Judges 17:6

6 At that time Israel did not have a king, so everyone did what seemed right.

Judges 17:6 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 17:6

In those days there was no king in Israel
That is, no supreme magistrate, judge, or ruler, Joshua being dead and Caleb also, and the elders contemporary with them; for what the Samaritan Chronicle says ^F12 is without foundation, that Joshua a little before his death cast a lot in the presence of the congregation, to know who should govern after him, and the lot came to one Abel, of the tribe of Judah:

[but] every man did that which was right in his own eyes;
which accounts for the idolatry of Micah, there being no supreme magistrate to take cognizance of his sin, and restrain him from it, or punish him for it according to the law of God.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 Apud Hottinger. Smegma Orient. p. 522.

Judges 17:6 In-Context

4 When he gave the silver back to his mother, she took about five pounds and gave it to a silversmith. With it he made an idol and a statue, which stood in Micah's house.

5 Micah had a special holy place, and he made a holy vest and some household idols. Then Micah chose one of his sons to be his priest.

6 At that time Israel did not have a king, so everyone did what seemed right.

7 There was a young man who was a Leviten from the city of Bethlehem in Judah who was from the people of Judah.

8 He left Bethlehem to look for another place to live, and on his way he came to Micah's house in the mountains of Ephraim.