Judges 20:45

Jdg 20:45 And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men; and pursued hard after them unto Gidom, and slew two thousand men of them.

Ver. 45. Unto Gidom.] Or, Unto their occasion, destruction.

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.

They slew them by one and one, as they were scattered abroad.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon--Many of the fugitives found refuge in the caves of this rocky mountain, which is situated to the northeast of Beth-el. Such places are still sought as secure retreats in times of danger; and until the method of blowing up rocks by gunpowder became known, a few men could in such caves sustain a siege for months.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 45. Unto the rock of Rimmon] This was some strong place, but where situated is not known. Here they maintained themselves four months, and it was by these alone that the tribe of Benjamin was preserved from utter extermination. See the following chapter.

IT is scarcely possible to imagine any thing more horrid than the indiscriminate and relentless slaughter of both innocent and guilty mentioned in this chapter. The crime of the men of Gibeah was great, but there was no adequate cause for this relentless extermination of a whole tribe. There was neither justice nor judgment in this case; they were on all sides brutal, cruel, and ferocious: and no wonder; there was no king in Israel - no effective civil government, and every man did what was right in his own eyes. There was no proper leader; no man that had authority and influence to repress the disorderly workings of the pell-mell mob.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(45) Unto the rock of Rimmon—i.e., of the pomegranate. As the tree is common in Palestine (Num_20:25; Deu_8:8. &c.), the name is naturally common. There was one Rimmon in Zebulon (Jos_19:13), another in Judah (Jos_15:32), south of Jerusalem (Zec_14:10; and see Jos_21:25; Neh_11:29). This Rimmon is a steep conical hill of white limestone (Robinson, 1:440), not far from Gibeah, and fifteen miles north of Jerusalem, six miles east of Bethel (“towards the sun-rising”). It is still called Rimmon.

They gleaned.—A metaphor from the vintage, like the “trode down” of Jdg_20:43. (See Jer_6:9 : “They shall glean the remnant of Israel as a vine.”)

Unto Gidom.—A place entirely unknown, and hence omitted in the Vulg.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

45. the rock of Rimmon] now Rammôn, rises from the plateau due E. of Beth-el, visible from all sides; it lies rather more than 8 m. N.E. of Tell el-Fûl.

gleaned of them] For the figure cf. Jdg_8:2.

unto Gidom] Site unknown; the Versions therefore guess, LXX. cod. A Gilead, Syr Gibeon. With the change of a vowel, we may read until they cut them off (gid‘âm), the word used in Jdg_21:6.

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.

So that all which fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and thousand men,.... It is before said 25,100 Jdg 20:35 here the one hundred are omitted, and the round number of thousands given, which is no unusual way of speaking and writing; the whole army of Benjamin consisted of 26,700 of which 18,000 were slain in the field of battle, 5000 in the highways, and 2000 at Gidom, in all 25,000; and we may suppose one hundred as they were straggling in the road, or found in by places, or are not mentioned with either of the thousands for the sake of a round number, and six hundred fled to the rock Rimmon; as for the other 1000, it is highly probable, they fell in the two first battles, as Ben Gersom and Abarbinel rightly suppose; for it is not credible, that though they got such amazing victories, it was without the loss of men, and these are as few as well can be imagined. Jarchi thinks these thousand fled to the cities of Benjamin, and were slain when the Israelites entered them, as after related, Jdg 20:48 which is much more probable than a tradition they have, that they went into the land of Romania, and dwelt there. Now all those that were slain were men

that drew the sword; soldiers, not husbandmen, artificers, &c. but armed men:

all these were men of valour; even those that fled, who chose rather to lose their lives than ask for quarter.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Rimmon - A village named “Rummon”, situated on the summit of a conical chalky hill, still exists, and forms a remarkable object in the landscape, visible in all directions. It lies 15 miles north of Jerusalem. It is a different place from Rimmon in the south of Judah Jos 15:32, and Remmon in Zebulon Jos 19:13. Gidom, mentioned nowhere else, was evidently close to Rimmon.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

In that. Hebrew, "and they gleaned of them in the highways 5000 men, and pursued them close to Giddom," of which the Vulgate takes no notice. The Roman Septuagint reads "Gedan;" the rest have "Galaad."

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

They gleaned, i.e. they cut off the remainders in the pursuit, and spared none; a metaphor from those who gather grapes or corn so clearly and fitly, that they leave no relics for those who come after them.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

45. Rock of Rimmon — “About ten miles north of Jerusalem, and nearly four east of Beth-el, is a very conspicuous white limestone tell, rising like a cone above the neighbouring hilltops, and overlooking the whole wilderness down to the Jordan valley. Upon it stands a large modern village called Rummon. This is unquestionably the rock Rimmon, on which the Benjamites took refuge. It is admirably adapted for the purpose. A deep and wild ravine cuts off the approach from the south, and others skirt its western and northern sides, rendering it a natural fortress of great strength. The sides of the tell are steep, bare, and rocky, and could be defended by a few resolute men against a host. The top is rounded, affording ample space for the refugees, while along the sides are some large caverns.” — J.L. Porter.

Gleaned of them in the highways — That is, they discovered many small companies of men fleeing or seeking to defend themselves here and there along the roads, and they at once enclosed them and cut them off; like gleaning scattered stalks of grain which the reapers had overlooked.

Gidom — Another place northeast of Gibeah, whose exact site is now unknown.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Gleaned - That is, a metaphor from those who gather grapes or corn so clearly and fully, that they leave no relicks for those who come after them.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

They turned and fled

"The remaining Benjamites turned and fled"

five thousand ... two thousand

"5,000 ... 2,000" (See: Numbers)

Gidom

This is the name of a place. (See: How to Translate Names)

twenty-five thousand

"25,000" (See: Numbers)

translationWords

Rimmon

sword

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

They gleaned them. Killing constantly, like plucking gleanings after reaping.

Five thousand troops. Thus totaling twenty three thousand.

Until Gid'om. The name of a place.

Striking down, of them, two thousand troops. Thus totaling twenty-five thousand mentioned above. The remaining one hundred recorded above fell at unnamed locations.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.