Zechariah 7:10

10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the stranger or the poor,^[a] and do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.^[b]

Zechariah 7:10 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 7:10

And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the
stranger, nor the poor
Such as have no husband to provide for them, nor father and mother to care for them, and are in a strange land, where they have no friends or acquaintance, and are poor, and can not help themselves. Laws of this kind were frequently inculcated among the Jews; see ( Deuteronomy 24:14 Deuteronomy 24:17 ) : and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart;
thoughts of evil are sinful, and forbidden by the law of God, as well as actions, which agrees with our Lord's sense of the law, ( Matthew 5:22 Matthew 5:28 ) , see ( Leviticus 19:17 ) .

Zechariah 7:10 In-Context

8 The word of the Lord came to Zechariah:

9 "The Lord of Hosts says this: Render true justice. Show faithful love and compassion to one another.

10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the stranger or the poor, and do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.

11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they closed their ears so they could not hear.

12 They made their hearts like a rock so as not to obey the law or the words that the Lord of Hosts had sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. Therefore great anger came from the Lord of Hosts.

Footnotes

• [a]. Dt 14:29; 16:11
• [b]. Jr 5:26; Mt 22:36-39