Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 20:38

Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liers in wait, that they should make a great flame with smoke rise up out of the city.

38. a great cloud of smoke ] Omit great ( hereb, an ungrammatical form) with LXX. cod. A and mss., Syr . , Vulgate, as an incorrect repetition of the preceding word ( ’rb).

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 38. Now there was an appointed sign] From this verse to the end of the chapter we have the details of the same operations which are mentioned, in a general way, in the preceding part of the chapter.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liers in wait,…. Or an appointed time z as the Targum; so Kimchi and Abarbinel. There was a time fixed, at which the men of Israel proposed to be at Baaltamar, exactly when the Benjaminites would be drawn at a proper distance from the city, and then the liers in wait were to break forth, and rush upon it, and enter it:

and that they should make a great flame with smoke to rise up out of the city; set it on fire, and cause the fire to burn fiercely, that there might be a large ascent of flame and smoke to be seen afar off; which, when the men of Israel saw, they would know the city was taken.

z “tempus constitutum”, Panginus, Montanus, Junius et Tremellius, Piscator.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(38) signal which had been agreed upon.

That they should make.Literally, multiply to cause to ascend. The actual words of the agreed on signal are quoted. For the word hereb (which is an imperative) some MSS. read chereb, a sword, and this is adopted by the LXX. (Cod. A). But the flash of a sword would not be seen at such a distance, and the word gives no good sense. Otherwise it would remind us of the shield, which was seen to flash in the sun as a traitorous signal from Athens to the Persians, just before the battle of Marathon.

A great flame with smoke.The margin gives elevation for flame. It means a column of smoke, or beacon. (Comp. Jer. 6:1 : Set up a sign of fire in Beth-haccerem.)

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

38. Make a great flame with smoke More literally, Do greatly to make them raise an elevation of smoke from the city. is a shortened Hiphil imperative, from , and means to multiply, to increase, to do greatly. The reference of the suffix , them, is not clear, but it probably refers to the incendiaries who should be employed to raise the smoky signal.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘ Now the appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liers in wait was that they should make a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city.’

The smoke would alert their fellow soldiers that the city had been taken and would bring alarm and despondency to the enemy. For the Benjaminites, if Gibeah was taken, the enemy were behind them, and they had nowhere to retreat, and their whole reason for fighting had gone.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Jdg 20:38 Now there was an appointed sign between the men of Israel and the liers in wait, that they should make a great flame with smoke rise up out of the city.

Ver. 38. Between the men of Israel. ] That they should turn head, and renew the battle.

“ Obruet hostiles ista ruina domos. ” – Ovid. Fast.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)