24:10 They go about naked, without clothing,
and go hungry while they carry the sheaves. 7
24:11 They press out the olive oil between the rows of olive trees; 8
they tread the winepresses while they are thirsty. 9
31:13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants
or my female servants
when they disputed 10 with me,
31:14 then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment; 11
when he intervenes, 12
how will I respond to him?
31:15 Did not the one who made me in the womb make them? 13
Did not the same one form us in the womb?
14:31 The one who oppresses 14 the poor insults 15 his Creator,
but whoever shows favor 16 to the needy honors him.
22:16 The one who oppresses the poor to increase his own gain
and the one who gives to the rich 17 – both end up only in poverty.
2:7 They trample 20 on the dirt-covered heads of the poor; 21
they push the destitute away. 22
A man and his father go to the same girl; 23
in this way they show disrespect 24 for my moral purity. 25
4:1 Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan 26 who live on Mount Samaria!
You 27 oppress the poor;
you crush the needy.
You say to your 28 husbands,
“Bring us more to drink!” 29
8:4 Listen to this, you who trample 30 the needy,
and do away with 31 the destitute in the land.
3:5 “I 32 will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, 33 and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, 34 who refuse to help 35 the immigrant 36 and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.
1 tn See the note on Lev 25:6 above.
2 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have adversative force here.
3 tn Heb “may go out from you.”
4 tn Heb “fathers.”
5 tn Or perhaps reflexive Niphal rather than passive, “they shall not sell themselves [as in] a slave sale.”
6 tn Heb “You shall not rule in him in violence”; cf. NASB “with severity”; NIV “ruthlessly.”
7 sn The point should not be missed – amidst abundant harvests, carrying sheaves about, they are still going hungry.
8 tc The Hebrew term is שׁוּרֹתָם (shurotam), which may be translated “terraces” or “olive rows.” But that would not be the proper place to have a press to press the olives and make oil. E. Dhorme (Job, 360-61) proposes on the analogy of an Arabic word that this should be read as “millstones” (which he would also write in the dual). But the argument does not come from a clean cognate, but from a possible development of words. The meaning of “olive rows” works well enough.
9 tn The final verb, a preterite with the ו (vav) consecutive, is here interpreted as a circumstantial clause.
10 tn This construction is an adverbial clause using the temporal preposition, the infinitive from רִיב (riv, “contend”), and the suffix which is the subjective genitive.
11 tn Heb “arises.” The LXX reads “takes vengeance,” an interpretation that is somewhat correct but unnecessary. The verb “to rise” would mean “to confront in judgment.”
12 tn The verb פָקַד (paqad) means “to visit,” but with God as the subject it means any divine intervention for blessing or cursing, anything God does that changes a person’s life. Here it is “visit to judge.”
13 tn Heb “him,” but the plural pronoun has been used in the translation to indicate that the referent is the servants mentioned in v. 13 (since the previous “him” in v. 14 refers to God).
14 tn The verb עָשַׁק (’ashaq) normally means “to oppress” (as in many English versions). However, here it might mean “to slander.” See J. A. Emerton, “Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” JTS 20 (1969): 202-22.
15 sn In the Piel this verb has the meaning of “to reproach; to taunt; to say sharp things against” someone (cf. NIV “shows contempt for”). By oppressing the poor one taunts or mistreats God because that person is in the image of God – hence the reference to the “Creator.” To ridicule what God made is to ridicule God himself.
16 sn The phrase “shows favor” is contrasted with the term “oppresses.” To “show favor” means to be gracious to (or treat kindly) those who do not deserve it or cannot repay it. It is treatment that is gratis. This honors God because he commanded it to be done (Prov 14:21; 17:5; 19:17).
17 tn Heb “oppressing the poor, it is gain; giving to the rich, it is loss.” The Hebrew is cryptic, but two sins are mentioned here that will be punished by poverty: extortion and bribery. Perhaps the proverb is simply saying it is easy to oppress the poor for gain, but it is a waste of money to try to buy or bribe a patron (D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 149).
18 tn Heb “treated lightly, cursed.”
