1. Judges 20:32 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What does Israel’s use of the term “draw away” suggest?

Judges 20:32 (ESV)

32 And the people of Benjamin said, “They are routed before us, as at the first.” But the people of Israel said, “Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways.”

The people of Israel say, Let us flee and draw them away from the city to the highways. This is after thirty men of Israel had been slain (Judges 20:31). Their use of the term draw away suggests that they regarded their loss as a minor setback. Their strategy was to draw Benjamin out of Gibeah and onto the highways, and this strategy they continue to implement even after the loss of thirthy men.