NET Bible
"But when the signal, a pillar of smoke, began to rise up from the city, the Benjaminites turned around and saw the whole city going up in a cloud of smoke that rose high into the sky."
— Judges 20:40, NET Bible
The men hiding in ambush made a mad dash to Gibeah. They attacked and put the sword to the entire city.
The Israelites and the men hiding in ambush had arranged a signal. When the men hiding in ambush sent up a smoke signal from the city,
the Israelites counterattacked. Benjamin had begun to strike down the Israelites; they struck down about thirty men. They said,“There’s no doubt about it! They are totally defeated as in the earlier battle.”
But when the signal, a pillar of smoke, began to rise up from the city, the Benjaminites turned around and saw the whole city going up in a cloud of smoke that rose high into the sky.
When the Israelites turned around, the Benjaminites panicked because they could see that disaster was on their doorstep.
They retreated before the Israelites, taking the road to the wilderness. But the battle overtook them as men from the surrounding cities struck them down.
They surrounded the Benjaminites, chased them from Nohah, and annihilated them all the way to a spot east of Geba.