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Read the Bible

Revised Standard Version

Judges 17:6

In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Liberty;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Judges, Extraordinary;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Jonathan;   Judges;   Teraphim;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Ephod;   Idol, idolatry;   Judges, book of;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Ruth, Theology of;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Jonathan;   Judges, the Book of;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Ephod;   Government;   Inquire of God;   Judges, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Bethlehem;   Israel;   Judges (1);   Levi;   Micah, Micaiah;   Priests and Levites;   Samson;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Jonathan;   Micah;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Reign of the Judges;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Bethlehem;   Day;   Ezekiel;   Israel, History of the People;   Israel, Religion of;   Jonathan (1);   Judges, Period of;   Micah (1);   Priests and Levites;   Right;   Samson;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Law, Civil;   Priest;   Sacrifice;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for December 15;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever seemed right to him.
Hebrew Names Version
In those days there was no king in Yisra'el: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
King James Version
In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Lexham English Bible
In those days there was no king in Israel, and each one did what was right in his own eyes.
English Standard Version
In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
New Century Version
At that time Israel did not have a king, so everyone did what seemed right.
New English Translation
In those days Israel had no king. Each man did what he considered to be right.
Amplified Bible
In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.
New American Standard Bible
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Geneva Bible (1587)
In those dayes there was no King in Israel, but euery man did that which was good in his owne eyes.
Legacy Standard Bible
In dié dae was daar geen koning in Israel nie: elkeen het gedoen wat reg was in sy oë.
Contemporary English Version
This was before kings ruled Israel, so all the Israelites did whatever they thought was right.
Complete Jewish Bible
At that time there was no king in Isra'el; a man simply did whatever he thought was right.
Darby Translation
In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.
Easy-to-Read Version
(At that time the Israelites did not have a king, so everyone did what they thought was right.)
George Lamsa Translation
In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Good News Translation
There was no king in Israel at that time; everyone did whatever they wanted.
Literal Translation
And in those days there was no king in Israel; each man did the right in his own eyes.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
At yt tyme was there no kynge in Israel, & euery man dyd the thinge yt was righte in his awne eyes.
American Standard Version
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Bible in Basic English
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did as seemed right to him.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
In those dayes there was no kyng in Israel, but euery man dyd that which was good in his owne eyes.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
King James Version (1611)
In those dayes there was no king in Israel, but euery man did that which was right in his owne eyes.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And in those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
English Revised Version
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Berean Standard Bible
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
In tho daies was no kyng in Israel, but ech man dide this, that semyde riytful to hym silf.
Young's Literal Translation
in those days there is no king in Israel, each that which is right in his own eyes doth.
Update Bible Version
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Webster's Bible Translation
In those days [there was] no king in Israel, [but] every man did [that which was] right in his own eyes.
World English Bible
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
New King James Version
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
New Living Translation
In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.
New Life Bible
There was no king in Israel in those days. Each man did what he thought was right.
New Revised Standard
In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
In those days, there was no king in Israel, - every man did, that which was right in his own eyes.
Douay-Rheims Bible
In those days there was no king in Israel, but every one did that which seemed right to himself.
THE MESSAGE
In those days there was no king in Israel. People did whatever they felt like doing.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.

Contextual Overview

1 There was a man of the hill country of E'phraim, whose name was Micah. 2 And he said to his mother, "The eleven hundred pieces of silver which were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it." And his mother said, "Blessed be my son by the LORD." 3 And he restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, "I consecrate the silver to the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image; now therefore I will restore it to you." 4 So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a graven image and a molten image; and it was in the house of Micah. 5 And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and teraphim, and installed one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

no king: Judges 18:1, Judges 19:1, Judges 21:3, Judges 21:25, Genesis 36:31, Deuteronomy 33:5

right: Deuteronomy 12:8, Psalms 12:4, Proverbs 12:15, Proverbs 14:12, Proverbs 16:2, Ecclesiastes 11:9, Jeremiah 44:16, Jeremiah 44:17

Reciprocal: Judges 17:1 - there was

Cross-References

Genesis 17:4
"Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.
Genesis 17:6
I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you.
Genesis 17:16
I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her; I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall come from her."
Genesis 17:17
Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, "Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?"
Genesis 17:20
As for Ish'mael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him and make him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.
Genesis 35:11
And God said to him, "I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall spring from you.
Ezra 4:20
And mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom tribute, custom, and toll were paid.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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.

l Apud Hottinger. Smegma Orient. p. 522.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Judges 17:6. 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 Genesis 36:31, and Deuteronomy 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.


 
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