New International Version
Judges 21:25
25In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.
Judges 21:25 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
- English Standard Version (ESV)In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
- New King James Version (NKJV)In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
- New Living Translation (NLT)In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.
Context of Judges 21:25
23So that is what the Benjamites did. While the young women were dancing, each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife. Then they returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and settled in them. 24At that time the Israelites left that place and went home to their tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance. In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.
Read all of Judges 21Judges 21:25 word by word
בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵ֔ם אֵ֥ין מֶ֖לֶךְ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אִ֛ישׁ הַיָּשָׁ֥ר בְּעֵינָ֖יו יַעֲשֶֽׂה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Judges 21:25
- Judges 17:6In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.
- Judges 18:1In those days Israel had no king. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.
- Judges 18:7So the five men left and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, at peace and secure. And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous. Also, they lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no relationship with anyone else.
- Deuteronomy 12:8You are not to do as we do here today, everyone doing as they see fit,
- Psalms 12:4those who say, “By our tongues we will prevail; our own lips will defend us—who is lord over us?”
- Proverbs 3:5Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
- Proverbs 14:12There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.
- Ecclesiastes 11:9You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
- Micah 2:1Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it.
Commentaries on Judges 21:25
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 25In those days there was no king in Israel - Let no one suppose that the sacred writer, by relating the atrocities in this and the preceding chapters, justifies the actions themselves; by no means. Indeed, they cannot be justified; and the writer by relating them gives the strongest proof of the authenticity of the whole, by such an impartial relation of facts that were highly to be discredit of his country. I Have already referred to the rape of the…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 25The repetition of this characteristic phrase (compare Judges 17:6; Judges 18:1; Judges 19:1) is probably intended to impress upon us the idea that these disorders arose from the want of a sufficient authority to suppress them. The preservation of such a story, of which the Israelites must have been ashamed, is a striking evidence of the divine superintendence and direction as regards the Holy Scriptures. sa180Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 25The conclusion of Judges 17–21 explains the reason for the social disorder of the time. After the period of the judges, God would establish a new covenant with Israel involving King David (2 Samuel 7) and the promise of a messianic rule. The fulfillment of that promise would exceed anything imaginable during the time when Israel had no king.Read the comment
Topics related to Judges 21:25
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Judges 21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- Darby Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
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