But when the cloud began to arise up out of the city in a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them; and behold, the whole city went up in smoke to the sky.
Parallel Translations
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But when the cloud began to arise up out of the city in a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them; and behold, the whole city went up in smoke to the sky.
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But when the flame began to arise up out of the city with a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and, behold, the flame of the city ascended up to heaven.
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But when the beacon began to arise up out of the city in a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and, behold, the whole of the city went up in smoke to heaven.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Judges 20:40 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Joshua 8:20 When the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way. The people who fled to the wilderness turned back on the pursuers.
- Joel 2:30 I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, fire, and pillars of smoke.
- Revelation 19:3 A second said, “Hallelujah! Her smoke goes up forever and ever.”
- Genesis 19:28 He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and saw that the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.
- Song of Solomon 3:6 Who is this who comes up from the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all spices of the merchant?
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (6 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jdg 20:40 But when the flame began to arise…
Jdg 20:40 But when the flame began to arise up out of the city with a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them, and, behold, the flame of the city ascended up to heaven.
Ver. 40. The flame of the city.] To be an example of that rule, that great sins bring great punishments from God, as Herodotus wisely observeth of the destruction of Troy by fire.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And when the men of Israel turned again,.... Turned…
And when the men of Israel turned again,.... Turned their faces to the Benjaminites, on whom they had turned their backs; and which they did on hearing the sound of the trumpet, or seeing the flame of the city, or both, and that in order to fight the Benjaminites, and smite them, as now was their opportunity:
the men of Benjamin were amazed; at this strange and sudden change of things, at the sight of the flame of their city behind them, and at the Israelites turning back to fight them, when they thought themselves sure of victory, as at other times:
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for they saw that evil was come upon them; that they were in the utmost danger, between two fires, as we usually say, liers in wait behind them, which had seized their city and burnt it, and the army of Israel turning upon them with great spirit and resolution.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jdg 20:40. The Benjamites looked behind them — It…
Jdg 20:40. The Benjamites looked behind them — It is likely the Israelites shouted when they turned about to fall upon the Benjamites, which made them look back to see what unexpected supplies they had received. Then they saw their city on fire, which, with the sudden turning of the Israelites from flight to attack them, quite put them in confusion.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 40. looked behind them] Cf. Jos_8:20. It almost seems…
40. looked behind them] Cf. Jos_8:20. It almost seems as if the account of the capture of Ai by a similar stratagem had influenced the present narrative.
the whole of the city] Cf. Deu_13:16 ‘and thou shalt burn the city with fire as a whole offering unto Jehovah thy God’; but perhaps the word is hardly intended to bear its technical sense of holocaust here.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (40) When the flame began to arise up.—Rather, when…
(40) When the flame began to arise up.—Rather, when the column (of smoke), as in Jdg_20:38.
The flame of the city.—Literally, the whole of the city—i.e., the universal conflagration—a very powerful expression. (LXX., συντέλεια τῆς πόλεως.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
This verse continues to give background information that the writer inserted to explain to the readers how the ambush defeated the Benjamites. (See: Background Information)
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disaster
great harm, trouble, misery
come on them
This idiom means it happened to them. AT: "happened to them" (See: Idiom)
translationWords
column
raise
heaven
terror
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.