Judges 10 · Verse 18

Judges 10:18

And the people and princes of Gilead said one to another, What man is he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
Judges 10:18, King James Version

Judges 10:18 in other translations

BSBAnd the rulers of Gilead said to one another, “Whoever will launch the attack against the Ammonites will be the head of all who live in Gilead.”
WEBThe people, the princes of Gilead, said to one another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”
ASVAnd the people, the princes of Gilead, said one to another, What man is he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
YLTAnd the people--heads of Gilead--say one unto another, ‘Who is the man that doth begin to fight against the Bene-Ammon? he is for head to all inhabitants of Gilead.'
DARBYAnd the people, the chief men of Gilead, said one to another, Who is the man that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
BBEAnd the people of Israel said to one another, Who will be the first to make an attack on the children of Ammon? We will make him head over all Gilead.
WebsterAnd the people and princes of Gilead said one to another, What man is he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

What does Judges 10:18 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 10:17-18

17-18. the children of Ammon were gathered together--From carrying on guerrilla warfare, the Ammonites proceeded to a continued campaign. Their settled aim was to wrest the whole of the trans-jordanic territory from its actual occupiers. In this great crisis, a general meeting of the Israelitish tribes was held at Mizpeh. This Mizpeh was in eastern Manasseh (Jos 11:3).

Read the full comment on Judges 10:17-18 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 18 What man is he that will begin to fight - It appears that, although the spirit of patriotism had excited the people at large to come forward against their enemies, yet they had no general, none to lead them forth to battle. God, however, who had accepted their sincere repentance, raised them up an able captain in the person of Jephthah; and in him the suffrages of the people were concentrated, as we shall see in the following chapter. In those ancient times much depended on the onset; a war was generally terminated in one battle, the first impression was therefore of great consequence, and it required a person skillful, valorous, and strong, to head the attack. Jephthah was a person in whom all these qualifications appear to have met. When God purposes to deliver, he, in the course of his providence, will find out, employ, and direct the proper means.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Judges 10:10-18

God is able to multiply men's punishments according to the numbers of their sins and idols. But there is hope when sinners cry to the Lord for help, and lament their ungodliness as well as their more open transgressions. It is necessary, in true repentance, that there be a full conviction that those things cannot help us which we have set in competition with God. They acknowledged what they deserved, yet prayed to…

Read the full comment on Judges 10:10-18 →

Judges 10:18 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיֹּאמְר֨וּvai.yo.me.Ruand they saidH559
הָעָ֜םha.'Amthe peopleH5971
שָׂרֵ֤יsa.Rei[the] leaders ofH8269
גִלְעָד֙gil.'AdGileadH1568
אִ֣ישׁ'isheachH376
אֶל\־'el-toH413
רֵעֵ֔הוּre.'E.huneighbor hisH7453
מִ֣יmiwho?H4310
הָאִ֔ישׁha.'Ish[is] the manH376
אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.SherwhoH834
יָחֵ֔לya.Chelhe will beginH2490
לְהִלָּחֵ֖םle.hi.la.Chemto fightH3898
בִּבְנֵ֣יbiv.Neiagainst [the] people ofH1121
עַמּ֑וֹןa.MonAmmonH5983
יִֽהְיֶ֣הyih.Yehhe will becomeH1961
לְרֹ֔אשׁle.Rosh<into> chiefH7218
לְכֹ֖לle.Kholof allH3605
יֹשְׁבֵ֥יyo.she.Vei[the] inhabitants ofH3427
גִלְעָֽד\׃\ \פgil.'AdGileadH1568

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Judges 10:18

  • Judges 11:11

    Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and captain over them: and Jephthah uttered all his words before the Lord in Mizpeh.

  • Isaiah 3:1-8

    For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator. And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. …

  • Isaiah 34:12

    They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing.

  • Judges 1:1

    Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the Lord, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?

  • Judges 11:5-8

    And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob: And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon. And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and expel me out of my father’s house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress? And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

  • 1 Samuel 17:25

    And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel.

  • Judges 12:7

    And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
What man.
1:1; 11:5-8; Isa 3:1-8; 34:12
he shall be.
11:11; 12:7; 1Sa 17:25

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Judges 10:17

    Then the children of Ammon were gathered together, and encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled themselves together, and encamped in Mizpeh.

  • Judges 10:18

    And the people and princes of Gilead said one to another, What man is he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

Read all of Judges 10

Judges 10:18 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y los príncipes y el pueblo de Galaad dijeron el uno al otro: ¿Quién será el que comenzará la batalla contra los hijos de Ammón? él será cabeza sobre todos los que habitan en Galaad.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et le peuple, les princes de Galaad, se dirent l’un à l’autre: Quel est l’homme qui commencera à faire la guerre contre les fils d’Ammon? Il sera chef de tous les habitants de Galaad.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Da sprach das Volk, die Obersten von Gilead, einer zum anderen: Wer ist der Mann, der anfängt, wider die Kinder Ammon zu streiten? Er soll allen Bewohnern Gileads zum Haupte sein.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Dixeruntque principes Galaad singuli ad proximos suos: Qui primus ex nobis contra filios Ammon cœperit dimicare, erit dux populi Galaad.