Charles Ellicott Commentary Judges 20:42

"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." — Judges 20:42 (ASV)

Unto the way of the wilderness. —The wilderness is that known as the wilderness of Bethaven (Joshua 18:12). It is described in Joshua 16:1 as the wilderness that goeth up from Jericho throughout Mount Bethel. (See Robinson, Bibl. Res. 1:572.) The first thought of fugitives in Eastern Palestine was to get to one of the fords of the Jordan (2 Samuel 15:23; 2 Kings 25:4–5).

Them which came out of the cities they destroyed in the midst of them. —This obscure clause is rendered differently in different versions. If the English Version is correct, as it probably is, the meaning must be that the Benjamites fled to their own cities, and were pursued there and slain by the Israelites.