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, 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.
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did as seemed right to him.
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.
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
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.
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.
17:6 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.