Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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 them from the city unto the highways.
Verse 32. Let us – draw them from the city] They had two reasons for this:
1. They had placed an ambuscade behind Gibeah, which was to enter and burn the city as soon as the Benjamites had left it.
2. It would seem that the slingers, by being within the city and its fortifications, had great advantage against the Israelites by their slings, whom they could not annoy with their swords, unless they got them to the plain country.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And the children of Benjamin said, they are smitten down before us, as at first,…. At the first battle, which gave them great spirit, and they concluded they should have victory, as before:
but the children of Israel said, let us flee, and draw them from the city unto the highways; pretending to be afraid of them, and not able to face them, and therefore made as if they fled through fear and cowardice, which inspired the Benjaminites with fresh ardour to pursue them closely, and so were drawn from the city to the highways, as expressed in the preceding verse.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(32) Said, Let us flee.In a later historical style the plan of the feigned flight would have been mentioned earlier.
Unto the highways.This would have the double effect of allowing the ambuscade to cut off their retreat, and of dividing their forces at the point where the roads branched off.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘ And the children of Benjamin said, “They are smitten down before us, as at first.” ’
This was their view of the position. They were overconfident and became careless, forgetting that their previous victories had been due to the slingers and the massed ranks of their enemies coming towards them.
Jdg 20:32 b
‘But the children of Israel said, “Let us flee, and draw them from the city into the highways.” ’
This was the strategy of the children of Israel, to draw the Benjaminites away from the city by pretending to be afraid of them and not able to face them. So they fled along the highways which enabled them to move at speed without becoming too disorganised, followed by the hotly pursuing Benjaminites.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 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 them from the city unto the highways.
Ver. 32. They are smitten down before us. ] This was their , which they sang too soon; for their destruction was at next door by. But sorry man knoweth not his time. “As the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.” Ecc 9:12
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Let us flee: This was done, not only because they had placed an ambuscade behind Gibeah, which was to enter and burn the city as soon as the Benjamites left it; but it would seem, that the slingers, by being within the city and its fortifications, had great advantage over the Israelites by their slings, when they could not come among them with their swords, unless they got them in the plain country. Jos 8:15, Jos 8:16
Reciprocal: Jos 8:6 – They flee 2Sa 17:9 – some
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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 them from the city unto the {p} highways.
(p) Meaning, crossways or paths to various places.