Kejadian 7:1-24

7:1 The Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, for I consider you godly among this generation. ¹  7:2 You must take with you seven ²  of every kind of clean animal, ³  the male and its mate, ⁴  two of every kind of unclean animal, the male and its mate, 7:3 and also seven ⁵  of every kind of bird in the sky, male and female, ⁶  to preserve their offspring ⁷  on the face of the earth. 7:4 For in seven days ⁸  I will cause it to rain ⁹  on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the ground every living thing that I have made.”

7:5 And Noah did all ¹⁰  that the Lord commanded him.

7:6 Noah ¹¹  was 600 years old when the floodwaters engulfed ¹²  the earth. 7:7 Noah entered the ark along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives because ¹³  of the floodwaters. 7:8 Pairs ¹⁴  of clean animals, of unclean animals, of birds, and of everything that creeps along the ground, 7:9 male and female, came into the ark to Noah, ¹⁵  just as God had commanded him. ¹⁶  7:10 And after seven days the floodwaters engulfed the earth. ¹⁷ 

7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month – on that day all the fountains of the great deep ¹⁸  burst open and the floodgates of the heavens ¹⁹  were opened. 7:12 And the rain fell ²⁰  on the earth forty days and forty nights.

7:13 On that very day Noah entered the ark, accompanied by his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, along with his wife and his sons’ three wives. ²¹  7:14 They entered, ²²  along with every living creature after its kind, every animal after its kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, everything with wings. ²³  7:15 Pairs ²⁴  of all creatures ²⁵  that have the breath of life came into the ark to Noah. 7:16 Those that entered were male and female, ²⁶  just as God commanded him. Then the Lord shut him in.

7:17 The flood engulfed the earth for forty days. As the waters increased, they lifted the ark and raised it above the earth. 7:18 The waters completely overwhelmed ²⁷  the earth, and the ark floated ²⁸  on the surface of the waters. 7:19 The waters completely inundated ²⁹  the earth so that even ³⁰  all the high mountains under the entire sky were covered. 7:20 The waters rose more than twenty feet ³¹  above the mountains. ³²  7:21 And all living things ³³  that moved on the earth died, including the birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all humankind. 7:22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life ³⁴  in its nostrils died. 7:23 So the Lord ³⁵  destroyed ³⁶  every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, including people, animals, creatures that creep along the ground, and birds of the sky. ³⁷  They were wiped off the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark survived. ³⁸  7:24 The waters prevailed over ³⁹  the earth for 150 days.

Kejadian 8:16-17

8:16 “Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 8:17 Bring out with you all the living creatures that are with you. Bring out ⁴⁰  every living thing, including the birds, animals, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Let them increase ⁴¹  and be fruitful and multiply on the earth!” ⁴² 

Imamat 19:15

Justice, Love, and Propriety

19:15 “‘You ⁴³  must not deal unjustly in judgment: ⁴⁴  you must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich. ⁴⁵  You must judge your fellow citizen fairly. ⁴⁶ 

Imamat 19:35-37

19:35 You must not do injustice in the regulation of measures, whether of length, weight, or volume. ⁴⁷  19:36 You must have honest balances, ⁴⁸  honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. ⁴⁹  I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt. 19:37 You must be sure to obey all my statutes and regulations. ⁵⁰  I am the Lord.’”

Ulangan 10:18-19

10:18 who justly treats ⁵¹  the orphan and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing. 10:19 So you must love the resident foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

Ulangan 15:7-14

The Spirit of Liberality

15:7 If a fellow Israelite ⁵²  from one of your villages ⁵³  in the land that the Lord your God is giving you should be poor, you must not harden your heart or be insensitive ⁵⁴  to his impoverished condition. ⁵⁵  15:8 Instead, you must be sure to open your hand to him and generously lend ⁵⁶  him whatever he needs. ⁵⁷  15:9 Be careful lest you entertain the wicked thought that the seventh year, the year of cancellation of debts, has almost arrived, and your attitude ⁵⁸  be wrong toward your impoverished fellow Israelite ⁵⁹  and you do not lend ⁶⁰  him anything; he will cry out to the Lord against you and you will be regarded as having sinned. ⁶¹  15:10 You must by all means lend ⁶²  to him and not be upset by doing it, ⁶³  for because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you attempt. 15:11 There will never cease to be some poor people in the land; therefore, I am commanding you to make sure you open ⁶⁴  your hand to your fellow Israelites ⁶⁵  who are needy and poor in your land.

Release of Debt Slaves

15:12 If your fellow Hebrew ⁶⁶  – whether male or female ⁶⁷  – is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant ⁶⁸  go free. ⁶⁹  15:13 If you set them free, you must not send them away empty-handed. 15:14 You must supply them generously ⁷⁰  from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress – as the Lord your God has blessed you, you must give to them.

Ulangan 16:18-20

Provision for Justice

16:18 You must appoint judges and civil servants ⁷¹  for each tribe in all your villages ⁷²  that the Lord your God is giving you, and they must judge the people fairly. ⁷³  16:19 You must not pervert justice or show favor. Do not take a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and distort ⁷⁴  the words of the righteous. ⁷⁵  16:20 You must pursue justice alone ⁷⁶  so that you may live and inherit the land the Lord your God is giving you.

Mazmur 82:2-4

82:2 He says, ⁷⁷  “How long will you make unjust legal decisions

and show favoritism to the wicked? ⁷⁸  (Selah)

82:3 Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless! ⁷⁹ 

Vindicate the oppressed and suffering!

82:4 Rescue the poor and needy!

Deliver them from the power ⁸⁰  of the wicked!

Amsal 21:3

21:3 To do righteousness and justice

is more acceptable ⁸¹  to the Lord than sacrifice. ⁸² 

Yesaya 58:6-10

58:6 No, this is the kind of fast I want. ⁸³ 

I want you ⁸⁴  to remove the sinful chains,

to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke,

to set free the oppressed, ⁸⁵ 

and to break every burdensome yoke.

58:7 I want you ⁸⁶  to share your food with the hungry

and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people. ⁸⁷ 

When you see someone naked, clothe him!

Don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood! ⁸⁸ 

58:8 Then your light will shine like the sunrise; ⁸⁹ 

your restoration will quickly arrive; ⁹⁰ 

your godly behavior ⁹¹  will go before you,

and the Lord’s splendor will be your rear guard. ⁹² 

58:9 Then you will call out, and the Lord will respond;

you will cry out, and he will reply, ‘Here I am.’

You must ⁹³  remove the burdensome yoke from among you

and stop pointing fingers and speaking sinfully.

58:10 You must ⁹⁴  actively help the hungry

and feed the oppressed. ⁹⁵ 

Then your light will dispel the darkness, ⁹⁶ 

and your darkness will be transformed into noonday. ⁹⁷ 

Yeremia 7:5

7:5 You must change ⁹⁸  the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly. ⁹⁹ 

Yeremia 7:23

7:23 I also explicitly commanded them: ¹⁰⁰  “Obey me. If you do, I ¹⁰¹  will be your God and you will be my people. Live exactly the way I tell you ¹⁰²  and things will go well with you.”

Yehezkiel 45:9

45:9 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Enough, you princes of Israel! Put away violence and destruction, and do what is just and right. Put an end to your evictions of my people, ¹⁰³  declares the sovereign Lord.

Hosea 10:12-13

10:12 Sow righteousness for yourselves,

reap unfailing love.

Break up the unplowed ground for yourselves,

for it is time to seek the Lord,

until he comes and showers deliverance ¹⁰⁴  on you.

10:13 But you have plowed wickedness;

you have reaped injustice;

you have eaten the fruit of deception.

