32 (For the children of Benjamin said, They are fallen before us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee and pluck them away from the city unto the [a]highways.)

33 And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and put themselves in array at Baal Tamar: and the men that lay in wait of the Israelites came forth of their place, even out of the meadows of Geba,

34 And they came over against Gibeah, ten thousand chosen men of all Israel, and the battle was sore: for they knew not that the [b]evil was near them.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 20:32 Meaning, crossways or paths to divers places.
  2. Judges 20:34 They knew not that God’s judgment was at hand to destroy them.

32 While the Benjamites were saying, “We are defeating them as before,”(A) the Israelites were saying, “Let’s retreat and draw them away from the city to the roads.”

33 All the men of Israel moved from their places and took up positions at Baal Tamar, and the Israelite ambush charged out of its place(B) on the west[a] of Gibeah.[b] 34 Then ten thousand of Israel’s able young men made a frontal attack on Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that the Benjamites did not realize(C) how near disaster was.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 20:33 Some Septuagint manuscripts and Vulgate; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  2. Judges 20:33 Hebrew Geba, a variant of Gibeah