38:15 Then from the wicked the light is withheld,
and the arm raised in violence 1 is broken. 2
20:13 if he retains it for himself
and does not let it go,
and holds it fast in his mouth, 3
22:7 You gave the weary 4 no water to drink
and from the hungry you withheld food.
31:16 If I have refused to give the poor what they desired, 5
or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
1 tn Heb “the raised arm.” The words “in violence” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation to clarify the metaphor.
2 sn What is active at night, the violence symbolized by the raised arm, is broken with the dawn. G. R. Driver thought the whole verse referred to stars, and that the arm is the navigator’s term for the line of stars (“Two astronomical passages in the Old Testament,” JTS 4 [1953]: 208-12).
3 tn Heb “in the middle of his palate.”
5 tn The term עָיֵף (’ayef) can be translated “weary,” “faint,” “exhausted,” or “tired.” Here it may refer to the fainting because of thirst – that would make a good parallel to the second part.
7 tn Heb “kept the poor from [their] desire.”