminine singular absolute
battle	כַּמִּלְחָמָ֖ה ka.mil.cha.Mah	H4421	a battle (i.e. the engagement) · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute

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

Judges 20:32 And the children of Benjamin said, They are smitten down before us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and draw…

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 20:39

And when the men of Israel retired in the battle,.... Which is before expressed by their fleeing, and giving place to the Benjaminites, and was only an artifice of theirs, to draw them off from the city: Benjamin began to smite and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons; which was done in the highways leading to Shiloh and Gibeah in the field, Judges 20:31. for they said, surely they are smitten down before us as in the first battle; when the greater number of the Israelites were slain by 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…
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 20:39

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 20:39

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 20:29–end

Dictionary and topics

Rashi on Judges 20:39