the poor

The Hebrew that is translated as “the poor” in English is translated in Chichewa as “people without power.” In Chichewa context this refers to those who are in the lower class in terms of both social status and political influence in a community. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

In Cherokee it is translated as “those who are not doing well.” “The concept of poverty was unknown to Cherokee prior to European arrival due to the sharing of resources among clan members and the shared and welfare tradition known as gadugi (ᎦᏚᎩ). In contrat, the concepts of rich and poor play a large role in the world and message or the New Testament (…) This phrase (‘those who are not doing well’), still used today for ‘poor,’ speaks to a more general understanding of well-being than the presence of monetary resources.” (Source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 45)

See also poor (Ps. 41:1).

widow

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “widow” in English is translated in West Kewa as ona wasa or “woman shadow” (source: Karl J. Franklin in Notes on Translation 70/1978, pp. 13ff.) and in Newari as “husband already died ones” or “ones who have no husband” (source: Newari Back Translation).

In Cherokee the term is gender neutral and translates to “one who has lost someone.” (Source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 100)

The etymological meaning of the Hebrew almanah (אַלְמָנָה) is likely “pain, ache,” the Greek chéra (χήρα) is likely “to leave behind,” “abandon,” and the English widow (as well as related terms in languages such as Dutch, German, Sanskrit, Welsh, or Persian) is “to separate,” “divide” (source: Wiktionary).

See also widows.

complete verse (Zechariah 7:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Zechariah 7:10:

  • Kupsabiny: “Do (plur.) not do bad things to these people: widows, orphans and foreigners or people who have nothing. You must not do bad things to one another.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Don’t oppress the widows, nor orphans, nor foreigners nor the poor. And do not plan ways of harming one another.’” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Do- not -oppress the women widows, the orphans, the foreigners who live among you (plur.), and the poor. You (plur.) do- not -think of evil/bad against one another.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Do not oppress/treat cruelly widows or orphans or foreigners or poor people. Do not even think about doing evil to anyone else.’ ’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Zechariah 7:10

This verse continues the same sentence in Hebrew.

Do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor: Commands of this type are frequent in the prophets before the exile, as are complaints that the people did not obey them (compare Isa 1.17, 23; Isa 10.2; Jer 5.28; Jer 7.5-7; Amos 2.6-7; 5.11-12; 8.4-6). Widows and orphans were the typical examples of people who were defenseless and oppressed in ancient times. The fatherless is a reference to orphans, since in Hebrew culture children whose fathers had died were considered orphans even if the mothers were still alive. The sojourner was a foreigner who had taken up residence, temporary or permanent, among the people of Israel. As an individual lacking the support of a clan group, he could also be easily exploited by people who had power in the community. The poor is intended in a wide sense, and is rendered in Good News Translation as “anyone else in need.” In certain languages this will be expressed as “anyone who has few possessions.”

Let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart: To devise evil … in your heart (compare Micah 2.1) means to think of ways of harming people. Contemporary English Version has “stop making plans to hurt each other,” which suggests that the people were already doing this. This is indeed the sense of the Hebrew, though in some languages “do not plan ways of harming one another” (Good News Translation) may sound more appropriate for a general statement like this. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch expresses the sense well with “don’t keep hatching new plans to harm each other.” Against his brother, as in the previous verse, means “against anyone else.” Good News Translation again translates his brother as “one another,” as do several other modern versions.

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Zechariah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2002. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .