Mazmur 9:4

9:4 For you defended my just cause; ¹ 

from your throne you pronounced a just decision. ² 

Mazmur 10:17-18

10:17 Lord, you have heard ³  the request ⁴  of the oppressed;

you make them feel secure because you listen to their prayer. ⁵ 

10:18 You defend ⁶  the fatherless and oppressed, ⁷ 

so that mere mortals may no longer terrorize them. ⁸ 

Mazmur 22:24

22:24 For he did not despise or detest the suffering ⁹  of the oppressed; ¹⁰ 

he did not ignore him; ¹¹ 

when he cried out to him, he responded. ¹² 

Mazmur 72:4

72:4 He will defend ¹³  the oppressed among the people;

he will deliver ¹⁴  the children ¹⁵  of the poor

and crush the oppressor.

Mazmur 72:12-14

72:12 For he will rescue the needy ¹⁶  when they cry out for help,

and the oppressed ¹⁷  who have no defender.

72:13 He will take pity ¹⁸  on the poor and needy;

the lives of the needy he will save.

72:14 From harm and violence he will defend them; ¹⁹ 

he will value their lives. ²⁰ 

Mazmur 102:17

102:17 when he responds to the prayer of the destitute, ²¹ 

and does not reject ²²  their request. ²³ 

Mazmur 102:1

Psalm 102 ²⁴ 

The prayer of an oppressed man, as he grows faint and pours out his lament before the Lord.

102:1 O Lord, hear my prayer!

Pay attention to my cry for help! ²⁵ 

Kisah Para Rasul 8:1

8:1 And Saul agreed completely with killing ²⁶  him.

Saul Begins to Persecute the Church

Now on that day a great ²⁷  persecution began ²⁸  against the church in Jerusalem, ²⁹  and all ³⁰  except the apostles were forced to scatter throughout the regions ³¹  of Judea and Samaria.

Kisah Para Rasul 8:1

8:1 And Saul agreed completely with killing ³²  him.

Saul Begins to Persecute the Church

Now on that day a great ³³  persecution began ³⁴  against the church in Jerusalem, ³⁵  and all ³⁶  except the apostles were forced to scatter throughout the regions ³⁷  of Judea and Samaria.

Amsal 22:22

22:22 Do not exploit ³⁸  a poor person because he is poor

and do not crush the needy in court, ³⁹ 

Amsal 23:10-11

23:10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone,

or take over ⁴⁰  the fields of the fatherless,

23:11 for their Protector ⁴¹  is strong;

he will plead their case against you. ⁴² 

Yesaya 11:4

11:4 He will treat the poor fairly, ⁴³ 

and make right decisions ⁴⁴  for the downtrodden of the earth. ⁴⁵ 

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, ⁴⁶ 

and order the wicked to be executed. ⁴⁷ 

Yeremia 22:16

22:16 He upheld the cause of the poor and needy.

So things went well for Judah.’ ⁴⁸ 

The Lord says,

‘That is a good example of what it means to know me.’ ⁴⁹ 

Matius 11:5

11:5 The blind see, the ⁵⁰  lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news proclaimed to them.

[9:4]  ¹ tn Heb “for you accomplished my justice and my legal claim.”

[9:4]  ² tn Heb “you sat on a throne [as] one who judges [with] righteousness.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 4 probably allude to a recent victory (see vv. 5-7). Another option is to understand the verbs as describing what is typical (“you defend…you sit on a throne”).

[10:17]  ³ sn You have heard. The psalmist is confident that God has responded positively to his earlier petitions for divine intervention. The psalmist apparently prayed the words of vv. 16-18 after the reception of an oracle of deliverance (given in response to the confident petition of vv. 12-15) or after the Lord actually delivered him from his enemies.

[10:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “desire.”

[10:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “you make firm their heart, you cause your ear to listen.”

[10:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “to judge (on behalf of),” or “by judging (on behalf of).”

[10:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “crushed.” See v. 10.

[10:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “he will not add again [i.e., “he will no longer”] to terrify, man from the earth.” The Hebrew term אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh, “man”) refers here to the wicked nations (v. 16). By describing them as “from the earth,” the psalmist emphasizes their weakness before the sovereign, eternal king.

[22:24]  ⁹ tn Or “affliction”; or “need.”

[22:24]  ¹⁰ sn In this verse the psalmist refers to himself in the third person and characterizes himself as oppressed.

[22:24]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he did not hide his face from him.” For other uses of the idiom “hide the face” meaning “ignore,” see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9. Sometimes the idiom carries the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 27:9; 88:14).

[22:24]  ¹² tn Heb “heard.”

[72:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “judge [for].”

[72:4]  ¹⁴ tn The prefixed verbal form appears to be an imperfect, not a jussive.

[72:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “sons.”

[72:12]  ¹⁶ tn The singular is representative. The typical needy individual here represents the entire group.

[72:12]  ¹⁷ tn The singular is representative. The typical oppressed individual here represents the entire group.

[72:13]  ¹⁸ tn The prefixed verb form is best understood as a defectively written imperfect (see Deut 7:16).

[72:14]  ¹⁹ tn Or “redeem their lives.” The verb “redeem” casts the Lord in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis (see Pss 19:14; 69:18).

[72:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “their blood will be precious in his eyes.”

[102:17]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew adjective עַרְעָר (’arar, “destitute”) occurs only here in the OT. It is derived from the verbal root ערר (“to strip oneself”).

[102:17]  ²² tn Heb “despise.”

[102:17]  ²³ tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 16-17 are functioning as future perfects, indicating future actions that will precede the future developments described in v. 15.

