שופטים, פרק כ׳, פסוק ל״ג

At the decisive moment in the campaign against the tribe of Benjamin, the Israelite army executes a complex tactical maneuver. After drawing the enemy away from the city through a feigned retreat, the strategy suddenly shifts. Initially, only a small fraction of the Israelite camp had engaged the enemy and pretended to be defeated in order to lure them out [מלבי״ם]. Now, the retreating force stops, turns back to face the enemy, and prepares for a frontal assault. Every single soldier takes his position individually, yet the entire army moves together flawlessly as one unified body [רד״ק]. They establish their battle lines at a location identified as the plains of Jericho [רש״י].

While the main army prepares for direct combat, a hidden Israelite ambush springs into action. In terms of the actual timeline, this ambush force begins its attack before the main army turns around, as the main camp only faces the enemy after seeing the smoke rising from the captured city [מצודת דוד]. The ambush bursts outward with intense, sudden force. This powerful emergence is compared to the rushing waters of a river breaking from their bounds or a baby emerging from its mother's womb [רש״י, מצודת ציון, רד״ק].

The precise hiding spot from which this ambush launches is understood in several ways. Some explain that the troops emerged from a narrow, exposed area that served as the city's weak point, making it an ideal path to conquer the territory [רש״י, מצודת ציון]. Others view the location as a topographical feature, describing it either as a flat plain or a moist, grassy region situated right next to the hill [רד״ק]. Alternatively, the description can be understood quite literally, meaning the soldiers had been hiding inside an actual physical cave located to the west of the city [מלבי״ם].