( أَلَمْ تَرَ ..) (Have you not considered…): The Lord of all senses is more credible than them when He tells something. It is as if you saw as what Allah (swt) tells is even more credible than what you witness.

(… إِلَى الْمَلَإِ..  ) (..the assembly..): Refers to the elitists and dignitaries who have the front seats in different meetings.

( أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الْمَلَإِ مِن بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ مِن بَعْدِ مُوسَىٰ..) (Have you not considered the assembly of the Children of Israel after [the time of] Moses…): At which time? The Almighty does not define that; it’s only after the time of Moses, and there were many prophets after Moses (PBUH).

(… إِذْ قَالُوا لِنَبِيٍّ لَّهُمُ ابْعَثْ لَنَا مَلِكًا نُّقَاتِلْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ ۖ ..  ) (..when they said to a prophet of theirs, “Send to us a king, and we will fight in the way of Allah..): What do we understand here? There used to be prophets of the Children of Israel after the time of Moses, and such prophet weren’t kings. There used to be kings to rule while the prophets used to take care of religion and its matters. Thus, they told the prophet to send them a king, and they will fight in the way of Allah.

(… قَالَ هَلْ عَسَيْتُمْ إِن كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْقِتَالُ أَلَّا تُقَاتِلُوا ۖ ..  ) (..He said, “Would you perhaps refrain from fighting if fighting was prescribed for you?.): This is what he thought of them because he knew the Children of Israel well. They used to have pretexts not to abide whenever something was enjoined upon them. This is based on the prophet’s knowledge of the history of the Children of Israel who are behind all the darkness in the world.

(… قَالُوا وَمَا لَنَا أَلَّا نُقَاتِلَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَقَدْ أُخْرِجْنَا مِن دِيَارِنَا وَأَبْنَائِنَا ۖ ..  ) (..They said, “And why should we not fight in the cause of Allah when we have been driven out from our homes and from our children?”…): Let’s all pay attention here, the Holy Qur’an states that the reason for fighting in the cause of Allah (swt) is the driven out from home. Thus, it has to do with homeland and aggression on homeland. They wanted to fight because they have been driven out from their home. Therefore, the issue of fighting in the cause of Allah (swt) is not meant for calling for Allah (swt) nor for making people perform prayers or pay Zakat and say ‘there’s no God but Allah’ to become Muslims. Do we fight non-Muslims in this case? We have been ordered to fight the aggressors olytheists not because they are polytheists but because they aggressors. The proof of the same is that Prophet Muhammad (saws) told the polytheists in the year of the conquest of Mecca:

“Go, you’re free[1]”

and never fought them despite the fact that they all were polytheists.

The Quranic story is all about the theme, and the Almighty doesn’t state who the prophet was, who the people were, or at which time the story took place. They are only (of the Children of Israel after [the time of] Moses).

(… فَلَمَّا كُتِبَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقِتَالُ تَوَلَّوْا إِلَّا قَلِيلًا مِّنْهُمْ ۗ ..  ) (..But when fighting was prescribed for them, they turned away, except for a few of them …): As usual, most of them refrained and turned away. They never fulfilled the promise they made to their prophet and turned away when fighting was prescribed to them. In this respect, Allah (swt) says:

 {وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُورُ }

(And few of My servants are grateful.)  (Saba: 13)

[1] Sunan Al Bayhaqi Al-Kubra, Siyar Vol. Chapter: Conquest of Mecca, Hadith no. 18055.