Zechariah 7:8–10
Zechariah: judge with truth and do not exploit widow, orphan or foreigner
Study it word by word8And the word of YHWH came to Zechariah, saying,
9“Thus says YHWH Tsevaot, saying: Judge with judgment of truth, and practice loyal love and mercy each with his brother;
10and the widow and the orphan, the resident alien and the afflicted, do not exploit; and evil against his brother, each one, do not plan in your heart.”
In its context
6And when you eat and when you drink, is it not you who eat, and you who drink?
7Are not these the words that YHWH proclaimed through the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and at ease, and its cities around it, and the Negev and the Shephelah were inhabited?”
…
11But they refused to pay attention, and gave a rebellious shoulder, and their ears they made heavy so as not to hear.
12And their heart they made like diamond, so as not to hear the instruction and the words that YHWH Tsevaot sent by his spirit through the former prophets; and there was great anger from YHWH Tsevaot.
Its words in the original
- יְהִיyehi· be, become, happen
Be, exist; also "become" or "happen". It is the verb of "there was", "it was" and "it came to pass".
- דְּבַרdevar· word, matter, thing
Word; what is said. Also "matter" or "thing": what is spoken about, an affair, an event.
- יְהוָהyehva· YHWH
The personal name of the God of Israel, written in Hebrew with four letters, Y-H-W-H, without vowels. Out of reverence Jews stopped pronouncing it and read "Adonai" (Lord), so many Bibles put "the LORD" or "Jehovah". This translation keeps the four letters. The name is related to the verb "to be" (Exodus 3:14-15). He is not a god other than Elohim: "YHWH Elohim" is the same Creator God, called by his name.
- זְכַרְיָהzecharya· Zechariah
Zechariah: a name meaning "YHWH has remembered," one of the most frequent in the Bible. Borne, among others, by the king of Israel son of Jeroboam (2 Kings 14:29; 15:8), the son of the priest Jehoiada (2 Chronicles 24:20) and the prophet of the book that bears his name.
- אמֹרmor· say
Say, speak. The most common verb for bringing in what someone says; sometimes "think" (say to oneself) or "command".
- צְבָאוֹתtsevaot· host, army
A great ordered company, like an army. "All their host" is everything that fills the heavens and the earth: the stars and the created beings. From this word comes the title "YHWH of hosts" (YHWH Tsevaot).
- מִשְׁפַּטmishpat· justice, judgment
What is right and the decision that establishes it: the judgment of a judge, someone's right, a rule or ordinance, a custom. "Do righteousness and justice" is to treat each one as is due.
- אֱמֶתemet· faithfulness, truth
Truth, firmness. Said of a person or of God, faithfulness: he can be trusted because he keeps his word. It often goes with "loyal love".
- שְׁפֹטוּshefotu· judge
Judge: decide who is in the right and do him justice; also punish. Also rule, govern.
- חֶסֶדchesed· loyal love
"Chesed": love that stays faithful to a commitment. It is kindness that does not remain a feeling: it acts in favor of the other and does not abandon him. The Bible says it above all of God's love for his people.
- רַחֲמִיםrachamim· compassion
Deep compassion, tender mercy like that of a mother; also the womb.
- עֲשׂוּasu· do, make
Do, make, in the widest sense: build, produce, carry out, keep (a command), prepare.
- אִישׁish· man, husband, each
Man, male; with a possessive, husband. Also "each one", "anyone". It is "ish", distinct from "adam" (human being); it is used for the man in contrast with the woman ("ishah").
- אָחִיachi· brother
Brother; also a close relative, or someone of the same people.
- אַלְמָנָהalmana· widow
Widow.
- יָתוֹםyatom· fatherless
Orphan; above all one who has lost his father.
- גֵּרger· resident alien
Foreigner who lives in a land that is not his own, without the rights of those who belong to the place.
- עָנִיani· poor, afflicted
Poor, afflicted: one who suffers need and has no one to defend him; also humble.
- תַּעֲשֹׁקוּtaashoku· oppress, defraud
Oppress, defraud: take advantage of someone by taking what is his; crush.
- רָעַתraat· evil, bad, harm
Bad; evil. It includes what is morally wrong and also what does harm: misfortune, disaster, distress.
- תַּחְשְׁבוּtachshvu· think, count, devise
Think, consider; count something as something else ("count as", "credit as"). Also devise, design, plan, often evil: "the work of a skilled craftsman" is, literally, "the work of one who designs".
- לְבַבְlevav· heart
Heart: the inner part of the person, where one thinks, feels and decides.