Zechariah 7:10
in Zechariah 7Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the sojourner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.
KJV
And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.
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This verse in Zechariah 7
Commentary
11 notes on this verseAnd Zechariah also, among the twelve prophets, pointing out to the people the will of God, says: "These things does the Lord Omnipotent declare: Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassion each one to his brother. And oppress not the widow, and the orphan, and the proselyte, and the poor; and let none imagine evil against your brother in his heart." And again, he says: "These are the words which ye shall utter.
This site's exposition
the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah
on Zechariah 7:8-10
A second word follows the first, and it turns from questioning the fast to naming what true religion actually asks: execute true judgment, show mercy and compassion to one another, and do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the stranger, or the poor. Gill and Clarke note that this is the same ethical center found elsewhere in the prophets, so the fast's failure was never a failure of ritual precision but of the justice and mercy it was meant to express. Even the final clause, let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart, reaches past outward conduct into the intention behind it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Verses 8 onwards) And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another. But they refused to listen, and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears in order not to hear. They made their hearts adamant in order not to hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his spirit through the former prophets.
And therefore this question must at once be determined, whether the discipline of patience is enjoined by the Creator? When by Zechariah he commanded, "Let none of you imagine evil against his brother," he did not expressly include his "neighbor;" but then in another passage he says, "Let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbor." He who counseled that an injury should be forgotten was still more likely to counsel the patient endurance of it.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
This occasional sermon, which the prophet preached, and which is recorded in this and the next chapter, was above two years after the former, in which he gave them an account of his visions, as appears by comparing the date of this (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Or it intimates that that which is but exactness with others is exaction upon the widows and the fatherless; nay, that not relieving and helping them as we ought is, in effect, oppressing them. They must not only not do wrong to any, but they must not so much as desire it nor think of it: " Let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
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.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Neighbours must have a tender concern for one another, and must not only do one another no wrong, but must be ready to do one another all the good offices that lie in their power. They must show mercy and compassion every man to his brother, as the case called for it. The infirmities of others, as well as their calamities, are to be looked upon with compassion.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
imagine evil--that is, devise evil. The Septuagint takes it, Harbor not the desire of revenge (Le 19:18). "Devise evil against one another" is simpler (Ps 36:4;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
Evil against his brother in your heart - Do not indulge an unfavourable opinion of another: do not envy him; do not harbour an unbrotherly feeling towards him.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And oppress not - He had commanded positive acts of love; he now forbids every sort of unlove. “He that oppresseth the poor,” Solomon had said, “reproacheth his Maker. The widow, the orphan, the stranger, the afflicted” Pro 24:31, are, throughout the law, the special objects of God’s care. This was the condition which God made by Jeremiah; “If ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor; if ye oppress not the stranger the fatherless and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt, then will I cause you to dwell in this, place” Jer 7:5-7. It was on the breach of the covenant to set their brethren free in the year of release, that God said; “I proclaim a liberty for you to the sword, to the pestilence and to the famine, and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth” Jer 34:17. And let none of you imagine - that is, “devise, as, by Micah, God retorted the evil upon them. They “devised evil on their beds; therefore, behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks” Mic 2:1, Mic 2:3.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאַלְמָנָ֧ה | vealmanah | and [the] widow | H490 → | |
| וְיָת֛וֹם | veyatom | and [the] fatherless | H3490 → | |
| גֵּ֥ר | ger | [the] sojourner | H1616 → | |
| וְעָנִ֖י | veani | and [the] poor | H6041 → | 73 times |
| אַֽל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תַּעֲשֹׁ֑קוּ | taashoku | you oppress | H6231 → | |
| וְרָעַת֙ | veraat | and [the] harm of | H7451 → | 662 times |
| אִ֣ישׁ | ʾish | each | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אָחִ֔יו | ʾachiv | brother his | H251 → | |
| אַֽל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תַּחְשְׁב֖וּ | tachshevu | you plan | H2803 → | |
| בִּלְבַבְכֶֽם׃ | bilvavkhem | in heart your | H3824 → |
וְאַלְמָנָ֧הand [the] widow
vealmanahH490 →
וְיָת֛וֹםand [the] fatherless
veyatomH3490 →
גֵּ֥ר[the] sojourner
gerH1616 →
וְעָנִ֖יand [the] poor
veaniH6041 →73 times
אַֽל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תַּעֲשֹׁ֑קוּyou oppress
taashokuH6231 →
וְרָעַת֙and [the] harm of
veraatH7451 →662 times
אִ֣ישׁeach
ʾishH376 →1663 times
אָחִ֔יוbrother his
ʾachivH251 →
אַֽל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תַּחְשְׁב֖וּyou plan
tachshevuH2803 →
בִּלְבַבְכֶֽם׃in heart your
bilvavkhemH3824 →
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 72:4May he vindicate the afflicted among the people; may he save the children of the needy and crush the oppressor.
it leads to
- Isaiah 11:4
but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the…
- Ezekiel 34:15–16
I will tend My flock and make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD.
- Psalms 109:31
For He stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from the condemners of his soul.
- Zechariah 9:8–10
But I will camp around My house because of an army, because of those who march to and fro, and never again will an oppressor overrun My people, for now I keep watch with…
- Isaiah 11:4
Through
Isaiah 1:23Your 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.
it leads to
- Micah 7:3
Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.
- Exodus 23:8
Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.
- Micah 7:3
Through
Jeremiah 5:28They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the…
it leads to
- 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.
- Deuteronomy 32:15
But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
- Isaiah 1:23
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Zechariah
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); Irenaeus, Against Heresies Book IV; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Zechariah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Tertullian, AGAINST MARCION 4.16.