19 tn Widows and orphans are often coupled together in the OT (Deut 14:29; 16:11, 14; 24:19-21; 26:12-13; Jer 7:6; 22:3). They represented all who were poor and vulnerable to economic exploitation.
20 tn Most scholars now understand this verb as derived from the root II שָׁאַף (sha’af, “to crush; to trample”), an alternate form of שׁוּף (shuf), rather than from I שָׁאַף (sha’af, “to pant, to gasp”; cf. KJV, ASV, NASB).
21 tn Heb “those who stomp on the dirt of the ground on the head of the poor.” It is possible to render the line as “they trample the heads of the poor into the dust of the ground,” thereby communicating that the poor are being stepped on in utter contempt (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 79-80). The participial form הַשֹּׁאֲפִים (hasho’afim) is substantival and stands in apposition to the pronominal suffix on מִכְרָם (mikhram, v. 6b).
22 tn Heb “they turn aside the way of the destitute.” Many interpreters take “way” to mean “just cause” and understand this as a direct reference to the rights of the destitute being ignored. The injustice done to the poor is certainly in view, but the statement is better taken as a word picture depicting the powerful rich pushing the “way of the poor” (i.e., their attempt to be treated justly) to the side. An even more vivid picture is given in Amos 5:12, where the rich are pictured as turning the poor away from the city gate (where legal decisions were made, and therefore where justice should be done).
23 sn Most interpreters see some type of sexual immorality here (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT), even though the Hebrew phrase הָלַךְ אֶל (halakh ’el, “go to”) never refers elsewhere to sexual intercourse. (The usual idiom is בוֹא אֶל [bo’ ’el]. However, S. M. Paul (Amos [Hermeneia], 82) attempts to develop a linguistic case for a sexual connotation here.) The precise identification of the “girl” in question is not clear. Some see the referent as a cultic prostitute (cf. NAB; v. 8 suggests a cultic setting), but the term נַעֲרָה (na’arah) nowhere else refers to a prostitute. Because of the contextual emphasis on social oppression, some suggest the exploitation of a slave girl is in view. H. Barstad argues that the “girl” is the hostess at a pagan מַרְזֵחַ (marzeakh) banquet (described at some length in 6:4-7). In his view the sin described here is not sexual immorality, but idolatry (see H. Barstad, The Religious Polemics of Amos [VTSup], 33-36). In this case, one might translate, “Father and son go together to a pagan banquet.” In light of this cultic context, F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman argue that this is a reference to a specific female deity (“the Girl”) and correlate this verse with 8:14 (Amos [AB], 318-19).
24 tn Or “pollute”; “desecrate”; “dishonor.”
25 tn Heb “my holy name.” Here “name” is used metonymically for God’s moral character or reputation, while “holy” has a moral and ethical connotation.
26 sn The expression cows of Bashan is used by the prophet to address the wealthy women of Samaria, who demand that their husbands satisfy their cravings. The derogatory language perhaps suggests that they, like the livestock of Bashan, were well fed, ironically in preparation for the coming slaughter. This phrase is sometimes cited to critique the book’s view of women.
27 tn Heb “the ones who” (three times in this verse).
28 tn Heb “their.”
29 sn Some commentators relate this scene to the description of the marzeah feast of 6:3-6, in which drinking played a prominent part (see the note at 6:6).
30 tn See the note on the word “trample” in 2:7.
31 tn Or “put an end to”; or “exterminate.”
32 tn The first person pronoun (a reference to the
33 tn Heb “those who swear [oaths] falsely.” Cf. NIV “perjurers”; TEV “those who give false testimony”; NLT “liars.”
34 tn Heb “and against the oppressors of the worker for a wage, [the] widow and orphan.”
35 tn Heb “those who turn aside.”
36 tn Or “resident foreigner”; NIV “aliens”; NRSV “the alien.”
37 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
38 tn Grk “eating and drinking the things from them” (an idiom for what the people in the house provide the guests).
39 sn On the phrase the worker deserves his pay see 1 Tim 5:18 and 1 Cor 9:14.