Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 94:6
They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless.
6. A proverbial expression for inhumanity and treachery. They do not scruple to murder the most defenceless, and those whose lives, by the traditions of Semitic hospitality, should have been inviolable. “From the earliest times of Semitic life the lawlessness of the desert has been tempered by the principle that the guest is inviolable. To harm a guest, or to refuse him hospitality, is an offence against honour, which covers the perpetrator with indelible shame.” Robertson Smith, Rel. of Semites, p. 76. Cp. Exo 22:21-22; Psa 10:14; Mal 3:5.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless – To do this is everywhere represented as a special crime, and as especially offensive to God from the fact that these classes are naturally feeble and unprotected. See the notes at Isa 1:17; Psa 68:5; Psa 82:3.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 6. They slay the widow] Nebuchadnezzar carried on his wars with great cruelty. He carried fire and sword every where; spared neither age, sex, nor condition. The widow, the orphan, and the stranger, persons in the most desolate condition of life, were not distinguished from others by his ruthless sword.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Whom common humanity obliged them to spare, and pity, and relieve.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
They slay the widow and the stranger,…. Who are so both in a literal and figurative sense, such who are weak and feeble, helpless and friendless; or who are deprived of their faithful pastors, who were as husbands and fathers to them, and who profess themselves pilgrims and strangers here; these the followers of the man of sin have inhumanly put to death, supposing they did God good service:
and murder the fatherless; having slain the parents in a cruel and barbarous manner, murder their infants; or figuratively such who are as orphans, destitute of their spiritual fathers, who were the instruments of begetting them in Christ, and of nourishing them with the words of faith and good doctrine; with the blood of these the whore of Rome has often made herself drunk, and therefore blood shall be given her to drink, Re 17:5.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(6) Stranger.The mention of the stranger as one friendless and helpless (Exo. 22:21), under the tyranny of the great, seems to imply that domestic, and not foreign oppression, is the grievance.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. They slay the widow stranger fatherless Proving that the laws of war and of humanity are set aside. Non-combatants innocent helpless ones are murdered. It is a massacre, not a war. Murder without the pretence of trial or discrimination. The classes here distinguished were specially protected by the law of Moses, and by the promise of God. Exo 22:21-22; Psa 10:14; Psa 10:18; Psa 68:5; Isa 3:15
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 94:6 They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless.
Ver. 6. They slay the widow and the stranger ] Those sacred persons, thy proper clients; to such a height of hard heartedness are they grown, that they pity not them whom nature and courtesy would show compassion to.
Nulla fides, pietasque viris qui castra sequuntur.
Let us bless ourselves out of the bloody fingers of barbarous and brutish men, skilful to destroy.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the Lord Our Defense against Evil-Doers
Psa 94:6-23
Let us ponder all the great things that God will do for them that trust Him. He planted the ear, and will detect the sigh, sob, or broken utterance of His child, Psa 94:9. He formed the eye, and He knows our sorrows. He watches the sparrows fall, and His child is of more value than many sparrows. He corrects us; shall we not be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live, Psa 94:10? He knows our thoughts; let us ask Him to purify and restrain them, Psa 94:11. He teaches out of His Law; let us be diligent students of the Scriptures, Psa 94:12. He will neither cast us off nor forsake us, Psa 94:14.
The Lord is our help, and the soul that trusts Him shall not be silenced, Psa 94:17. He holds us up when our foot slips, Psa 94:18. Whatever thoughts may startle or affright us, God has a comfort suited to counteract each of them. His comforts delight the soul. They bring joy and hope with them, Psa 94:19. He defends us against the charges laid at our door, and is a rock on which we may stand steadily, amid the seething waters, Psa 94:22. If God be for us, who can be against us, or who can separate us from His love? Rom 8:31.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Isa 10:2, Isa 13:15-18, Jer 7:6, Jer 22:3, Eze 22:7, Mal 3:5
Reciprocal: Exo 22:22 – General Exo 23:9 – thou shalt not Deu 29:19 – that he bless Job 22:9 – widows Pro 23:10 – fatherless Eze 22:29 – oppressed 1Ti 5:3 – widows