Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 20:34
And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore: but they knew not that evil [was] near them.
34. ten thousand chosen men ] Apparently the men who had formed the ambush: they now moved from their place of concealment, and posted themselves between the city and the Benjamites, who were chasing the men of Israel, so as to cut off the possibility of retreat.
evil was close upon them ] lit. was about to touch them; cf. Jdg 20:41 evil had touched them. Cf. Jos 8:14. The recurrence of the words in Jdg 20:41 has led to the suggestion (made by Torrey) that Jdg 20:35-36 a once stood after Jdg 20:41, and that a scribe, glancing from the similar endings of Jdg 20:41 ; Jdg 20:34, accidentally transposed Jdg 20:35-36 a to their present position, where they destroy the natural order of events. The composition of this chapter is so entangled that we may readily assume a disturbance of the text here as in other places (e.g. Jdg 20:22 f.).
An alternative reconstruction is proposed by Budde, who assigns the passage to A: ‘And Israel set liers in wait against Gibeah round about ( Jdg 20:29), while all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and set themselves in array at Baal-tamar ( Jdg 20:33 a). And there came over against Gibeah 10,000 chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore ( Jdg 20:34 a). Thereupon the liers in wait of Israel brake forth out of their place west of Geba ( Jdg 20:33 b); but they knew not that evil was close upon them’ ( Jdg 20:34 b); then follow Jdg 20:36b 38. This gives a fairly lucid order; but it is based upon a rather different treatment of the chapter from that which is being followed.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Chosen men out of all Israel; selected out of the main body, which was at Baal-tamar; and these were to march directly to Gibeah on the one side, whilst the liers in wait stormed it on the other side, and whilst the great body of the army laboured to intercept these Benjamites, who, having pursued the Israelites that pretended to flee, now endeavoured to retreat to Gibeah.
They knew not that evil was near them; they were so puffed up with their former successes, that they were insensible of their danger.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
34. there came against Gibeah tenthousand chosen menThis was a third division, different bothfrom the ambuscade and the army, who were fighting at Baal-tamar. Thegeneral account stated in Jud 20:35is followed by a detailed narrative of the battle, which is continuedto the end of the chapter.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel,…. Which, according to Ben Gersom, were the liers in wait; and came from the south, as the Targum says:
and the battle was sore; not between those liers in wait, and the Benjaminites, but between those at Baaltamar, and them who set themselves in battle array against them, and they fought stoutly on both sides:
but they knew not that evil was near them; that there was an ambush laid, by which they were in great danger; they knew nothing of the 10,000 men that were now come out against Gibeah, and were between them and that.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(34) Ten thousand chosen men.Though the verse is obscurely expressed, the meaning probably is that this was the number of the ambuscade of picked warriors. If it means that this was the Israelite force left after the slaughter of 40,000, we are not told the number of the ambush.
The battle was sore.It would be a battle in which the Benjamites were now attacked both in front and rear.
But.Rather, and.
They knew not that evil was near themi.e., as we should say, that the hour of their ruin had come, or, as the Vulg. has it, quod ex omni parte illis instaret interitus, that destruction was threatening them on every side. (Comp. Isa. 47:10.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
34. Ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel These may have been identical with the “liers in wait,” (Jdg 20:29; Jdg 20:33,) but were more probably a detachment from the main army that marched from Baal-tamar, sent to assist the men of the ambush in capturing and smiting Gibeah, while the rest marched on to smite the Benjamite forces outside of the city.
They knew not That is, the Benjamites knew not the evil that was about to befall them.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jdg 20:34 a
‘And there came over against Gibeah ten eleph chosen men out of all Israel.’
These ten units may have been the liers in wait, or they may have been the forces in ambush that suddenly appeared in front of the horrified Benjaminites, joining forces with the fleeing children of Israel. Or they may have been a third force which had been waiting for this moment. (As often with descriptions, ‘over against’ is rather vague although no doubt clear to the writer).
Thus we may read ‘All the men of Israel rose up out of their place — the liers in wait of Israel broke forth — and there came over against Gibeah ten units of chosen men’, seeing three aspects of the strategy.
Jdg 20:34 b
‘And the battle was sore, but they knew not that evil was close on them.’
The new strategy had rendered the slingers relatively ineffective for they worked best against massed troops before battle was actually joined, not against rapidly moving fleeing targets, and the retreat had probably disorganised them. The cutting down of fleeing troops was not work for slingers, and the Benjaminites had not been expecting the extra reinforcements.
So now their swordsmen and spearmen found themselves sorely pressed (the slingers may even have joined in the ‘victorious’ chase as swordsmen). And they were unaware that worse was to come. They did not know about the liers in wait, and the ten units.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 20:34 And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore: but they knew not that evil [was] near them.
Ver. 34. They knew not that evil, &c. ] See Jdg 20:31 . As they say of the metal they make glass of, it is nearest melting when it shineth brightest, so are the wicked nearest destruction when at their greatest lustre.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
ten thousand: Jdg 20:29
knew not: Jos 8:14, Job 21:13, Pro 4:19, Pro 29:6, Ecc 8:11, Ecc 8:12, Ecc 9:12, Isa 3:10, Isa 3:11, Isa 47:11, Mat 24:44, Luk 21:34, Luk 21:34, 1Th 5:3
Reciprocal: Mat 24:39 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jdg 20:34. Ten thousand chosen men These seem to have been a detachment from the main body, which was at Baal-tamar, and marched to attack Gibeah on one side, while the liers in wait assaulted it on the other, and while the great body of the army laboured to intercept the Benjamites, who, having pursued the Israelites that pretended to flee, now endeavoured to retreat to Gibeah. The battle was sore; but they knew not, &c. The Benjamites fought stoutly; but were not sensible of the danger they were in to be destroyed.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
20:34 And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore: but they knew not that {q} evil [was] near them.
(q) They did not know that God’s judgment was at hand to destroy them.