Judges 17:6 — No King, Every Man His Own Way

The verse identifies the absence of a king in Israel as the defining condition of those days. It does not describe the absence of any authority at all; rather, it presents a situation in which no king provided a common standard for the people.

The phrase every man did that which was right in his own eyes emphasizes individual judgment. The verse therefore connects personal action with what each person considers right, rather than naming a single shared standard for the nation.

Because the chapter then describes Micah’s house of gods, an ephod, teraphim, and the appointment of a priest, the verse also frames the account as a description of life when the people’s own judgments prevail.

Micah had made a graven image and a molten image, had a house of gods, made an ephod and teraphim, and appointed one of his sons as priest. The surrounding account shows the practices associated with the verse’s statement about doing what was right in one’s own eyes.

After the verse, a Levite from Beth-lehem-judah came to Micah’s house and later became his priest. Micah then said that having a Levite as priest assured him that Jehovah would do him good.