Isaiah 10:2

2 To rob the needy of justice, And to take what is right from the poor of My people, That widows may be their prey, And that they may rob the fatherless.

Isaiah 10:2 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 10:2

To turn aside the needy from judgment
Such laws being made as discouraged them from any application for justice; and, when they did, were harassed with such long, vexatious, and expensive suits, as obliged them to desist, and the cause being generally given against them, and for the rich: and to take away the right from the poor of my people;
for not to do justice to the poor is the same as to rob and plunder them, and take away by force what of right belongs to them; wherefore it follows: that widows may be their prey, and [that] they may rob the
fatherless;
who have none to protect and defend them, and whose protectors judges ought to be, in imitation of God, whom civil magistrates represent, who is the Judge of the widows and the fatherless; and therefore this is observed as an aggravation of their sin, which was very great indeed: it is very wicked in a judge to pervert the judgment of the poor and needy, the widow and the fatherless, contrary to laws that are made by God and men; but to make and prescribe wicked and unrighteous laws, that wickedness may be framed, and mischief committed by a law, that the poor and the needy, the widows and fatherless, may be injured under colour and pretence of law and justice, is the height of injustice. See ( Psalms 94:20 Psalms 94:21 ) .

Isaiah 10:2 In-Context

1 "Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, Who write misfortune, Which they have prescribed
2 To rob the needy of justice, And to take what is right from the poor of My people, That widows may be their prey, And that they may rob the fatherless.
3 What will you do in the day of punishment, And in the desolation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your glory?
4 Without Me they shall bow down among the prisoners, And they shall fall among the slain." For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still.
5 "Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hand is My indignation.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.