Because you have depended on your chariots; ¹⁰⁵ 

you have relied ¹⁰⁶  on your many warriors.

Amos 5:24

5:24 Justice must flow like torrents of water,

righteous actions ¹⁰⁷  like a stream that never dries up.

Mikha 6:8

6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good,

and what the Lord really wants from you: ¹⁰⁸ 

He wants you to ¹⁰⁹  promote ¹¹⁰  justice, to be faithful, ¹¹¹ 

and to live obediently before ¹¹²  your God.

Matius 23:23

23:23 “Woe to you, experts in the law ¹¹³  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth ¹¹⁴  of mint, dill, and cumin, ¹¹⁵  yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You ¹¹⁶  should have done these things without neglecting the others.

Lukas 11:42

11:42 “But woe to you Pharisees! ¹¹⁷  You give a tenth ¹¹⁸  of your mint, ¹¹⁹  rue, ¹²⁰  and every herb, yet you neglect justice ¹²¹  and love for God! But you should have done these things without neglecting the others. ¹²² 

Yakobus 2:13-17

2:13 For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over ¹²³  judgment.

Faith and Works Together

2:14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, ¹²⁴  if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith ¹²⁵  save him? ¹²⁶  2:15 If a brother or sister ¹²⁷  is poorly clothed and lacks daily food, 2:16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm and eat well,” but you do not give them what the body needs, ¹²⁸  what good is it? 2:17 So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself.

[7:1]  ¹ tn Heb “for you I see [as] godly before me in this generation.” The direct object (“you”) is placed first in the clause to give it prominence. The verb “to see” here signifies God’s evaluative discernment.

[7:2]  ² tn Or “seven pairs” (cf. NRSV).

[7:2]  ³ sn For a study of the Levitical terminology of “clean” and “unclean,” see L. E. Toombs, IDB 1:643.

[7:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “a male and his female” (also a second time at the end of this verse). The terms used here for male and female animals (אִישׁ, ’ish) and אִשָּׁה, ’ishah) normally refer to humans.

[7:3]  ⁵ tn Or “seven pairs” (cf. NRSV).

[7:3]  ⁶ tn Here (and in v. 9) the Hebrew text uses the normal generic terms for “male and female” (זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה, zakhar unÿqevah).

[7:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “to keep alive offspring.”

[7:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “for seven days yet,” meaning “after [or “in”] seven days.”

[7:4]  ⁹ tn The Hiphil participle מַמְטִיר (mamtir, “cause to rain”) here expresses the certainty of the act in the imminent future.

[7:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “according to all.”

[7:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Now Noah was.” The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + predicate nominative after implied “to be” verb) provides background information. The age of Noah receives prominence.

[7:6]  ¹² tn Heb “and the flood was water upon.” The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is circumstantial/temporal in relation to the preceding clause. The verb הָיָה (hayah) here carries the nuance “to come” (BDB 225 s.v. הָיָה). In this context the phrase “come upon” means “to engulf.”

[7:7]  ¹³ tn The preposition מִן (min) is causal here, explaining why Noah and his family entered the ark.

[7:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “two two” meaning “in twos.”

[7:9]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew text of vv. 8-9a reads, “From the clean animal[s] and from the animal[s] which are not clean and from the bird[s] and everything that creeps on the ground, two two they came to Noah to the ark, male and female.”

[7:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Noah”; the pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “came upon.”

[7:11]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew term תְּהוֹם (tÿhom, “deep”) refers to the watery deep, the salty ocean – especially the primeval ocean that surrounds and underlies the earth (see Gen 1:2).

[7:11]  sn The watery deep. The same Hebrew term used to describe the watery deep in Gen 1:2 (תְּהוֹם, tihom) appears here. The text seems to picture here subterranean waters coming from under the earth and contributing to the rapid rise of water. The significance seems to be, among other things, that in this judgment God was returning the world to its earlier condition of being enveloped with water – a judgment involving the reversal of creation. On Gen 7:11 see G. F. Hasel, “The Fountains of the Great Deep,” Origins 1 (1974): 67-72; idem, “The Biblical View of the Extent of the Flood,” Origins 2 (1975): 77-95.

