Judges 17:6 - Printer Friendly

ESV: In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

NIV: In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.

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

CSB: In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever seemed right to him.

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

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

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

The writer of Judges uses the last few chapters to describe the lives of everyday people in Israel, at the end of the era of the judges (Judges 2:16–19). At this time, Israel had no monarch, or a centralized government. This was intentional. God original intent was for He, Himself, to be the only king of His chosen people. He meant to directly provide leadership through the laws given by Moses, and the religious system established for the nation of Israel.

With no human authority to answer to most of the time, however, the people of Israel mostly did what seemed best to them. This is not meant in an optimistic way: the implication is that people did whatever they wanted, regardless of whether it was right or wrong. This is both a statement of Israel's politics and a condemnation of their rebellious spirituality: they didn't submit to any king, even the Lord God.

Rather than making God's revelation their single standard for living and worship, the people of Israel each chose their own standards. They may have worshiped Yahweh, in a sense. But many or most did so while also worshipping false gods from the Canaanites and other pagan nations (Deuteronomy 7:1–5). The story of Micah and his house shrine (Judges 17:1–5) is just one example of this.

The days of Israel's kings were coming (1 Samuel 8:4–9), but they would not solve the problem. Good kings would imperfectly lead the people of Israel toward the Lord. Rebellious kings would lead them away. The cycle of rebellion and captivity would continue. Its ultimate end will be a complete devastation of Israel and the exile of her people (Jeremiah 1:14–16; 2 Kings 25:8–12).

Judges 17:1–6 begins a new focus in the book of Judges, showing lack of commitment to God in the lives of everyday Israelites. A man named Micah confesses to his mother that he stole from her. She blesses him and has the stolen sliver made into an idol. Micah has a house shrine with household gods and totems and ordains one of his own sons as his priest. In just a few verses, the family manages to violate almost all of God's primary Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1–7). This summarizes Israel's profound lack of leadership and spiritual maturity during that era.

A man named Micah overhears his mother speaking a curse on whoever stole a hefty sum of money from her. He confesses that it was him so she attempts to replace her curse with a blessing from God. She has a carved religious object made from the silver for Micah, which he puts in his household shrine full of other idols and relics. A young Levite man comes to Micah's house, and Micah hires him as the personal family priest, convinced God will prosper him because of it. This demonstrates Israel's lack of spiritual commitment during the era of the judges.

Judges 17 marks a new direction for the book. Having completed the stories of the judges themselves, the focus shifts to everyday Israelites. A man confesses to stealing from his mother, and she donates the silver to make an idol. The man puts this in a shrine in his house along with other religious objects. He hires a Levite to be the family priest, which he assumes will guarantee blessings from God. The same priest will willingly leave with a group of raiders from the tribe of Dan (Judges 18). This leads to one the Bible's most disturbing stories, involving an abused woman whose fate sparks a civil war within Israel (Judges 19—20).

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).