2 Samuel 14:4

14:4 So the Tekoan woman went ¹  to the king. She bowed down with her face to the ground in deference to him and said, “Please help me, ²  O king!”

Isaiah 10:3

10:3 What will you do on judgment day, ³ 

when destruction arrives from a distant place?

To whom will you run for help?

Where will you leave your wealth?

Luke 18:3

18:3 There was also a widow ⁴  in that city ⁵  who kept coming ⁶  to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’

Acts 21:28

21:28 shouting, “Men of Israel, ⁷  help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law, ⁸  and this sanctuary! ⁹  Furthermore ¹⁰  he has brought Greeks into the inner courts of the temple ¹¹  and made this holy place ritually unclean!” ¹² 

¹ tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading וַתַּבֹא (vattavo’, “and she went”) rather than the MT וַתֹּאמֶר (vatto’mer, “and she said”). The MT reading shows confusion with וַתֹּאמֶר later in the verse. The emendation suggested here is supported by the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, some mss of the Targum, and Vulgate.

² tn The word “me” is left to be inferred in the Hebrew text; it is present in the Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate.

³ tn Heb “the day of visitation” (so KJV, ASV), that is, the day when God arrives to execute justice on the oppressors.

⁴ sn This widow was not necessarily old, since many people lived only into their thirties in the 1st century.

⁵ tn Or “town.”

⁶ tn This is an iterative imperfect; the widow did this on numerous occasions.

⁷ tn Or “Israelite men,” although this is less natural English. The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context, it is conceivable that this is a generic usage since “the whole crowd” is mentioned in v. 27, although it can also be argued that these remarks were addressed primarily to the men present, even if women were there.

⁸ sn The law refers to the law of Moses.

⁹ tn Grk “this place.”

¹⁰ tn BDAG 400 s.v. ἔτι 2.b has “ἔ. δὲ καί furthermore…al. ἔ. τε καί…Lk 14:26; Ac 21:28.” This is a continuation of the same sentence in Greek, but due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

¹¹ tn Grk “into the temple.” The specific reference is to the Court of the Sons of Israel (see the note following the term “unclean” at the end of this verse). To avoid giving the modern reader the impression that they entered the temple building itself, the phrase “the inner courts of the temple” has been used in the translation.

¹² tn Or “and has defiled this holy place.”