Bible Strands
Judges 21:25
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The unnamed narrator concludes the book of Judges immediately after the Israelites disperse back to their tribal territories, following a cycle of civil war and moral collapse.
The words — אֵין מֶלֶךְ ('ein melekh) translates literally as "there is not a king," and אִישׁ הַיָּשָׁר בְּעֵינָיו ('ish ha-yashar be-'einav) means "each man the right in his own eyes."
The thread — This formulation reappears in Judges 17:6 as a recurring refrain, echoes the warning in Deuteronomy 12:8, and stands in direct contrast to the command in Proverbs 3:5 to trust the LORD rather than rely on personal judgment.
Why it lands — The text records the absence of centralized authority and the prevalence of subjective morality as a historical fact before drawing any theological conclusion. A reader must confront the structural cause of Israel's instability and recognize the need for a divinely appointed standard of conduct.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 12:8 You are not to do as we are doing here today, where everyone does what seems right in his own eyes.
- Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
- Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
- Ecclesiastes 11:9 Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. 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 to judgment.
- Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
- Judges 19:1 Now in those days, when there was no king in Israel, a Levite who lived in the remote hill country of Ephraim took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
- Judges 18:1 In those days there was no king in Israel, and the tribe of the Danites was looking for territory to occupy. For up to that time they had not come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.
- Micah 2:1 Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.
- Psalms 12:4 They say, “With our tongues we will prevail. We own our lips—who can be our master?”
- Judges 18:7 So the five men departed and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living securely, like the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting. There was nothing lacking in the land and no oppressive ruler. And they were far away from the Sidonians and had no alliance with anyone.