BibleTools.info

42. Wilderness. Evidently “the wilderness of Beth-aven” (Joshua 18:12), east of Gibeah, which descends from the highlands to the Jordan valley. The region is described in Joshua 16:1 as “the wilderness that goeth up from Jericho throughout mount Beth-el.”

Them which came out. Some of the ancient versions read here, “They which came out of the city [that is, the men who had captured Gibeah] destroyed them in their midst.” This would mean that the 10,000 Israelites, after burning Gibeah, intercepted the Benjamites who tried to flee into the wilderness. The meaning of the English version would probably be that the Benjamites fled to their own cities and were pursued thither in their flight and slain in their cities.