Psalms 9:18

9:18 for the needy are not permanently ignored, ¹ 

the hopes of the oppressed are not forever dashed. ² 

Psalms 34:6

34:6 This oppressed man cried out and the Lord heard;

he saved him ³  from all his troubles.

Psalms 34:19

34:19 The godly ⁴  face many dangers, ⁵ 

but the Lord saves ⁶  them ⁷  from each one of them.

Psalms 40:17

40:17 I am oppressed and needy! ⁸ 

May the Lord pay attention to me! ⁹ 

You are my helper and my deliverer!

O my God, do not delay!

Psalms 40:2

40:2 He lifted me out of the watery pit, ¹⁰ 

out of the slimy mud. ¹¹ 

He placed my feet on a rock

and gave me secure footing. ¹² 

Psalms 22:28

22:28 For the Lord is king ¹³ 

and rules over the nations.

Isaiah 57:15

57:15 For this is what the high and exalted one says,

the one who rules ¹⁴  forever, whose name is holy:

“I dwell in an exalted and holy place,

but also with the discouraged and humiliated, ¹⁵ 

in order to cheer up the humiliated

and to encourage the discouraged. ¹⁶ 

Isaiah 66:2

66:2 My hand made them; ¹⁷ 

that is how they came to be,” ¹⁸  says the Lord.

I show special favor ¹⁹  to the humble and contrite,

who respect what I have to say. ²⁰ 

Luke 1:52-53

1:52 He has brought down the mighty ²¹  from their thrones, and has lifted up those of lowly position; ²² 

1:53 he has filled the hungry with good things, ²³  and has sent the rich away empty. ²⁴ 

Luke 1:2

1:2 like the accounts ²⁵  passed on ²⁶  to us by those who were eyewitnesses and servants of the word ²⁷  from the beginning. ²⁸ 

Colossians 1:9

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ²⁹  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ³⁰  to fill ³¹  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

James 2:5

2:5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! ³²  Did not God choose the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?

[9:18]  ¹ tn Or “forgotten.”

[9:18]  ² tn Heb “the hope of the afflicted does [not] perish forever.” The negative particle is understood by ellipsis; note the preceding line. The imperfect verbal forms express what typically happens.

[34:6]  ³ tn The pronoun refers back to “this oppressed man,” namely, the psalmist.

[34:19]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text uses the singular form; the representative or typical godly person is envisioned.

[34:19]  ⁵ tn Or “trials.”

[34:19]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form highlights the generalizing statement and draws attention to the fact that the Lord typically delivers the godly.

[34:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “him,” agreeing with the singular form in the preceding line.

[40:17]  ⁸ sn See Pss 35:10; 37:14.

[40:17]  ⁹ tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a jussive of prayer (as in the present translation; cf. NIV) or as an imperfect, “The Lord will pay attention to me” (cf. NRSV). The parallel in Ps 70:5 has, “O God, hurry to me!” For this reason some prefer to emend יַחֲשָׁב (yakhashav, “may he pay attention”) to חוּשָׁה (khushah, “hurry!”). The syntax of the Hebrew text is awkward; elsewhere when the Qal of חָשַׁב (khashav, “reckon; consider”) is collocated with the preposition -ל (lamed) and a pronominal suffix there is an accompanying direct object or additional prepositional phrase/adverbial accusative (see Gen 15:6; 2 Sam 19:19; Job 13:24; 19:11; 33:10; Pss 32:2; 41:7; Amos 6:5).

[40:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “cistern of roaring.” The Hebrew noun בּוֹר (bor, “cistern, pit”) is used metaphorically here of Sheol, the place of death, which is sometimes depicted as a raging sea (see Ps 18:4, 15-16). The noun שָׁאוֹן (sha’on, “roaring”) refers elsewhere to the crashing sound of the sea’s waves (see Ps 65:7).

[40:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “from the mud of mud.” The Hebrew phrase translated “slimy mud” employs an appositional genitive. Two synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.

[40:2]  ¹² tn Heb “he established my footsteps.”

[22:28]  ¹³ tn Heb “for to the Lord [is] dominion.”

[57:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the one who dwells forever.” שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) is sometimes translated “the one who lives forever,” and understood as a reference to God’s eternal existence. However, the immediately preceding and following descriptions (“high and exalted” and “holy”) emphasize his sovereign rule. In the next line, he declares, “I dwell in an exalted and holy [place],” which refers to the place from which he rules. Therefore it is more likely that שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) means “I dwell [in my lofty palace] forever” and refers to God’s eternal kingship.

[57:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and also with the crushed and lowly of spirit.” This may refer to the repentant who have humbled themselves (see 66:2) or more generally to the exiles who have experienced discouragement and humiliation.

[57:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to restore the lowly of spirit and to restore the heart of the crushed.”

[66:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “all these.” The phrase refers to the heavens and earth, mentioned in the previous verse.

[66:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and all these were.” Some prefer to emend וַיִּהְיוּ (vayyihyu, “and they were”) to וְלִי הָיוּ (vÿli hayu, “and to me they were”), i.e., “and they belong to me.”

[66:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and to this one I look” (KJV and NASB both similar).

[66:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to the humble and the lowly in spirit and the one who trembles at my words.”

[1:52]  ²¹ tn Or “rulers.”

[1:52]  ²² tn Or “those of humble position”

[1:53]  ²³ sn Good things refers not merely to material blessings, but blessings that come from knowing God.

[1:53]  ²⁴ sn Another fundamental contrast of Luke’s is between the hungry and the rich (Luke 6:20-26).

[1:2]  ²⁵ tn Grk “even as”; this compares the recorded tradition of 1:1 with the original eyewitness tradition of 1:2.

[1:2]  ²⁶ tn Or “delivered.”

[1:2]  ²⁷ sn The phrase eyewitnesses and servants of the word refers to a single group of people who faithfully passed on the accounts about Jesus. The language about delivery (passed on) points to accounts faithfully passed on to the early church.

[1:2]  ²⁸ tn Grk “like the accounts those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word passed on to us.” The location of “in the beginning” in the Greek shows that the tradition is rooted in those who were with Jesus from the start.

[1:9]  ²⁹ tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.

[1:9]  ³⁰ tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ³¹ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.

[2:5]  ³² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.