[7:11]  ¹⁹ sn On the prescientific view of the sky reflected here, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World (AnBib), 46.

[7:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “was.”

[7:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “On that very day Noah entered, and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and the wife of Noah, and the three wives of his sons with him into the ark.”

[7:14]  ²² tn The verb “entered” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:14]  ²³ tn Heb “every bird, every wing.”

[7:15]  ²⁴ tn Heb “two two” meaning “in twos.”

[7:15]  ²⁵ tn Heb “flesh.”

[7:16]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Those that went in, male and female from all flesh they went in.”

[7:18]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and the waters were great and multiplied exceedingly.” The first verb in the sequence is וַיִּגְבְּרוּ (vayyigbÿru, from גָּבַר, gavar), meaning “to become great, mighty.” The waters did not merely rise; they “prevailed” over the earth, overwhelming it.

[7:18]  ²⁸ tn Heb “went.”

[7:19]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and the waters were great exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition emphasizes the depth of the waters.

[7:19]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and.”

[7:20]  ³¹ tn Heb “rose fifteen cubits.” Since a cubit is considered by most authorities to be about eighteen inches, this would make the depth 22.5 feet. This figure might give the modern reader a false impression of exactness, however, so in the translation the phrase “fifteen cubits” has been rendered “more than twenty feet.”

[7:20]  ³² tn Heb “the waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward and they covered the mountains.” Obviously, a flood of twenty feet did not cover the mountains; the statement must mean the flood rose about twenty feet above the highest mountain.

[7:21]  ³³ tn Heb “flesh.”

[7:22]  ³⁴ tn Heb “everything which [has] the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils from all which is in the dry land.”

[7:23]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:23]  ³⁶ tn Heb “wiped away” (cf. NRSV “blotted out”).

[7:23]  ³⁷ tn Heb “from man to animal to creeping thing and to the bird of the sky.”

[7:23]  ³⁸ tn The Hebrew verb שָׁאָר (sha’ar) means “to be left over; to survive” in the Niphal verb stem. It is the word used in later biblical texts for the remnant that escapes judgment. See G. F. Hasel, “Semantic Values of Derivatives of the Hebrew Root só’r,” AUSS 11 (1973): 152-69.

[7:24]  ³⁹ sn The Hebrew verb translated “prevailed over” suggests that the waters were stronger than the earth. The earth and everything in it were no match for the return of the chaotic deep.

[8:17]  ⁴⁰ tn The words “bring out” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:17]  ⁴¹ tn Following the Hiphil imperative, “bring out,” the three perfect verb forms with vav (ו) consecutive carry an imperatival nuance. For a discussion of the Hebrew construction here and the difficulty of translating it into English, see S. R. Driver, A Treatise on the Use of the Tenses in Hebrew, 124-25.

[8:17]  ⁴² tn Heb “and let them swarm in the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”

[19:15]  ⁴³ tc Smr has the singular rather than the plural “you” of the MT, which brings this verb form into line with the ones surrounding it.

[19:15]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “You shall not do injustice in judgment” (NASB similar); cf. NIV “do not pervert justice.”

[19:15]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “You shall not lift up faces of poor [people] and you shall not honor faces of great.”

[19:15]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “In righteousness you shall judge your fellow citizen.”

[19:35]  ⁴⁷ tn That is, liquid capacity (HALOT 640 s.v. מְשׂוּרָה). Cf. ASV, NIV, NRSV, TEV “quantity”; NAB, NASB “capacity.”

[19:36]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “balances of righteousness,” and so throughout this sentence.

