Matthew Poole and continuators on Judges 17:6

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

i. e. No Judge to Govern and Controul them. The word King being here used largely for a Supreme Magistrate; as Gen. 36. 31. Deut. 33. 5. God raised up Judges to Rule and deliver the People, when he saw fit; and at other times for their Sins he suffered them to be without them, and such a time this was; and therefore they ran into that Idolatry, from which the Judges usually kept them; as appears by that solemn and oft-repeated passage in this Book, that after the Death of such or such a Judge, the people forsook the Lord, and turned to Idols.

i. e. Not what pleased God, but what best suited his own fancy or lusts.

Marginal references: Chap. 18. 1. and 21. 2[illegible: 1+ letters].