In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did that which was right in his own eyes.
Parallel Translations
-
In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did that which was right in his own eyes.
-
In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
-
In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Judges 17:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Deuteronomy 12:8 You shall not do all the things that we do here today, every man whatever is right in his own eyes;
- Proverbs 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who is wise listens to counsel.
- Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
- Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did that which was right in his own eyes.
- Judges 18:1 In 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.
- Judges 19:1 In 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.
- Proverbs 16:2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but Yahweh weighs the motives.
- Psalms 12:4 who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail. Our lips are our own. Who is lord over us?”
- Ecclesiastes 11:9 Rejoice, 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.
- Genesis 36:31 These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the children of Israel.
- Deuteronomy 33:5 He was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together.
- Judges 21:3 They said, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that there should be one tribe lacking in Israel today?”
- Jeremiah 44:16-17 “As for the word that you have spoken to us in Yahweh’s name, we will not listen to you. But we will certainly perform every word that has gone out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain For where there is no Magistrate fearing God, there…
For where there is no Magistrate fearing God, there can be no true religion or order.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jdg 17:6 In those days [there was] no king…
Jdg 17:6 In those days [there was] no king in Israel, [but] every man did [that which was] right in his own eyes.
Ver. 6. In those days there was no king in Israel,] i.e., No ordinary supreme magistrate: hence this idolatry and the following outrages. Of the two, tyranny or ochlocraty, that rule of rascality, is better than anarchy. It is noted as a just wonder, that "the grasshoppers have no king, yet go they forth in bands": {Pro 30:27} for the body of the commonwealth which lacked a chief ruler, is like the body of Polyphemus, without an eye. Ulysses, asking what kind of kingdom the Cyclopes had, was answered by Silenus, Nομαδες, ακουει ουδεις ουδενος, they wander at pleasure, and do what they want without control. The inhabitants of Brazil are said to be sine fide, sine rege, sine lege, without religion, law, or government, and must therefore needs be miserable. Look what a ship is without a steersman, a flock without a shepherd, a house without the father of the family, or a school without a schoolmaster; such is a state without a supreme government. This when none would take upon them, the prophet showeth that confusion followed, {Isa 3:6} and men became as fishes, devouring one another.
Read full note →
But every man did that which was right in his own eyes.] So they did in the interregnums at Rome, and do still in Turkey, to the great disturbance of the public welfare. Stobaeus {a} telleth us, that by the Persian law, there was at the death of their king a five days’ lawless liberty proclaimed, to the end that, by the want of good government for such a time, people might be made to know the worth of it, and so might prize it the better ever after.
{a} Orat., xlii.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain No king, i.e. no judge to govern and control…
No king, i.e. no judge to govern and control them. The word king being here used largely for a supreme magistrate; as Gen 36:31; Deu 33:5. God raised up judges to rule and deliver the people when he saw fit; and at other times for their sins he suffered them to be without them, and such a time this was; and therefore they ran into that idolatry from which the judges usually kept them, as appears by that solemn and oft-repeated passage in this book, that after the death of such or such a judge the people forsook the Lord, and turned to idols.
That which was right in his own eyes, i.e. not what pleased God, but what best suited his own fancy or lusts.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain In those days there was no king in Israel,....…
In those days there was no king in Israel,.... That is, no supreme magistrate, judge, or ruler, Joshua being dead and Caleb also, and the elders contemporary with them; for what the Samaritan Chronicle says (l) is without foundation, that Joshua a little before his death cast a lot in the presence of the congregation, to know who should govern after him, and the lot came to one Abel, of the tribe of Judah:
but every man did that which was right in his own eyes; which accounts for the idolatry of Micah, there being no supreme magistrate to take cognizance of his sin, and restrain him from it, or punish him for it according to the law of God.
Read full note →
(l) Apud Hottinger. Smegma Orient. p. 522.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain No king - No judge to govern and control…
No king - No judge to govern and control them. The word king being used largely for a supreme magistrate. God raised up Judges to rule and deliver the people, when he saw fit; and at other times for their sins he suffered them to be without them, and such a time this was; and therefore they ran into that idolatry, from which the Judges usually kept them; as appears by that solemn and oft- repeated passage in this book, that after the death of such or such a judge, the people forsook the Lord, and turned to idols. His own eyes - That is, not what pleased God, but what best suited his own fancy.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 6. There was no king in Israel] The…
Verse 6. There was no king in Israel] The word מלך melech, which generally means king, is sometimes taken for a supreme governor, judge, magistrate, or ruler of any kind; (see Ge 36:31, and De 33:5); and it is likely it should be so understood here.
Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.] He was his own governor, and what he did he said was right; and, by his cunning and strength, defended his conduct. When a man's own will, passions, and caprice, are to be made the rule of law, society is in a most perilous and ruinous state. Civil government is of God; and without it the earth must soon be desolated. There was a time when there was no king in England; and that was, in general, a time of scandal to religion, and oppression to men.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jdg 17:6. There was no king in Israel —…
Jdg 17:6. There was no king in Israel — No judge to govern and control them; the word king being used largely for a supreme magistrate. God raised up judges to rule and deliver the people when he saw fit; and at other times for their sins he suffered them to be without them, and such a time this was; and therefore they ran into that idolatry from which the judges usually kept them; as appears by that solemn and oft-repeated declaration in this book, that after the death of such or such a judge, the people forsook the Lord, and turned to idols. His own eyes — That is, not what pleased God, but what best suited his own fancy.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain In those days ... - This phrase, indicating distinctly…
In those days ... - This phrase, indicating distinctly that the writer lived after the establishment of the kingly government in Israel, is unique to the author of these last five chapters.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Himself. Serarius thinks this took place before Heli was…
Himself. Serarius thinks this took place before Heli was appointed to succeed Samson. But the opinion of Salien (Menochius) is more probable. For, though he places this history in the 22d year of Othoniel, yet we must remember that he attributes to him all the years of anarchy, so that this liberty was taken by an individual, when none had power or zeal enough to restrain it. How much would Phinees be mortified at this prevarication if he were still alive! (Haydock) --- The title of king may be applied to the judges. But this book was probably written after the appointment of Saul. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain every man did that which was right in his…
every man did that which was right in his own eyes--From want of a settled government, there was no one to call him to account. No punishment followed any crime.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 6. No king — This verse seems here, as…
6. No king — This verse seems here, as everywhere, to explain the irregularities and evils of the age. It here explains how a man in central Palestine could establish such a semblance of idolatry, and profanely make a priest contrary to the requirements of the law. There was no central government to look after such irregularities, and bring the whole nation to uniform methods of worship, or counteract and destroy the growth of various evils.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (6) In those days there was no king.—This shows…
(6) In those days there was no king.—This shows that these narratives were written, or more probably edited, in the days of the monarchy. (See Jdg_18:1; Jdg_19:1; Jdg_21:25.)
Did that which was right in his own eyes.—The notice is added to show why there was no authoritative interference of prince or ruler to prevent idolatrous or lawless proceedings. (Deu_12:8 : “Ye shall not do after all the things which we do here this day, every man what is right in his own eyes.”)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain There was no king. This must have been written…
There was no king. This must have been written in the days of the kings of Israel and Judah, and perhaps with reference to the efforts of such kings as Ass (1Ki_15:13) and Jehoshaphat (1Ki_22:43) to put down idolatry.
No king.
Read full note →
The writer of the Book of Judges more than once attributes the social disorders of Israel to the want of a king. This idea has its bearings on national interests and on private conduct.
I THE NEED OF A KING IN CONNECTION WITH NATIONAL INTERESTS.
1. A centre of authority is essential to the peace arid prosperity of anation. As the first duty of a government is to maintain order, so the need of authority and organisation for the maintenance of order makes the establishment of a government essential to a nation. This is necessary,
(1) to punish violence and crime,
(2) to restrain the unjust encroachment of one man upon the rights of another,
(3) to arbitrate between the conflicting claims of individual men and of great classes of the community,
(4) to promote national objects which are too large for private enterprise, and
(5) to cement the unity of the nation and organise this for defence against foreign invasion.
2. When a nation is not prepared for self-government it is best for it to be ruled by one strong hand. Apart from political requisites, certain moral conditions must be fulfilled before a people can practise self-government. There must be unity of sympathy and self-control. Neither of these conditions was fulfilled by the tribes of Israel in the days of the Judges. Mutual jealousy and antagonism prevailed among them, and violent measures were too common for the minority to submit peaceably to the will of the majority. The spiritual vision of the Divine King which had maintained the unity of the nation in the days of Moses was fading away, and now that sublime and unearthly government was nearly lost, there was no hope for the people but in the establishment of a human monarchy. It is foolish to maintain in words an ideal which is too high for practice. Better confess our degeneracy and shape our conduct according to the means within reach.
II THE NEED OF A KING IN CONNECTION WITH PRIVATE CONDUCT. The soul needs a king. We are born to obey. We need some authority above us to keep us right.
1. It is not safe for every man to do what is right in his own eyes, because
(1) we are swayed by passion and selfish greed, and
(2) in our best moments we are liable to prejudice, and are too shortsighted to see what is best. The anarchy of universal self-seeking without restraint would bring the world to ruin. For the good of all it is necessary that each should not be at liberty simply to please himself.
2. It is not right for every man to do that which is right in his own eyes. We are members one of another, and are morally bound to respect the rights, and needs, and wishes of our neighbours. We are children of the great King, and under a supreme obligation to respect his law. The Church is not a republic; it is a kingdom. The Christian is not free to follow his fancy; he is required to submit to and to obey the mind and will of Christ. Christian liberty is not found in the license of self-will, but in the willingness of obedience and the love which delights to fulfil the will of God and to do to others as we would that they should do to us. A.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.