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.
- BSB 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 shall not do after all the things that we do here today, every man whatever is right in his own eyes;
- Prov 3:5Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding.
- Judg 17:6In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did that which was right in his own eyes.
- Eccl 11:9Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and 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 into judgment.
- Prov 14:12There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
- Judg 19:1In those days, when there was no king in Israel, there was a certain Levite living on the farther side of the hill country of Ephraim, who took for himself a concubine out of Bethlehem Judah.
- Judg 18:1In those days there was no king in Israel. In those days the tribe of the Danites sought an inheritance to dwell in; for to that day, their inheritance had not fallen to them among the tribes of Israel.
- Mic 2:1–2Woe to those who devise iniquity and work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand.
- Ps 12:4who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail. Our lips are our own. Who is lord over us?”
- Judg 18:7Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people who were there, how they lived in safety, in the way of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was no one in the land, possessing authority, that might put them to shame in anything, and they were far from the Sidonians, and had no dealings with anyone else.
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.