[102:1]  ²⁴ sn Psalm 102. The psalmist laments his oppressed state, but longs for a day when the Lord will restore Jerusalem and vindicate his suffering people.

[102:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and may my cry for help come to you.”

[8:1]  ²⁶ tn The term ἀναίρεσις (anairesi") can refer to murder (BDAG 64 s.v.; 2 Macc 5:13; Josephus, Ant. 5.2.12 [5.165]).

[8:1]  ²⁷ tn Or “severe.”

[8:1]  ²⁸ tn Grk “Now there happened on that day a great persecution.” It is less awkward to say in English “Now on that day a great persecution began.”

[8:1]  ²⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[8:1]  ³⁰ sn All. Given that the Jerusalem church is still active after this and that the Hellenists are the focus of Acts 6-8, it is possible to argue that only the Hellenistic Christians were forced to scatter.

[8:1]  ³¹ tn Or “countryside.”

[8:1]  ³² tn The term ἀναίρεσις (anairesi") can refer to murder (BDAG 64 s.v.; 2 Macc 5:13; Josephus, Ant. 5.2.12 [5.165]).

[8:1]  ³³ tn Or “severe.”

[8:1]  ³⁴ tn Grk “Now there happened on that day a great persecution.” It is less awkward to say in English “Now on that day a great persecution began.”

[8:1]  ³⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[8:1]  ³⁶ sn All. Given that the Jerusalem church is still active after this and that the Hellenists are the focus of Acts 6-8, it is possible to argue that only the Hellenistic Christians were forced to scatter.

[8:1]  ³⁷ tn Or “countryside.”

[22:22]  ³⁸ tn Two negated jussives form the instruction here: אַל־תִּגְזָל (’al-tigzal, “do not exploit”) and וְאַל־תְּדַכֵּא (ve’al-tÿdakke’, “do not crush”).

[22:22]  sn Robbing or oppressing the poor is easy because they are defenseless. But this makes the crime tempting as well as contemptible. What is envisioned may be in bounds legally (just) but out of bounds morally.

[22:22]  ³⁹ tn Heb “in the gate” (so KJV); NAB, NASB, NRSV “at the gate.” The “gate” of the city was the center of activity, the place of business as well as the place for settling legal disputes. The language of the next verse suggests a legal setting, so “court” is an appropriate translation here.

[23:10]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “encroach on” (NIV, NRSV); Heb “go into.”

[23:11]  ⁴¹ tn The participle גֹּאֵל (go’el) describes a “kinsman redeemer.” Some English versions explicitly cite “God” (e.g., NCV, CEV) or “the Lord” (e.g. TEV).

[23:11]  sn The Hebrew term describes a “kinsman-redeemer.” That individual would be a rich or powerful relative who can protect the family; he does this by paying off the debts of a poor relative, buying up the property of a relative who sells himself into slavery, marrying the widow of a deceased relative to keep the inheritance in the family, or taking vengeance on someone who harms a relative, that vengeance often resulting in delivering (“redeeming”) the relative from bondage. If there was no human “kinsman redeemer,” then the defenseless had to rely on God to perform these actions (e.g., Gen 48:16; Exod 6:6; Job 19:25; Isa 41–63). In the prophetic literature God is presented as the Redeemer in that he takes vengeance on the enemies (the Babylonians) to deliverer his people (kin). In this proverb the Lord is probably the Protector of these people who will champion their cause and set things right.

[23:11]  ⁴² sn This is the tenth saying; once again there is a warning not to encroach on other people’s rights and property, especially the defenseless (see v. 10; 22:22-23, 28).

[11:4]  ⁴³ tn Heb “with justice” (so NAB) or “with righteousness” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[11:4]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “make decisions with rectitude”; cf. ASV, NRSV “and decide with equity.”

[11:4]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “land” (NAB, NCV, CEV). It is uncertain if the passage is picturing universal dominion or focusing on the king’s rule over his covenant people. The reference to God’s “holy mountain” in v. 9 and the description of renewed Israelite conquests in v. 14 suggest the latter, though v. 10 seems to refer to a universal kingdom (see 2:2-4).

[11:4]  ⁴⁶ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and he will strike the earth with the scepter of his mouth.” Some have suggested that in this context אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”) as an object of judgment seems too broad in scope. The parallelism is tighter if one emends the word to ץ(י)עָרִ (’arits, “potentate, tyrant”). The phrase “scepter of his mouth” refers to the royal (note “scepter”) decrees that he proclaims with his mouth. Because these decrees will have authority and power (see v. 2) behind them, they can be described as “striking” the tyrants down. Nevertheless, the MT reading may not need emending. Isaiah refers to the entire “earth” as the object of God’s judgment in several places without specifying the wicked as the object of the judgment (Isa 24:17-21; 26:9, 21; 28:22; cf. 13:11).

[11:4]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “and by the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.” The “breath of his lips” refers to his speech, specifically in this context his official decrees that the wicked oppressors be eliminated from his realm. See the preceding note.

[22:16]  ⁴⁸ tn The words “for Judah” are not in the text, but the absence of the preposition plus object as in the preceding verse suggests that this is a more general statement, i.e., “things went well for everyone.”

[22:16]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “Is that not what it means to know me.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer. It is translated in the light of the context.

[22:16]  sn Comparison of the usage of the words “know me” in their context in Jer 2:8; 9:3, 6, 24 and here will show that more than mere intellectual knowledge is involved. It involves also personal commitment to God and obedience to the demands of the agreements with him. The word “know” is used in ancient Near Eastern treaty contexts of submission to the will of the overlord. See further the notes on 9:3.

[11:5]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “and the,” but 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. Two other conjunctions are omitted in this series.