New King James Version
Judges 20:32
32And the children of Benjamin said, “They are defeated before us, as at first.” But the children of Israel said, “Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways.”
Judges 20:32 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)While the Benjamites were saying, “We are defeating them as before,” the Israelites were saying, “Let’s retreat and draw them away from the city to the roads.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)And the people of Benjamin said, "They are routed before us, as at the first." But the people of Israel said, "Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways."
- New Living Translation (NLT)Then the warriors of Benjamin shouted, “We’re defeating them as we did before!” But the Israelites had planned in advance to run away so that the men of Benjamin would chase them along the roads and be drawn away from the town.
Context of Judges 20:32
30And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in battle array against Gibeah as at the other times. 31So the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city. They began to strike down and kill some of the people, as at the other times, in the highways (one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah) and in the field, about thirty men of Israel. And the children of Benjamin said, “They are defeated before us, as at first.” But the children of Israel said, “Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways.” 33So all the men of Israel rose from their place and put themselves in battle array at Baal Tamar. Then Israel’s men in ambush burst forth from their position in the plain of Geba. 34And ten thousand select men from all Israel came against Gibeah, and the battle was fierce. But the Benjamites did not know that disaster was upon them.
Read all of Judges 20Judges 20:32 word by word
וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ בְּנֵ֣י בִנְיָמִ֔ן נִגָּפִ֥ים הֵ֛ם לְפָנֵ֖ינוּ כְּבָרִאשֹׁנָ֑ה וּבְנֵ֧י יִשְׂרָאֵ֣ל אָמְר֗וּ נָנ֙וּסָה֙ וּֽנְתַקְּנֻ֔הוּ מִן־הָעִ֖יר אֶל־הַֽמְסִלּֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And the childrenבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
- of Benjaminבִּנְיָמִיןbinyâmîyn · BenjaminH1144
- saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- smitten downנָגַףnâgaph · to strikeH5062
- beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
- us, as at the firstרִאשׁוֹןri'shôn ri'shôn · firstH7223
- of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- Let us fleeנוּסnûs · to fleeH5127
- and drawנָתַקnâthaq · to tearH5423
- them from the cityעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
- unto the highwaysמְסִלָּהmesillâh · highwayH4546
People and places in Judges 20:32
Cross-references for Judges 20:32
Commentaries on Judges 20:32
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 32Let us - draw them from the city - They had two reasons for this: 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.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 29-44On the third day, they used similar tricks and surprise attacks as when they took over Ai (Joshua 8:1–29).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 29-4829-48. And Israel set liers-in-wait round about Gibeah--A plan was formed of taking that city by stratagem, similar to that employed in the capture of Ai [Jos 8:9].Read the comment
Topics related to Judges 20:32
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Judges 20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- Darby Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries