Psalms 72:2
in Psalms 72May he judge Your people with righteousness and Your afflicted with justice.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He will judge thy people with righteousness, And thy poor with justice.
KJV
He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.
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This verse in Psalms 72
Commentary
12 notes on this verseAnd I support this from Psalm 71 [LXX], which says, "Give to the king your judgment, O God; and your justice to the king's son, to judge your people with justice, and your poor with judgment." For clearly the psalm, which has been ascribed to Solomon, prophesies of Christ.
This site's exposition
Endow the king with Your justice
on Psalms 72:1-2
The request is that God hand his own justice and righteousness to a king, and to the king's son after him. A throne gets these by gift. Verse 2 says what the gift is for, judging God's people with righteousness and the afflicted among them with justice.
This site's exposition
Your afflicted with justice
Your afflicted names the poor as God's own, and the king judges them on God's behalf. Albert Barnes matched the verse to Isaiah 11:3 and 4, a passage he held to describe the Messiah. Matthew Henry said their cases receive particular care.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Next there followeth, "To judge Thy people in justice, and Thy poor in judgment" [Psalm 72:2]. For what purpose the royal Father gave to the royal Son His judgment and His justice is sufficiently shown when he saith, "To judge Thy people in justice;" that is, for the purpose of judging Thy people. Such an idiom is found in Salomon: "The Proverbs of Salomon, son of David, to know wisdom and discipline:" that is, the Proverbs of Salomon, for the purpose of knowing wisdom and discipline. So, "Thy judgment give Thou, to judge Thy people:" that is, "Thy judgment" give Thou for the purpose of judging Thy people. But that which he saith before in, "Thy people," the same he saith afterwards in, "Thy poor:" and that which he saith before in, "in justice;" the same afterward in, "in judgment:" according to that manner of repetition. Whereby indeed he showeth, that the people of God ought to be poor, that is, not proud, but humble. For, "blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven." In which poverty even blessed Job was poor even before he had lost those great earthly riches. Which thing for this reason I thought should be mentioned, because there are certain persons who are more ready to distribute all their goods to the poor, than themselves to become the poor of God. For they are puffed up with boasting wherein they think their living well should be ascribed to themselves, not to the grace of God: and therefore now they do not even live well, however great the good works which they seem to do...
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
That this prophecy must refer to the kingdom of the Messiah is plain, because there are many passages in it which cannot be applied to the reign of Solomon. There was indeed a great deal of righteousness and peace, at first, in the administration of his government; but, before the end of his reign, there were both trouble and unrighteousness.
): He shall judge thy people with righteousness. All the laws of Christ's kingdom are consonant to the eternal rules of equity; the chancery it erects to relieve against the rigours of the broken law is indeed a court of equity; and against the sentence of his last judgment there will lie no exception.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
He shall judge thy people with righteousness,.... Or, "so shall he judge"; or, "that he may judge" (n), as the Syriac and Arabic versions; having the judgments and righteousness of God given him, he will be thereby qualified to judge the people of God; such as are so, not by creation, but by special grace; his chosen and covenant people, the redeemed and purchased people of God, and who in the effectual calling appear to be so, and are made his willing people.
Those are God's poor that are impoverished by keeping a good conscience, and those shall be provided for with a distinguishing care, shall be judged for with judgment, with a particular cognizance taken of their case and a particular vengeance taken for their wrongs.
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
He shall judge thy people with righteousness. Clothed with divine authority, he shall use it on the behalf of the favoured nation, for whom he shall show himself strong, that they be not misjudged, slandered, or in any way treated maliciously. His sentence shall put their accusers to silence, and award the saints their true position as the accepted of the Lord. What a consolation to feel that none can suffer wrong in Christ's kingdom: he sits upon the great white throne, unspotted by a single deed of injustice, or even mistake of judgment: reputations are safe enough with him.
He shall judge thy people with righteousness. Clothed with divine authority, he shall use it on the behalf of the favoured nation, for whom he shall show himself strong, that they be not misjudged, slandered, or in any way treated maliciously. His sentence shall put their accusers to silence, and award the saints their true position as the accepted of the Lord. What a consolation to feel that none can suffer wrong in Christ's kingdom: he sits upon the great white throne, unspotted by a single deed of injustice, or even mistake of judgment: reputations are safe enough with him. And thy poor with judgment. True wisdom is manifest in all the decisions of Zion's King. We do not always understand his doings, but they are always right. Partiality has been too often shown to rich and great men, but the King of the last and best of monarchies deals out even handed justice, to the delight of the poor and despised. Here we have the poor mentioned side by side with the king. The sovereignty of God is a delightful theme to the poor in spirit; they love to see the Lord exalted, and have no quarrel with him for exercising the prerogatives of his crown. It is the fictitious wealth which labours to conceal real poverty, which makes men cavil at the reigning Lord, but a deep sense of spiritual need prepares the heart loyally to worship the Redeemer King. On the other hand, the King has a special delight in the humbled hearts of his contrite ones, and exercises all his power and wisdom on their behalf, even as Joseph in Egypt ruled for the welfare of his brethren.
He shall judge thy people with righteousness - With justice and mercy mixed, or according to equity. And thy poor with judgment - Every one according to the law which thou hast appointed; but with especial tenderness to the poor and afflicted.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He shall judge thy people with righteousness - On this verse see the notes at Isa 11:3-4. The fact that this so entirely accords with the description in Isa. 11, which undoubtedly refers to the Messiah, has been alluded to above as confirming the opinion that the psalm has a similar reference.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Concerning Solomon He prayed this prayer on behalf of his son Solomon, for he foresaw with the holy spirit that he [Solomon] was destined to request of the Holy One, blessed be He, “a heart to understand, to hear judgment.”
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
5 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יָדִ֣ין | yadin | he will judge | H1777 → | 24 times |
| עַמְּךָ֣ | ʾamekha | people your | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| בְצֶ֑דֶק | vetzedek | with righteousness | H6664 → | 119 times |
| וַעֲנִיֶּ֥יךָ | vaaniyeikha | and poor [people] your | H6041 → | 73 times |
| בְמִשְׁפָּֽט׃ | vemishpat | with justice | H4941 → | 422 times |
יָדִ֣יןhe will judge
yadinH1777 →24 times
עַמְּךָ֣people your
ʾamekhaH5971 →1873 times
בְצֶ֑דֶקwith righteousness
vetzedekH6664 →119 times
וַעֲנִיֶּ֥יךָand poor [people] your
vaaniyeikhaH6041 →73 times
בְמִשְׁפָּֽט׃with justice
vemishpatH4941 →422 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 12:5“For the cause of the oppressed and for the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will bring safety to him who yearns.”
it leads to
- Psalms 34:6
This poor man called out, and the LORD heard him; He saved him from all his troubles.
- Proverbs 14:31
Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.
- James 5:4
Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
- Psalms 146:7–8
He executes justice for the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free,
- Isaiah 33:10
“Now I will arise,” says the LORD. “Now I will lift Myself up. Now I will be exalted.
- Psalms 34:6
Through
Isaiah 32:17The work of righteousness will be peace; the service of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever.
it leads to
- Isaiah 26:3
You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You.
- Psalms 119:165
Abundant peace belongs to those who love Your law; nothing can make them stumble.
- James 3:17–18
But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.
- Isaiah 26:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
About Psalms
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 72; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 1:193.