In 20.36b the narrator comments on the trust the Israelite army had in those they set in ambush. The description now turns to the ambushers themselves. While the armies of Israel and Benjamin were engaged in battle, the ambushers attacked the town of Gibeah.

The sentences of this verse are quite poetic, with the final phrase expressing the dramatic capture of Gibeah. They read literally:

And the ambusher they hurried and they rushed upon Gibeah.
And he spread out the ambusher and he struck all the city to the mouth of the sword.

Throughout this subsection singular subjects are often used with plural verbs, which is not so unusual in some Hebrew narratives. Here the word “ambusher” is repeated twice and is presented in a chiastic structure, adding to the emphasis on the great victory.

And the men in ambush made haste and rushed upon Gibe-ah: The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And may be translated “Then” (New Living Translation) or left untranslated, as in New Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. For the men in ambush (literally “the ambusher”), see verse 20.29. The verbs made haste and rushed describe the initial attack on the town of Gibeah. The Hebrew verb for made haste means “hurry.” The ambushers acted quickly. The Hebrew verb for rushed refers to a quick and violent action (see verse 9.33). This sentence paints a picture of a swift and sudden attack. In many languages these two verbs can be combined. For example, New Revised Standard Version says “The troops in ambush rushed quickly upon Gibeah,” and New International Version, “The men who had been in ambush made a sudden dash into Gibeah.”

And the men in ambush moved out: New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh sees two ambushes in this verse, but no other version adopts this interpretation. The men in ambush is simply repeated for emphasis. The Hebrew verb rendered moved out often means “drag out” or “drag off,” but in this context it can mean “deploy” or “spread out” (Good News Translation). After the ambushers rushed into the town, they moved throughout it.

And smote all the city with the edge of the sword means the ambushers killed everyone who remained in Gibeah. For smote … with the edge of the sword, see verse 1.8. All the city refers to the inhabitants of Gibeah.

There is much repetition in this verse, and some languages will prefer to describe what happened in briefer terms. Two models that do this are:

• Those waiting in ambush then rushed out and attacked Gibeah, killing everyone in that city.

• The ambushers rushed into the city of Gibeah, and spread out, putting to death everyone there.

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .