Zechariah 7:10

10 and ¹do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do ²not devise evil in your hearts against one another.'

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 Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah saying,

9 "Thus has the LORD of hosts said, 'Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother;

10 and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.'

11 "But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing.

12 "They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the LORD of hosts.

Cross References

• 1. Exodus 22:22; Psalms 72:4; Jeremiah 7:6
• 2. Psalms 21:11; Micah 2:1; Zechariah 8:17

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "fatherless"
• [b]. Or "resident alien"