Matthew Henry on Judges 11:4-11
Here is, I. The distress which the children of Israel were in upon the Ammonites' invasion of their country, Jdg 11:4. Probably this was the same invasion with that mentioned, Jdg 10:17, when the children of Ammon were gathered together and encamped in or against Gilead. And those words, in process of time, refer to what goes immediately before of the expulsion of Jephthah; many days after he had been thus thrust out in disgrace was he fetched back again with honour.
II. The court which the elders made to Jephthah hereupon to come and help them. They did not write or send a messenger to him, but went themselves to fetch him, resolving to have no denial, and the exigence of the case was such…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 11:5
the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah--All eyes were directed towards him as the only person possessed of the qualities requisite for the preservation of the country in this time of imminent danger; and a deputation of the chief men was despatched from the Hebrew camp at Mizpeh to solicit his services.
John Gill on Judges 11:5
And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel,.... Were preparing for it, and had assembled their forces near them, and had began to make some efforts against them:
the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob; they did not send messengers to him, but went themselves, partly to show greater respect to him, and partly in hopes of better success, being aware of objections he would make, which they could better answer themselves than a deputation.
Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 11:4-6
But when the Ammonites made war upon Israel some time afterwards, the elders of Gilead (= "the princes of Gilead," Jdg 10:18) went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob, to make this brave warrior their leader. In Jdg 11:4 the account of the war between the Ammonites and Israel, which is mentioned in Jdg 10:17, is resumed, and its progress under Jephthah is then more fully described. "In process of time" (מיּמים, a diebus, i.e., after the lapse of a long period, which cannot be more precisely defined), sc., after the expulsion of Jephthah from his home (see Jdg 14:8; Jdg 15:1; Jos 23:1). קצין signifies a leader in war (Jos 10:24), and is therefore distinguished in Jdg 11:11 from ראשׁ, a c…
