Judges 10:18

18 The people, the ones commanding Gilead, {said to each other}, "Who [is] the man that will begin to fight against the {Ammonites}? He will be as head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."

Judges 10:18 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 10:18

And the people and princes of Gilead said one to another
Being thus assembled and encamped:

what man is he that will begin to fight with the children of Ammon?
for though the forces were assembled together for battle, yet it seems they had no general to command them, and lead them on to it:

he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead,
this they ordered to be proclaimed, to encourage some person to take the command of them, and go before them to battle, promising him that he should be judge or governor over all the tribes on that side Jordan.

Judges 10:18 In-Context

16 So they removed the foreign gods from their midst and served Yahweh; and {he could no longer bear} the misery of Israel.

17 And the {Ammonites} were summoned, and they camped in Gilead. And the {Israelites} gathered and camped at Mizpah.

18 The people, the ones commanding Gilead, {said to each other}, "Who [is] the man that will begin to fight against the {Ammonites}? He will be as head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "said each to his neighbor"
• [b]. Literally "sons/children of Ammon"