Exodus 23:3

23:3 and you must not show partiality ¹  to a poor man in his lawsuit.

Job 13:7-10

13:7 Will you speak wickedly ²  on God’s behalf? ³ 

Will you speak deceitfully for him?

13:8 Will you show him partiality? ⁴ 

Will you argue the case ⁵  for God?

13:9 Would it turn out well if he would examine ⁶  you?

Or as one deceives ⁷  a man would you deceive him?

13:10 He would certainly rebuke ⁸  you

if you secretly ⁹  showed partiality!

Romans 3:7-8

3:7 For if by my lie the truth of God enhances ¹⁰  his glory, why am I still actually being judged as a sinner? 3:8 And why not say, “Let us do evil so that good may come of it”? – as some who slander us allege that we say. ¹¹  (Their ¹²  condemnation is deserved!)

¹ tn The point here is one of false sympathy and honor, the bad sense of the word הָדַר (hadar; see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 237).

² tn The construction literally reads “speak iniquity.” The form functions adverbially. The noun עַוְלָה (’avlah) means “perversion; injustice; iniquity; falsehood.” Here it is parallel to רְמִיָּה (rÿmiyyah, “fraud; deceit; treachery”).

³ tn The expression “for God” means “in favor of God” or “on God’s behalf.” Job is amazed that they will say false things on God’s behalf.

³ sn The idiom used here is “Will you lift up his face?” Here Job is being very sarcastic, for this expression usually means that a judge is taking a bribe. Job is accusing them of taking God’s side.

⁴ tn The same root is used here (רִיב, riv, “dispute, contention”) as in v. 6b (see note).

⁴ tn The verb חָפַר (khafar) means “to search out, investigate, examine.” In the conditional clause the imperfect verb expresses the hypothetical case.

⁵ tn Both the infinitive and the imperfect of תָּלַל (talal, “deceive, mock”) retain the ה (he) (GKC 148 §53.q). But for the alternate form, see F. C. Fensham, “The Stem HTL in Hebrew,” VT 9 (1959): 310-11. The infinitive is used here in an adverbial sense after the preposition.

⁵ tn The verbal idea is intensified with the infinitive absolute. This is the same verb used in v. 3; here it would have the sense of “rebuke, convict.”

⁶ sn The use of the word “in secret” or “secretly” suggests that what they do is a guilty action (31:27a).

⁶ tn Grk “abounded unto.”

⁷ tn Grk “(as we are slandered and some affirm that we say…).”

⁸ tn Grk “whose.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, this relative clause was rendered as a new sentence in the translation.