Judges 20:42 a ‘Therefore they turned their backs before the men of Israel, into the way of the wilderness, but the battle followed hard after them.'
The Benjaminites saw no alternative but to flee for their lives into the rough country, for the highways would just lead them into enemy forces, but it did them no good for their pursuers were relentless. They chased them hard and slew them one by one.
Judges 20:42 b ‘And those who came out of the cities they destroyed them in its midst.'
This may refer to the other Israelite forces coming out of Gibeah, and who, having captured other ‘cities' as well, now attacked the fleeing Benjaminites, or it may refer to other Israelites who left their cities to join in the fight, or it may refer to remnants of Benjaminites (most had been with the main force) who came from their cities to join in and were destroyed in the midst of the wilderness. For all Benjamin knew that, having rebelled against the tribal covenant and the tribal federation in defence of those specifically sentenced to death by the confederacy, they were liable to The Ban. They could expect no mercy. They were brothers who had betrayed the brotherhood, and feelings were running high.