In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Parallel translations
- WEB In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did that which was right in his own eyes.
- KJV In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
- NKJV In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
- NASB In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
- NLT In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
"In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." This is the key explanation of the era's chaos.
Overview
This refrain (cf. 18:1; 19:1; 21:25) diagnoses the root of Israel's disorder: the absence of godly leadership and the reign of self-will. Doing what is right in one's own eyes, rather than what is right in God's eyes, is the essence of the period's sin. The verse stirs longing for a faithful king, ultimately fulfilled in Christ, the true King who does and leads His people in what is right.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Deut 12:8You are not to do as we are doing here today, where everyone does what seems right in his own eyes.
- Prov 14:12There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
- Prov 12:15The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to counsel.
- Judg 21:25In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
- Judg 19:1Now in those days, when there was no king in Israel, a Levite who lived in the remote hill country of Ephraim took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
- Prov 16:2All a man’s ways are pure in his own eyes, but his motives are weighed out by the LORD.
- Judg 18:1In those days there was no king in Israel, and the tribe of the Danites was looking for territory to occupy. For up to that time they had not come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.
- Ps 12:4They say, “With our tongues we will prevail. We own our lips—who can be our master?”
- Eccl 11:9Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.
- Gen 36:31These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the Israelites:
- Deut 33:5So the LORD became King in Jeshurun when the leaders of the people gathered, when the tribes of Israel came together.
- Judg 21:3“Why, O LORD God of Israel,” they cried out, “has this happened in Israel? Today in Israel one tribe is missing!”
- Jer 44:16–17“As for the word you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you!
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 17:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.