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: 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
The book closes by noting there was no king in Israel, so everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Overview
This refrain (cf. 17:6) is the theological summary of Judges: without godly leadership and submission to God as King, Israel descended into idolatry, immorality, and civil war. The verse exposes humanity's need for a righteous king and points beyond the failed judges to the coming Davidic monarchy and ultimately to Christ, the true King who alone leads his people in righteousness. It leaves the reader longing for the King who does what is right in God's eyes.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Deut 12:8You are not to do as we are doing here today, where everyone does what seems right in his own eyes.
- Prov 3:5Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
- Judg 17:6In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
- 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.
- Prov 14:12There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
- 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.
- 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.
- Mic 2:1–2Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.
- Ps 12:4They say, “With our tongues we will prevail. We own our lips—who can be our master?”
- Judg 18:7So the five men departed and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living securely, like the Sidonians, tranquil and unsuspecting. There was nothing lacking in the land and no oppressive ruler. And they were far away from the Sidonians and had no alliance with anyone.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 21:25 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.