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Psalms 82:3

in Psalms 82

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; uphold the rights of the afflicted and oppressed.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Judge the poor and fatherless: Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.

KJV

Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.

This verse in Psalms 82

Commentary

11 notes on this verse

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

What the sin is they are here charged with; they judge unjustly, contrary to the rules of equity and the dictates of their consciences, giving judgment against those who have right on their side, out of malice and ill-will, or for those who have an unrighteous cause, out of favour and partial affection.

This site's exposition

Defend the cause of the weak

on Psalms 82:3-4

Four commands fill these two verses, and each names who is owed the court's protection: the weak, the fatherless, the afflicted, the oppressed, the needy. Rescue is the verb, and the hand it rescues from belongs to the wicked. Right judgment is their defense.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Jerome

Homily 14, on Psalm 81 · Written before 420.

proposed

And you accept the persons of sinners: judge for the needy and the orphan, do justice to the lowly and the poor: rescue the poor and the needy, and the rest. When a case comes to you, you do not consider the cause, you do not consider the judgment, but the persons of those who have the cases. For instance, if a poor man comes having a just case, and a rich man comes having a bad case: you look at the persons, not the case. This so far according to one interpretation.

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

Exposition on Psalm 82 · Written before 430.

proposed

"How long will you judge unrighteously, and accept the persons of the ungodly" [Psalm 82:2]; as in another place, "How long are you heavy in heart?" Until He shall come who is the light of the heart? I have given a law, you have resisted stubbornly: I sent Prophets, you treated them unjustly, or slew them, or connived at those who did so. But if they are not worthy to be even spoken to, who slew the servants of God that were sent to them, you who were silent when these things were doing, that is, you who would imitate as if they were innocent those who then were silent, "how long will you judge unrighteously, and accept the persons of the ungodly?" If the Heir comes even now, is He to be slain? Was He not willing for your sake to become as it were a child under guardians? Did not He for your sake hunger and thirst like one in need? Did He not cry to you, "Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart"? [Matthew 11:29] Did He not "become poor, when He was rich, that by His poverty we might be made rich"? [2 Corinthians 8:9] "Give sentence," therefore, "for the fatherless and the poor man, justify the humble and needy" [Psalm 82:3]. Not them who for their own sake are rich and proud, but Him who for your sake was humble and poor, believe ye to be righteous: proclaim Him righteous. But they will envy Him, and will not at all spare Him, saying, "This is the Heir, come, let us kill Him, and the inheritance shall be ours." "Deliver," then, "the poor man, and save the needy from the hands of the ungodly" [Psalm 82:4]. […]

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

Defend the poor and fatherless,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

They are to be the protectors of those who lie exposed to injury and the patrons of those who want advice and assistance: Defend the poor, who have no money wherewith to make friends or fee counsel, and the fatherless, who, while they are young and unable to help themselves, have lost those who would have been the guides of their youth.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Treasury of David, Vol. 4 (1874)

proposed

Defend the poor and fatherless. Cease to do evil, learn to do well. Look not to the interests of the wealthy whose hands proffer you bribes, but protect the rights of the needy, and especially uphold the claims of orphans whose property too often becomes a prey. Do not hunt down the peasant for gathering a few sticks, and allow the gentlemanly swindler to break through the meshes of the law. Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Even they can claim from you as judge no more than justice; your pity for their circumstances must not make you hold the scales unfairly: but if you give them no more than justice, at least be sure that you give them that to the full. Suffer not the afflicted to be further afflicted by enduring injustice, and let not the needy long stand in need of an equitable hearing.
4 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

A commentator

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Treasury of David, Vol. 4 (1874)

proposed

Defend the poor and fatherless. Cease to do evil, learn to do well. Look not to the interests of the wealthy whose hands proffer you bribes, but protect the rights of the needy, and especially uphold the claims of orphans whose property too often becomes a prey. Do not hunt down the peasant for gathering a few sticks, and allow the gentlemanly swindler to break through the meshes of the law. Do justice to the afflicted and needy.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Defend the poor - You are their natural protectors under God. They are oppressed: punish their oppressors, however rich or powerful: and deliver them.
Defend the poor and fatherless - literally, judge; that is, Pronounce just judgment; see that right is done to them. This is required everywhere in the Scriptures. The meaning is not that judgment is to be pronounced in their favor because they are poor, or because they are orphans, for this would be to do what they had just been charged with as in itself wrong, accepting of persons; that is, showing favor on account of condition or rank, rather than on account of a just claim. The idea is, that the poor and the fatherless, having no natural protectors, were likely to be wronged or oppressed; that they had none to defend their claims; and that magistrates, therefore, as if they were their natural protectors, should see that their rights were maintained. See the notes at Isa 1:17. Do justice to the afflicted and needy - See that justice is done them; that they are not wronged by persons of wealth, of power, and of rank. Such care does religion take of those who have no natural guardians. The poor and the needy - the widow and the fatherless - owe to the religion of the Bible a debt which no language can express.

Modern Voices1 voice

Making them human is the easiest path to removing the problem. But is this correct?

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

justify If he [the poor man] is right in his cause, do not reverse the verdict to condemn him in order to favor the wicked.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Psalms 82:3:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

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

6 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • שִׁפְטוּ־give judgment for

    shiftu-H8199 →202 times

  • דַ֥ל[the] poor

    dalH1800 →47 times

  • וְיָת֑וֹםand [the] fatherless

    veyatomH3490 →42 times

  • עָנִ֖י[the] afflicted

    ʾaniH6041 →73 times

  • וָרָ֣שׁand [the] poor

    varashH7326 →

  • הַצְדִּֽיקוּ׃vindicate

    hatzdikuH6663 →41 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    James 1:27

    Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 1:16–17

      Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil!

    • 1 John 3:17–19

      If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?

    • Galatians 6:9–10

      Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

    • Romans 12:2

      Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of…

    • Matthew 25:34–46

      Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

  • Through

    Isaiah 1:17

    Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”

    it leads to

    • Micah 6:8

      He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Isaiah 1:23

      Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Jeremiah 22:3

      This is what the LORD says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.…

Where this verse is studied

About Psalms

A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Rosalie. Albert Bierstadt, 1866. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Rosalie. Albert Bierstadt, 1866. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works

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 82; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 4; Jerome, Homily 14, on Psalm 81; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Michael S. Heiser, "The Plural Elohim of Psalm 82: Gods or Men?" (drmsh.com).