[19:36]  ⁴⁹ sn An ephah is a dry measure which measures about four gallons, or perhaps one third of a bushel, while a hin is a liquid measure of about 3.6 liters (= approximately 1 quart).

[19:37]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “And you shall keep all my statutes and all my regulations and you shall do them.” This appears to be a kind of verbal hendiadys, where the first verb is a modifier of the action of the second verb (see GKC 386 §120.d, although שָׁמַר [shamar, “to keep”] is not cited there; cf. Lev 22:31).

[10:18]  ⁵¹ tn Or “who executes justice for” (so NAB, NRSV); NLT “gives justice to.”

[15:7]  ⁵² tn Heb “one of your brothers” (so NASB); NAB “one of your kinsmen”; NRSV “a member of your community.” See the note at v. 2.

[15:7]  ⁵³ tn Heb “gates.”

[15:7]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “withdraw your hand.” Cf. NIV “hardhearted or tightfisted” (NRSV and NLT similar).

[15:7]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “from your needy brother.”

[15:8]  ⁵⁶ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before both verbs. The translation indicates the emphasis with the words “be sure to” and “generously,” respectively.

[15:8]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “whatever his need that he needs for himself.” This redundant expression has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[15:9]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “your eye.”

[15:9]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “your needy brother.”

[15:9]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “give” (likewise in v. 10).

[15:9]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “it will be a sin to you.”

[15:10]  ⁶² tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “by all means.”

[15:10]  ⁶³ tc Heb “your heart must not be grieved in giving to him.” The LXX and Orig add, “you shall surely lend to him sufficient for his need,” a suggestion based on the same basic idea in v. 8. Such slavish adherence to stock phrases is without warrant in most cases, and certainly here.

[15:11]  ⁶⁴ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “make sure.”

[15:11]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “your brother.”

[15:12]  ⁶⁶ sn Elsewhere in the OT, the Israelites are called “Hebrews” (עִבְרִי, ’ivriy) by outsiders, rarely by themselves (cf. Gen 14:13; 39:14, 17; 41:12; Exod 1:15, 16, 19; 2:6, 7, 11, 13; 1 Sam 4:6; Jonah 1:9). Thus, here and in the parallel passage in Exod 21:2-6 the term עִבְרִי may designate non-Israelites, specifically a people well-known throughout the ancient Near East as ’apiru or habiru. They lived a rather vagabond lifestyle, frequently hiring themselves out as laborers or mercenary soldiers. While accounting nicely for the surprising use of the term here in an Israelite law code, the suggestion has against it the unlikelihood that a set of laws would address such a marginal people so specifically (as opposed to simply calling them aliens or the like). More likely עִבְרִי is chosen as a term to remind Israel that when they were “Hebrews,” that is, when they were in Egypt, they were slaves. Now that they are free they must not keep their fellow Israelites in economic bondage. See v. 15.

[15:12]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “your brother, a Hebrew (male) or Hebrew (female).”

[15:12]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “him.” The singular pronoun occurs throughout the passage.

[15:12]  ⁶⁹ tn The Hebrew text includes “from you.”

[15:14]  ⁷⁰ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “generously.”

[16:18]  ⁷¹ tn The Hebrew term וְשֹׁטְרִים (vÿshoterim), usually translated “officers” (KJV, NCV) or “officials” (NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), derives from the verb שֹׁטֵר (shoter, “to write”). The noun became generic for all types of public officials. Here, however, it may be appositionally epexegetical to “judges,” thus resulting in the phrase, “judges, that is, civil officers,” etc. Whoever the שֹׁטְרִים are, their task here consists of rendering judgments and administering justice.

[16:18]  ⁷² tn Heb “gates.”

[16:18]  ⁷³ tn Heb “with judgment of righteousness”; ASV, NASB “with righteous judgment.”

[16:19]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “twist, overturn”; NRSV “subverts the cause.”

[16:19]  ⁷⁵ tn Or “innocent”; NRSV “those who are in the right”; NLT “the godly.”

