שופטים, פרק כ׳, פסוק ל״א

During the fierce civil conflict, the Israelite army employs a calculated military deception. They execute a feigned retreat designed to lure the opposing forces out of their fortified stronghold. As the Benjaminites emerge to pursue them, they are completely uprooted and distanced from the safety of their city [מצודת דוד, מצודת ציון]. They do not merely choose to leave of their own accord; rather, they are actively drawn out and detached from their defenses by the Israelites, who pretend to be defeated and fleeing [רד״ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

Once out in the open, the Benjaminites begin to strike down the Israelites, inflicting fatal blows just as they had done in their two previous encounters [מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The combat unfolds along paved, well-trodden roads [מצודת ציון]. Specifically, the fighting concentrates in an open field where these main routes branch off, with one path heading toward Bethel and the other toward Gibeah [מצודת דוד]. In this open area, thirty Israelites are killed. Although the recorded number might initially appear to be a rough estimate, it is actually a precise and confirmed figure, emphasizing that exactly thirty men fall in this phase of the battle [מצודת דוד].