Judges 21:25
New International Version
In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.

New Living Translation
In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.

English Standard Version
In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what 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.

King James 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 American Standard Bible
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

NASB 1995
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

NASB 1977
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Legacy Standard Bible
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Amplified Bible
In those days [when the judges governed] there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.

Christian Standard Bible
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever seemed right to him.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever he wanted.

American Standard Version
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

Contemporary English Version
In those days Israel wasn't ruled by a king, and everyone did what they thought was right.

English Revised Version
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
In those days Israel didn't have a king. Everyone did whatever he considered right.

Good News Translation
There was no king in Israel at that time. Everyone did whatever they pleased.

International Standard Version
Back in those days, Israel didn't yet have a king, so each person did whatever seemed right in his own opinion.

Majority Standard Bible
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

NET Bible
In those days Israel had no king. Each man did what he considered to be right.

New Heart English Bible
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: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

World English Bible
In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did that which was right in his own eyes.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
In those days there is no king in Israel; each does that which is right in his own eyes.

Young's Literal Translation
In those days there is no king in Israel; each doth that which is right in his own eyes.

Smith's Literal Translation
In those days no king in Israel: a man will do the right in his eyes.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
In those days there was no king in Israel: but every one did that which seemed right to himself.

Catholic Public Domain Version
In those days, there was no king in Israel. Instead, each one did what seemed right to himself.

New American Bible
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in their own sight.

New Revised Standard Version
In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which seemed right in his own eyes.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And in those days there was not a King in the house of Israel, and every man was doing what was pleasing in his eyes ?
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And in those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own sight.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Wives for the Benjamites
24And at that time, each of the Israelites returned from there to his own tribe and clan, each to his own inheritance. 25In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Cross References
Proverbs 14:12
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

Proverbs 21:2
All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart.

Deuteronomy 12:8
You are not to do as we are doing here today, where everyone does what seems right in his own eyes.

1 Samuel 8:7
And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you. For it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king.

1 Samuel 12:12
But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we must have a king to rule over us’—even though the LORD your God was your king.

Hosea 3:4
For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or idol.

Hosea 8:4
They set up kings, but not by Me. They make princes, but without My approval. With their silver and gold they make themselves idols, to their own destruction.

Isaiah 53:6
We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.

Romans 1:21-22
For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. / Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,

Romans 3:10-12
As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one. / There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. / All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

Romans 10:3
Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

Philippians 2:21
For all the others look after their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

2 Timothy 3:1-5
But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come. / For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, / unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good, ...

Titus 1:16
They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.

1 Peter 2:25
For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.


Treasury of Scripture

In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

no

Judges 17:6
In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

Judges 18:1
In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel.

right

Judges 18:7
Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man.

Deuteronomy 12:8
Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.

Psalm 12:4
Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?

Jump to Previous
Eyes Israel Right Seemed
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Eyes Israel Right Seemed
Judges 21
1. The people bewail the desolation of Benjamin
8. By the destruction of Jabesh Gilead they provide them four hundred wives.
16. They advise the remainder to surprise the virgins that danced at Shiloh














In those days
This phrase sets the historical context for the events described in the Book of Judges. It refers to a period in Israel's history after the death of Joshua and before the establishment of the monarchy. This was a time marked by a cycle of sin, oppression, repentance, and deliverance. The phrase "in those days" suggests a time of transition and instability, where the Israelites were struggling to maintain their identity and faithfulness to God amidst surrounding pagan influences.

there was no king in Israel
The absence of a king highlights the lack of centralized leadership and authority in Israel during this period. The Hebrew word for "king" is "melek," which signifies not just a political leader but also a spiritual guide who upholds God's law. The lack of a king symbolizes the spiritual and moral vacuum in Israel, where the people had no earthly figure to guide them in righteousness. This absence foreshadows the eventual demand for a monarchy, as seen in the books of Samuel, where the Israelites seek a king to lead them like other nations.

everyone did what was right
This phrase indicates a subjective morality that prevailed among the Israelites. The Hebrew word for "right" is "yashar," meaning straight or upright. However, in this context, it implies that each person determined their own standard of right and wrong, leading to moral relativism. This self-determined morality often led to actions that were contrary to God's commandments, resulting in chaos and disorder within the society.

in his own eyes
The phrase "in his own eyes" suggests a reliance on personal judgment rather than divine guidance. The Hebrew word for "eyes" is "ayin," which can also mean perspective or understanding. This indicates that the people were guided by their own limited and flawed understanding rather than seeking God's wisdom and direction. This self-reliance and rejection of divine authority led to the moral and spiritual decline of the nation, as each person acted according to their own desires and inclinations.

(25) In those days . . . This verse, already occurring in Judges 17:6; Judges 18:1; Judges 19:1, is here added once more by way of apology for the lawless crimes, terrible disasters, evaded vows, and unhallowed excesses of retribution, which it has been the painful duty of the sacred historian thus faithfully and impartially to narrate. Out of these depths the subsequent Judges, whose deeds have been recorded in the earlier chapters, partially raised their countrymen, until the dread lessons of calamity had been fully learnt, and the nation was ripe for the heroic splendour and more enlightened faithfulness of the earlier monarchy.

Verse 25. - In those days, etc. See Judges 17:6; Judges 18:1, etc.



Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
In those
הָהֵ֔ם (hā·hêm)
Article | Pronoun - third person masculine plural
Strong's 1992: They

days
בַּיָּמִ֣ים (bay·yā·mîm)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 3117: A day

there was no
אֵ֥ין (’ên)
Adverb
Strong's 369: A non-entity, a negative particle

king
מֶ֖לֶךְ (me·leḵ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4428: A king

in Israel;
בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל (bə·yiś·rā·’êl)
Preposition-b | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3478: Israel -- 'God strives', another name of Jacob and his desc

everyone
אִ֛ישׁ (’îš)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

did [what was]
יַעֲשֶֽׂה׃ (ya·‘ă·śeh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6213: To do, make

right
הַיָּשָׁ֥ר (hay·yā·šār)
Article | Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 3477: Straight, right

in his own eyes.
בְּעֵינָ֖יו (bə·‘ê·nāw)
Preposition-b | Noun - cdc | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5869: An eye, a fountain


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OT History: Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king (Jd Judg. Jdg)
Judges 21:24
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