[16:20]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “justice, justice.” The repetition is emphatic; one might translate as “pure justice” or “unadulterated justice” (cf. NLT “true justice”).

[82:2]  ⁷⁷ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation to indicate that the following speech is God’s judicial decision (see v. 1).

[82:2]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “and the face of the wicked lift up.”

[82:3]  ⁷⁹ tn The Hebrew noun יָתוֹם (yatom) refers to one who has lost his father (not necessarily his mother, see Ps 109:9). Because they were so vulnerable and were frequently exploited, fatherless children are often mentioned as epitomizing the oppressed (see Pss 10:14; 68:5; 94:6; 146:9; as well as Job 6:27; 22:9; 24:3, 9; 29:12; 31:17, 21).

[82:4]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “hand.”

[21:3]  ⁸¹ tn The Niphal participle בָּחַר (bakhar, “to choose”) means “choice to the Lord” or “chosen of the Lord,” meaning “acceptable to the Lord”; cf. TEV “pleases the Lord more.”

[21:3]  ⁸² sn The Lord prefers righteousness above religious service (e.g., Prov 15:8; 21:29; 1 Sam 15:22; Ps 40:6-8; Isa 1:11-17). This is not a rejection of ritual worship; rather, religious acts are without value apart from righteous living.

[58:6]  ⁸³ tn Heb “Is this not a fast I choose?” “No” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[58:6]  ⁸⁴ tn The words “I want you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[58:6]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “crushed.”

[58:7]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “Is it not?” The rhetorical question here expects a positive answer, “It is!”

[58:7]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “and afflicted [ones], homeless [ones] you should bring [into] a house.” On the meaning of מְרוּדִים (mÿrudim, “homeless”) see HALOT 633 s.v. *מָרוּד.

[58:7]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “and from your flesh do not hide yourself.”

[58:8]  ⁸⁹ tn Heb “will burst out like the dawn.”

[58:8]  sn Light here symbolizes God’s favor and restored blessing, as the immediately following context makes clear.

[58:8]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “prosper”; KJV “spring forth speedily.”

[58:8]  ⁹¹ tn Or “righteousness.” Their godly behavior will be on display for all to see.

[58:8]  ⁹² sn The nation will experience God’s protective presence.

[58:9]  ⁹³ tn Heb “if you.” In the Hebrew text vv. 9b-10 are one long conditional sentence. The protasis (“if” clauses appear in vv. 9b-10a), with the apodosis (“then” clause) appearing in v. 10b.

[58:10]  ⁹⁴ tn Heb “if you.” See the note on “you must” in v. 9b.

[58:10]  ⁹⁵ tn Heb “If you furnish for the hungry [with] your being, and the appetite of the oppressed you satisfy.”

[58:10]  ⁹⁶ tn Heb “will rise in the darkness.”

[58:10]  ⁹⁷ tn Heb “and your darkness [will be] like noonday.”

[7:5]  ⁹⁸ tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[7:5]  ⁹⁹ tn Heb “you must do justice between a person and his fellow/neighbor.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[7:23]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Verses 22-23a read in Hebrew, “I did not speak with your ancestors and I did not command them when I brought them out of Egypt about words/matters concerning burnt offering and sacrifice, but I commanded them this word:” Some modern commentators have explained this passage as an evidence for the lateness of the Pentateuchal instruction regarding sacrifice or a denial that sacrifice was practiced during the period of the wilderness wandering. However, it is better explained as an example of what R. de Vaux calls a dialectical negative, i.e., “not so much this as that” or “not this without that” (Ancient Israel, 454-56). For other examples of this same argument see Isa 1:10-17; Hos 6:4-6; Amos 5:21-25.

[7:23]  ¹⁰¹ tn Heb “Obey me and I will be.” The translation is equivalent syntactically but brings out the emphasis in the command.

