Deuteronomy 15:9

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 ¹  be wrong toward your impoverished fellow Israelite ²  and you do not lend ³  him anything; he will cry out to the Lord against you and you will be regarded as having sinned. ⁴ 

Deuteronomy 24:15

24:15 You must pay his wage that very day before the sun sets, for he is poor and his life depends on it. Otherwise he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

Job 31:38-39

Job’s Final Solemn Oath ⁵ 

31:38 “If my land cried out against me ⁶ 

and all its furrows wept together,

31:39 if I have eaten its produce without paying, ⁷ 

or caused the death ⁸  of its owners, ⁹ 

Job 35:9

35:9 “People ¹⁰  cry out

because of the excess of oppression; ¹¹ 

they cry out for help

because of the power ¹²  of the mighty. ¹³ 

Luke 18:7

18:7 Won’t ¹⁴  God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out ¹⁵  to him day and night? ¹⁶  Will he delay ¹⁷  long to help them?

¹ tn Heb “your eye.”

² tn Heb “your needy brother.”

³ tn Heb “give” (likewise in v. 10).

⁴ tn Heb “it will be a sin to you.”

⁵ sn Many commentators place vv. 38-40b at the end of v. 34, so that there is no return to these conditional clauses after his final appeal.

⁶ sn Some commentators have suggested that the meaning behind this is that Job might not have kept the year of release (Deut 15:1), and the law against mixing seed (Lev 19:19). But the context will make clear that the case considered is obtaining the land without paying for it and causing the death of its lawful owner (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 206). Similar to this would be the case of Naboth’s vineyard.

⁷ tn Heb “without silver.”

⁸ tc The versions have the verb “grieved” here. The Hebrew verb means “to breathe,” but the form is Hiphil. This verb in that stem could mean something of a contemptuous gesture, like “sniff” in Mal 1:13. But with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) in Job 11:20 it means “to cause death,” i.e., “to cause to breathe out; to expire.” This is likely the meaning here, although it is possible that it only meant “to cause suffering” to the people.

⁹ tn There is some debate over the meaning of בְּעָלֶיהָ (bÿ’aleyha), usually translated “its owners.” Dahood, following others (although without their emendations), thought it referred to “laborers” (see M. Dahood, Bib 41 [1960]: 303; idem, Bib 43 [1962]: 362).

¹⁰ tn The word “people” is supplied, because the sentence only has the masculine plural verb.

¹¹ tn The final noun is an abstract plural, “oppression.” There is no reason to change it to “oppressors” to fit the early versions. The expression is literally “multitude of oppression.”

¹² tn Heb “the arm,” a metaphor for strength or power.

¹³ tn Or “of the many” (see HALOT 1172 s.v. I רַב 6.a).

¹⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹⁵ sn The prayers have to do with the righteous who cry out to him to receive justice. The context assumes the righteous are persecuted.

¹⁶ tn The emphatic particles in this sentence indicate that God will indeed give justice to the righteous.

¹⁷ sn The issue of delay has produced a whole host of views for this verse. (1) Does this assume provision to endure in the meantime? Or (2) does it mean God restricts the level of persecution until he comes? Either view is possible.