“during the morning watch.” So this happened between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. It is important to note that the text does not say “in the morning,” but rather “during the morning watch.” The way that the Hebrews counted time was “hours” during the day and “watches” during the night. The “night” was divided into three watches of about four hours each, and the Hebrew day began at sunset, so the three watches of the night started the new day, and when the watches were over the “hours” began. The first watch was 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. (even though it sometimes was not dark at 6 p.m.), the second watch was 10 p.m. to our 2 a.m., and the third watch, called “the morning watch” because it often ended about when the morning light came, was about 2:00 to 6:00 a.m. The Hebrew text literally reads, “the watch of the morning,” making it clear that this is referring to the “morning watch” and not just “the morning.” Although it was dark at this time, it was the fourteenth day of the month so there was a full moon that people could see by.

“threw them into a panic.” See commentary on Joshua 10:10.

“army.” Or, “camp.” The word is the same here as in Judges 4:15.