[7:23]  ¹⁰² tn Heb “Walk in all the way that I command you.”

[45:9]  ¹⁰³ sn Evictions of the less fortunate by the powerful are described in 1 Kgs 21:1-16; Jer 22:1-5, 13-17; Ezek 22:25.

[10:12]  ¹⁰⁴ tn Or “righteousness” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “justice.”

[10:13]  ¹⁰⁵ tc The MT (followed by KJV, NASB) reads the enigmatic בְּדַרְכְּךָ (bÿdarkÿkha, “in your own way”) which does not seem to fit the context or the parallelism with בְּרֹב גִּבּוֹרֶיךָ (bÿrov gibborekha, “in your multitude of warriors”). The BHS editors suggest the original reading was בְרִכְבְּךָ (vÿrikhbÿkha, “in your chariots”), a reading followed by NAB, TEV. If this is correct, the textual corruption was caused by orthographic confusion between רֶכֶב (rekhev, “chariot”) and דֶּרֶכ (derekh, “way”).

[10:13]  ¹⁰⁶ tn The phrase “you have relied” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the parallelism in the preceding line.

[5:24]  ¹⁰⁷ tn Traditionally, “righteousness.”

[6:8]  ¹⁰⁸ sn What the Lord really wants from you. Now the prophet switches roles and answers the hypothetical worshiper’s question. He makes it clear that the Lord desires proper attitudes more than ritual and sacrifice.

[6:8]  ¹⁰⁹ tn Heb “except.” This statement is actually linked with what precedes, “What does he want from you except….”

[6:8]  ¹¹⁰ tn Heb “to do,” in the sense of “promote.”

[6:8]  ¹¹¹ tn Heb “to love faithfulness.”

[6:8]  ¹¹² tn Heb “to walk humbly [or perhaps, “carefully”] with.”

[23:23]  ¹¹³ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:23]  ¹¹⁴ tn Or “you tithe mint.”

[23:23]  ¹¹⁵ sn Cumin (alternately spelled cummin) was an aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean region. Its seeds were used for seasoning.

[23:23]  ¹¹⁶ tc ‡ Many witnesses (B C K L W Δ 0102 33 565 892 pm) have δέ (de, “but”) after ταῦτα (tauta, “these things”), while many others lack it (א D Γ Θ Ë^1,13 579 700 1241 1424 pm). Since asyndeton was relatively rare in Koine Greek, the conjunction may be an intentional alteration, and is thus omitted from the present translation. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[11:42]  ¹¹⁷ tn Grk “Woe to you…because you…” The causal particle ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated here for rhetorical effect (and so to the end of this chapter).

[11:42]  ¹¹⁸ tn Or “you tithe mint.”

[11:42]  ¹¹⁹ sn These small herbs were tithed with great care (Mishnah, m. Demai 2:1).

[11:42]  ¹²⁰ tn Grk “and rue.” Καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[11:42]  sn Rue was an evergreen herb used for seasoning.

[11:42]  ¹²¹ sn Justice was a major theme of OT ethics (Mic 6:8; Zech 7:8-10).

[11:42]  ¹²² tn Grk “those”; but this has been translated as “the others” to clarify which are meant.

[2:13]  ¹²³ tn Grk “boasts against, exults over,” in victory.

[2:14]  ¹²⁴ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[2:14]  ¹²⁵ tn Grk “the faith,” referring to the kind of faith just described: faith without works. The article here is anaphoric, referring to the previous mention of the noun πίστις (pisti") in the verse. See ExSyn 219.

[2:14]  ¹²⁶ sn The form of the question in Greek expects a negative answer.

[2:15]  ¹²⁷ tn It is important to note that the words ἀδελφός (adelfos) and ἀδελφή (adelfh) both occur in the Greek text at this point, confirming that the author intended to refer to both men and women. See the note on “someone” in 2:2.

[2:16]  ¹²⁸ tn Grk “what is necessary for the body.”