The Pulpit Commentary — Judges — Section 191

and bnrning of Gibcah by the liel'!I in wait, I sc~bed in ver. 16, end desi~ates the Denja- the signal of n great smoke, and the turning m1tes who were not inhabitants of Gibeah. again of the flying Israelites. It was then The simplest way, tl1erefore, to understand that "the men of Benjamin saw that evil the passa,ge is to render it without reference was come upon them," a.nd turned their to the accents : " And the battle overtook him backs and fled. Thus Vel'!I. 36 (latter half)- and thos~ that were from the cities (i. e. th!I 41 bring us back through the details to the men ofG1bea,ha.nd the rest of the Benjamites) identical point a.lready reached at the begin- ~estroying him (the whole Benjamite &rmy) ning of ver. 36. In vers. 39, 40 there is In th~ midst of him," i. e. going right into another retrogr:,de movement in the na.rra- the midst of them, a,nd destroying right nnd tire, in which the statement of vel'!I. 31, 82 left. Some, however, render it in the midst is repeated in order to bring into close jux- of it, i. e. of the wilderness. The plural taposition Benja.min's keen pursuit of the participle destroying agrees with the singular enemy with his terror when he sa.w the noun of multitude, the battle or war, mea,ning smoke rising in his rear. Hasted (ver. 37). all the men of war. This is an amplifica.tion with further par- Ver. 43.-Thue they incloeed, &c. Another ticulars of ver. 88. The liers in wait not difficult passage, having all the appearance only ea.me forth out of their place, but they of being a quotation from some poetical de- made a dash to get into Gibeah before the scription of the ba,ttle. The tenses of the men of Gibeah, who were pursuing the flying yerbs and the absence of any conjunctions Israelites, could be a.ware of their intention. m the Hebrew makes the diction like that of Rushed upon. Perhaps better rendered fell eh. v. 19. The italic words thus and the ,u,pon. It is exa.ctly the same phrase a.s 2 Sa.m. two ands ought to be omitted, to give the xxni. 8, there rather tamely rendered in- stately march of the original. "They in- 'Caded and in ver. 10 made a road. Drew closed, &c. ; they chased them ; they trod themselves along. Some take the word in the them down," &c. They inclosed seems to common sense of buncing the trumpet, but it refer to the stratagem by which the Benja,- rather means spread themselve,s out (iF:Exv9,,, mites were su,,.,,.ownded by the a,mbush in LXX.) through the defenceless city, so a.s their rear and the Israelites in front. Then to slay and burn in all pa.rts simultaneously. came the pursuit-" they chased them ; " That they should make a grea.t 11.e.me with then the massacre-" they trod them down." smoke, &c. (ver. 38). The Hebrew of this The three verbs describe the three stages of verse is difficult to construe, but the A. V. the battle. With ea.ee. It does not seem gives substa.ntia.lly the right sense. They possible that the Hebrew word menuehoh can seem to be the very orders given to the have this meaning. It means sometimes a leader of the a.mbush. "Make them (the place of rest, and sometimes a sf,ate of rest. ambush) multiply to send np (i. e. send up Taking the latter meaning, the words the?.J in great quantities) the column of smoke from trod them int,o rest may mean they quieted the city." It seems that the appearance of them by crushing them to death 'U!Tlder their the smoke wa.s the signal for the Israelites feet, or in rest may mea,n wnresisting. Some to tum (ver. 41). The fl.ame, &c. (ver. 40). render it unto Menuchah, as if Menuchah was Rather, the column began to go up in (or as) the name of a place, or from Nochah, as the a pillar of S11Wke. The 11.e.me of the city. Septuagint does. Others, at the place of rest, Litere.lly, the whol.e of the city, meaning of i. e. at every place where they halted to rest coUl'!le the whole city in fl.a.mes. the enemy was upon them. Ver. 42. -Therefore they turned their Vers. 44-46.-And there fell, &c. The backs, &c. The na.rrative now at length account in ver. 35, anticipating the details advances one step. The result of the Ben- of the battle, had already given the gross jamites finding themselves between the am- number of casualties in the Benjamite army bushment and the army of Israel was that on this disastrous day as 25,100. We now they took to flight in an easterly direction have the items of the account, viz., 18,000 in (ver. 43) toward the wilderness, i. e. the wil- the pursuit, in the open plain ; 5000 in the derness described in Josh. xvi. 1 as '' the wil- highways, i. e. either the highways mentioned derness that goeth up from Jericho through- in ver. 31, or, as the expression gleaning rather out Mount Bethel," where the direction of intimates, the highways by which straggling the wilderness relative to Ephraim is also bodies tried to reach any neighbouring cities described as being " on the east." In like after the great slaughter had taken place ; manner Zedekiah fled towards the plain and 2000 more who were making for Gidom ; (arabah) or plains of Jericho-a term nearly in all 25,000, which is only 100 men short of synonymous with wilderness (2 Kings xxv. 4, the reckoning in ver. 36. The rock of Bim- fi). Them which came out of the cities, &c. mon. Seever. 47, note. Gidom. Not else- This is a very obscure passage, and is very where mentioned, nor identified with any variously explained. Tlwse which came out j modern name. v/ tkc cities must be the same as are so de- Ver. 47.-:But six hundred men turned. OIi. XX. 18--48.] THE BOOK OF JUDGES. 205