Judges 20:42

Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them; and them which came out of the cities they destroyed in the midst of them.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
turned	וַיִּפְנ֞וּ vai.yif.Nu	H6437	to turn · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
before	לִפְנֵ֨י lif.Nei	H6440	the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
men	אִ֤ישׁ 'ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
way	דֶּ֣רֶךְ De.rekh	H1870	a road (as trodden) · noun, common both genders singular construct
wilderness	הַמִּדְבָּ֔ר ha.mid.Bar	H4057	a pasture (i.e. open field · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
battle	וְהַמִּלְחָמָ֖ה ve.ha.mil.cha.Mah	H4421	a battle (i.e. the engagement) · conjunction + definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
overtook	הִדְבִּיקָ֑תְהוּ hid.bi.Ka.te.hu	H1692	properly · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person feminine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
cities	מֵהֶ֣עָרִ֔ים me.He.'a.Rim	H5892	a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · preposition + definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
destroyed	מַשְׁחִיתִ֥ים mash.chi.Tim	H7843	to decay · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine plural absolute
midst	בְּתוֹכֽוֹ be.to.Kho	H8432	a bisection · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

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 8:24 And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness wherein they chased th…
Joshua 8:15 And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.
Lamentations 1:3 Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all…
Hosea 9:9 They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah: therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins.
Hosea 10:9 O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake…

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 20:42

Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel,.... 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 Isra…

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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…
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 20:42

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 20:42

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 20:29–end

Dictionary and topics

Rashi on Judges 20:42