Judges 11:9 - Wesley's Explanatory Notes

If, &c. — If you recall me from this place where I am now settled, to the place whence I was expelled. Shall I, &c. — Will you really make good this promise? Jephthah was so solicitous in this case, either from his zeal for the public good, which required that he should be so; or from the law of self — preservation, that he might secure himself from his brethren; whose ill — will he had experienced, and whose injuries he could not prevent, if, after he had served their ends, he had been reduced to his private capacity.