Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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.
39. And the men of Israel turned ] The turn, however, does not come properly till Jdg 20:41. Read with a slight change and that the men of I. should turn, as part of the appointed sign; Jdg 20:38 will then end with in the battle. The marg. may thus be disregarded.
and Benjamin etc.] A parallel version of Jdg 20:31-32.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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, Jud 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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(39) And when the men of Israel retired.This merely repeats with more graphic details the fact already mentioned in Jdg. 20:31. The when should be omitted, and from Benjamin began to the end of the next verse is parenthetic.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘ And the men of Israel retired (‘turned’) in the battle, and Benjamin began to smite and to kill of the men of Israel about thirty men, for they said, ‘surely they are smitten down before us as in the first battle’.’ Compare Jdg 20:31. That working out of the strategy is repeated again here together with its consequence. This time the children of Israel only lost thirty men. But it encouraged the Benjaminites who had got used to victory and had grown careless. Repetition like this was common in ancient writings, which had listeners in mind.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 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.
Ver. 39. Benjamin began to smite. ] See Jdg 20:31 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
And when: Jdg 20:31
smite and kill: Heb. smite the wounded
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
20:39 And when the men of Israel retired in the battle, Benjamin began to {s} 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.
(s) For they had grown bold because of the two former victories.