Let there be none to extend kindness to him, nor any to pity his fatherless children!
Parallel translations
- WEB Let there be no one to extend kindness to him, neither let there be anyone to have pity on his fatherless children.
- KJV Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children.
- BSB May there be no one to extend kindness to him, and no one to favor his fatherless children.
- NKJV Let there be none to extend mercy to him, Nor let there be any to favor his fatherless children.
- NASB May there be none to extend kindness to him, Nor any to be gracious to his fatherless children.
- NLT Let no one be kind to him; let no one pity his fatherless children.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David prays that no one show kindness to the wicked man or pity his children. The mercilessness he showed others returns upon him.
Overview
The enemy 'didn't remember to show kindness' (v. 16), so the petition asks that kindness be withheld from him in turn. It is the principle of just recompense, that the unmerciful receive judgment without mercy (James 2:13). The verse highlights by contrast the abundant mercy God extends to the repentant in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Luke 6:38“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be given to you. For with the same measure you measure it will be measured back to you.”
- Ps 137:8–9Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, he will be happy who rewards you, as you have served us.
- Matt 27:25All the people answered, “May his blood be on us, and on our children!”
- Jas 2:13For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
- Isa 13:18Their bows will dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb. Their eyes will not spare children.
- Luke 11:50–51that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
- Isa 9:17Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over their young men, neither will he have compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is profane and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
- Isa 27:11When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off. The women will come and set them on fire, for they are a people of no understanding. Therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them, and he who formed them will show them no favor.
- Job 5:4His children are far from safety. They are crushed in the gate. Neither is there any to deliver them,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 109:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.