noon
Now it got to work and with three blows of the great baulk of timber , of which the ram was fashioned , burst in the gates . Thereon the defenders , headed by old Benoni himself , rushed out and put those who served it to the sword ; then before they could be overcome , retreated across the ditch to the inner wall , breaking down the wooden bridge behind them . Now , since the ram was of no further use , as it could not be dragged through the ditch , the galley , that was anchored within a hundred paces , began to hurl huge stones and arrows at them , knocking down the walls and killing several , including two women and three children . Thus matters went on till noon , the besiegers galling them with their arrows from the land side and the galley battering them from the sea , while they could do little or nothing in return , having no engines . Benoni called a council and set out the case , which was desperate enough . It was evident , he said , that they could not hold out another day , since at nightfall the Syrians would cross the narrow protecting ditch and set up a battering-ram against the inner wall . Therefore , they must do one of two things -- sally out and attempt to cut their way through and gain open country , or fight on and at the last kill the women and children and rush out , those that were left of them , to be hacked down by the besieging thousands .