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[a]In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in their own eyes.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 17:6 This refrain, which will be repeated fully or in part three more times (18:1; 19:1; 21:25), calls attention to the disorder and lawlessness that prevailed before the establishment of kingship in Israel. In this case the problem is cultic impropriety, seen not only in the making of an idol but in the establishment of a local temple, complete with an ephod and teraphim.

Chapter 18

Migration of the Danites. In those days there was no king in Israel.(A) In those days the tribe of the Danites were in search of a heritage to dwell in, for up to that time no heritage had been allotted[a] to them among the tribes of Israel.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 18:1 No heritage…allotted: according to Jos 19:40–48, the Danites received an allotment in the central part of the country (cf. note on 13:2 above). The point here may be that since they were unable to take full possession of that original allotment, as indicated by the notice in Jgs 1:34, they are now seeking territory elsewhere.

Chapter 19

The Levite from Ephraim. In those days, when there was no king in Israel,[a](A) there was a Levite residing in remote parts of the mountain region of Ephraim(B) who had taken for himself a concubine from Bethlehem of Judah.

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Footnotes

  1. 19:1 No king in Israel: see note on 17:6. The violent story that follows is offered as another example of the disorder that prevailed before the inauguration of the monarchy.