And they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon: The Benjaminites who were not part of the 18,000 killed now make their escape. The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And may be translated “Then” to introduce the next event on the story line. The pronoun they may be rendered “the surviving Benjaminites” for clarity. Once again Hebrew verbs meaning “turn” come back into play. For the verb rendered turned (panah), see verse 20.42, where it is translated “turned their backs.” Fled renders the same Hebrew verb (nus) often used to describe Israel’s defeated enemies (see verse 1.6). Toward the wilderness means the Benjaminites were trying to escape in the desert mentioned in verse 20.42 (see comments there). The rock of Rimmon refers to a rock outcrop that was near the town of Rimmon, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) northeast of Gibeah.
Five thousand men of them were cut down in the highways is literally “and they gleaned him on the roads five thousand man.” The Hebrew waw conjunction (“and”) introduces a contrast: the Benjaminites tried to escape, but they were cut down. A contrastive conjunction such as “but” (New Living Translation) would be appropriate here. The pronoun “they” refers to the Israelites, and the pronoun “him” has a plural sense here, referring to the fleeing Benjaminites. Cut down renders the Hebrew verb meaning “glean,” that is, picking up what remains after the main harvest, another possible allusion to the story of Ruth. Of course, here it is used figuratively, meaning “killed” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). However, the generic verb “killed” is not strong enough here. A better expression is “mowed down” or “slaughtered.” For highways see verse 20.31. In the highways means “as they were on the roads fleeing.” The Hebrew verb here is active, not passive, so we might say “But the Israelites slaughtered 5,000 of them on the roads.”
And they were pursued hard to Gidom is literally “and they pursued after him until Gidom.” Once again the pronoun “they” refers to the Israelites, and the pronoun “him” has a plural sense, referring to the remaining Benjaminites. The Israelite soldiers tried to track down every Benjaminite soldier. The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered and introduces the next action. It can be translated “then” (Contemporary English Version) or omitted (Good News Translation). For the Hebrew verb rendered pursued, see verse 20.42, where it is translated “overtook.” Here it clearly means “continued to chase.” The location of the town of Gidom is not known, and this is the only reference to it in the Bible. Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible, and Hebrew Old Testament Text Project follow another Hebrew text here, which reads “until they cut them down” instead of to Gidom. Translators will have to opt for one of these two major readings, and include a footnote as necessary. Revised Standard Version changes the active clause of the Hebrew text to a passive one. Good News Translation keeps it active by saying “The Israelites continued to pursue the rest [of the Benjaminites] to Gidom.” For this clause and the next one Contemporary English Version proposes “then chased the rest until they had killed 2,000 more.”
And two thousand men of them were slain is literally “and they struck from him [Benjamin] two thousand man.” The Israelites killed 2,000 more Benjaminites. This clause could be viewed as the next action in the story or a kind of summary statement, so the rendering of the Hebrew waw conjunction (and) will depend on the interpretation chosen. Once again Revised Standard Version changes an active clause in Hebrew into a passive one in English. In most languages it would be easier to follow the Hebrew. For the Hebrew verb rendered were slain (nakah), see verse 1.4, where it is translated “defeated.” New International Version says “struck down,” and Revised English Bible, “cut down,” meaning “killed.”
A translation model for this verse is:
• The Benjaminite survivors tried to flee to the rock at Rimmon in the desert, but the Israelites mowed down 5,000 of them on the roads. Then they chased after the rest of them all the way to the town of Gidom and struck down another 2,000 men. *
* Instead of “chased after the rest of them all the way to the town of Gidom and struck down another 2,000 men,” some Hebrew texts read “cut them down and killed another 2,000 men.”
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 .