Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour 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.
- BSB May there be no one to extend kindness to him, and no one to favor his fatherless children.
- ESV Let there be none to extend kindness to him, nor any to pity 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 6:38Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
- Ps 137:8–9O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.
- Matt 27:25Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.
- Jas 2:13For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
- Isa 13:18Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall 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 shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
- Isa 27:11When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour.
- Job 5:4His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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.