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 

Proverbs 21:13

21:13 The one who shuts his ears ⁵  to the cry ⁶  of the poor,

he too will cry out and will not be answered. ⁷ 

Matthew 18:30

18:30 But he refused. Instead, he went out and threw him in prison until he repaid the debt.

James 2:15-16

2:15 If a brother or sister ⁸  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, ⁹  what good is it?

James 2:1

Prejudice and the Law of Love

2:1 My brothers and sisters, ¹⁰  do not show prejudice ¹¹  if you possess faith ¹²  in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. ¹³ 

James 3:16-17

3:16 For where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is disorder and every evil practice. 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, ¹⁴  full of mercy and good fruit, ¹⁵  impartial, and not hypocritical. ¹⁶ 

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 The imagery means “pay no attention to” the cry for help or “refuse to help,” so it is a metonymy of cause for the effect.

⁶ sn “Cry” here would be a metonymy of effect for the cause, the cause being the great needs of the poor.

⁷ sn The proverb is teaching that those who show mercy will receive mercy. It involves the principle of talionic justice – those who refuse the needs of others will themselves be refused when they need help (so Luke 16:19-31).

⁸ 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.

⁹ tn Grk “what is necessary for the body.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

¹¹ tn Or “partiality.”

¹² tn Grk “do not have faith with personal prejudice,” with emphasis on the last phrase.

¹³ tn Grk “our Lord Jesus Christ of glory.” Here δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

¹⁴ tn Or “willing to yield,” “open to persuasion.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “fruits.” The plural Greek term καρπούς has been translated with the collective singular “fruit.”

¹⁶ tn Or “sincere.”