THEOSISTheodoret of Cyrus
The charge begins with rulers, as their subordinates will naturally follow. When the head suffers, the body inevitably experiences affliction. Consequently, the Lord declares that they displayed no mercy towards their relatives, and in breaching kinship laws, they committed unjust acts of violence. Even your father and mother faced slander from you. Such actions were strictly prohibited by the commandments. Moreover, they dealt unjustly with the outsider among you. The law admonishes, "And ye shall not malign a stranger: for ye are strangers in the land of Egypt" (Ex. 22:21), indicating that you should learn compassion from your own hardships. Yet, you boldly violated this commandment, along with another: the orphan and the widow were oppressed in your midst.
Read more (74 words)
However, the good Lord ordains the exact opposite. It is written, "Judge the orphan, and justify the widow" (Isaiah 1:17), and the law instructs, "Thou shalt not plunder another time thy vineyard; to the stranger, and to the orphan, and to the widow, let them be" (Deuteronomy 24:21). But with you, not only did they fail to offer any kindness, but they also inflicted even greater harms upon them and committed further grave sins.