King James Version

Judges 20:42

Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them; and them which came out of the cities they destroyed in the midst of them.

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Hebrew

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וַיִּפְנ֞וּvayifnvand appearפָּנָהconjunction, verb, qal, sequential imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, plural — “and appear”, the next action in the storyH6437to turn; by implication, to face, i.e. appear, look, etc.appear, at (even-) tide, behold, cast out, come on, [idiom] corner, dawning, empty, go away, lie, look, mark, pass away, prepare, regard, (have) respect (to), (re-) turn (aside, away, back, face, self), [idiom] right (early).לִפְנֵ֨יlifneto a- foreפָּנִיםpreposition, noun, common, both genders, plural, construct — “to a- fore”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH6440the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.)[phrase] accept, a-(be-) fore(-time), against, anger, [idiom] as (long as), at, [phrase] battle, [phrase] because (of), [phrase] beseech, countenance, edge, [phrase] employ, endure, [phrase] enquire, face, favour, fear of, for, forefront(-…אִ֤ישׁisha certainאִישׁnoun, common, masculine, singular, construct — “a certain”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH376a man as an individual or a male person; often used as an adjunct to a more definite term (and in such cases frequently not expressed in translation)also, another, any (man), a certain, [phrase] champion, consent, each, every (one), fellow, (foot-, husband-) man, (good-, great, mighty) man, he, high (degree), him (that is), husband, man(-kind), [phrase] none, one, people, person, [phra…יִשְׂרָאֵל֙yisraelIsraelיִשְׂרָאֵלnoun, proper name — “Israel”H3478Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterityIsrael.אֶלelamongאֵלpreposition — “among”H413near, with or among; often in general, toabout, according to, after, against, among, as for, at, because(-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, [idiom] hath, in(-to), near, (out) of, over, through, to(-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with(-in).דֶּ֣רֶךְderekhalongדֶּרֶךְnoun, common, both genders, singular, construct — “along”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH1870a road (as trodden); figuratively, a course of life or mode of action, often adverbalong, away, because of, [phrase] by, conversation, custom, (east-) ward, journey, manner, passenger, through, toward, (high-) (path-) way(-side), whither(-soever).הַמִּדְבָּ֔רhamidbarthe desertמִדְבָּרdefinite article, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “the desert”, the ordinary formH4057a pasture (i.e. open field, whither cattle are driven); by implication, a desert; also speech (including its organs)desert, south, speech, wilderness.וְהַמִּלְחָמָ֖הvehamilchamahand the battleמִלְחָמָהconjunction, definite article, noun, common, feminine, singular, absolute — “and the battle”, the ordinary formH4421a battle (i.e. the engagement); generally, war (i.e. warfare)battle, fight(-ing), war(-rior).הִדְבִּיקָ֑תְהוּhidbiqatehvabide fastדָּבַקverb, hiphil, perfect, 3rd person, feminine, singular, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “abide fast”, a completed actionH1692properly, to impinge, i.e. cling or adhere; figuratively, to catch by pursuitabide fast, cleave (fast together), follow close (hard after), be joined (together), keep (fast), overtake, pursue hard, stick, take.וַאֲשֶׁר֙vaasherand becauseאֲשֶׁרconjunction, particle, relative — “and because”H834who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.[idiom] after, [idiom] alike, as (soon as), because, [idiom] every, for, [phrase] forasmuch, [phrase] from whence, [phrase] how(-soever), [idiom] if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), [idiom] though, [phrase] until, [phrase] whatsoever,…מֵהֶ֣עָרִ֔יםmehearimfrom the cityעִירpreposition, definite article, noun, common, feminine, plural, absolute — “from the city”, the ordinary formH5892a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)Ai (from margin), city, court (from margin), town.מַשְׁחִיתִ֥יםmashchitimbatterשָׁחַתverb, hiphil, participle, absolute — “batter”, a verb used as a describing wordH7843to decay, i.e. (causatively) ruin (literally or figuratively)batter, cast off, corrupt(-er, thing), destroy(-er, -uction), lose, mar, perish, spill, spoiler, [idiom] utterly, waste(-r).אוֹת֖וֹotvoobject markerאֵתparticle, direct object marker, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “object marker”H853properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)(as such unrepresented in English).בְּתוֹכֽוֹbetokhvoin amongתָּוֶךְpreposition, noun, common, masculine, singular, construct, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “in among”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH8432a bisection, i.e. (by implication) the centreamong(-st), [idiom] between, half, [idiom] (there-, where-), in(-to), middle, mid(-night), midst (among), [idiom] out (of), [idiom] through, [idiom] with(-in).

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness; but the battle followed hard after them; and they that came out of the city destroyed them in the midst of the men of Israel.

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness; but the battle followed hard after them; and they that came out of the cities destroyed them in the midst thereof.

Young’s Literal Translation

and they turn before the men of Israel unto the way of the wilderness, and the battle hath followed them; and those who [are] from the city are destroying them in their midst;

World English Bible

Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel to the way of the wilderness, but the battle followed hard after them; and those who came out of the cities destroyed them in the middle of it.

Darby Translation

And they turned before the men of Israel to the way of the wilderness; but the battle overtook them; and those who came out of the cities destroyed them in their midst.

Douay-Rheims

And began to go towards the way of the desert, the enemy pursuing them thither also. And they that fired the city came also out to meet them.

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

And they turned to the way of the wilderness from before the children of Israel, and fled: but the battle overtook them, and they from the cities destroyed them in the midst of them.

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Καὶ ἐπέβλεψαν ἐνώπιον υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ εἰς τὴς ὁδὸν τῆς ἐρήμου, καὶ ἔφυγον· καὶ ἡ παράταξις ἔφθασεν ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς, καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν πόλεων διέφθειρον αὐτοὺς ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν.