10:14 You have taken notice, 1
for 2 you always see 3 one who inflicts pain and suffering. 4
The unfortunate victim entrusts his cause to you; 5
you deliver 6 the fatherless. 7
34:6 This oppressed man cried out and the Lord heard;
he saved him 8 from all his troubles.
40:17 I am oppressed and needy! 9
May the Lord pay attention to me! 10
You are my helper and my deliverer!
O my God, do not delay!
72:12 For he will rescue the needy 11 when they cry out for help,
and the oppressed 12 who have no defender.
72:13 He will take pity 13 on the poor and needy;
the lives of the needy he will save.
72:14 From harm and violence he will defend them; 14
he will value their lives. 15
102:17 when he responds to the prayer of the destitute, 16
and does not reject 17 their request. 18
119:22 Spare me 19 shame and humiliation,
for I observe your rules.
140:12 I know 20 that the Lord defends the cause of the oppressed
and vindicates the poor. 21
66:2 My hand made them; 22
that is how they came to be,” 23 says the Lord.
I show special favor 24 to the humble and contrite,
who respect what I have to say. 25
5:3 “Blessed 26 are the poor in spirit, 27 for the kingdom of heaven belongs 28 to them.
4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed 29 me to proclaim good news 30 to the poor. 31
He has sent me 32 to proclaim release 33 to the captives
and the regaining of sight 34 to the blind,
to set free 35 those who are oppressed, 36
1:9 Now the believer 37 of humble means 38 should take pride 39 in his high position. 40 1:10 But the rich person’s pride should be in his humiliation, because he will pass away like a wildflower in the meadow. 41
1 tn Heb “you see.” One could translate the perfect as generalizing, “you do take notice.”
2 tn If the preceding perfect is taken as generalizing, then one might understand כִּי (ki) as asseverative: “indeed, certainly.”
3 tn Here the imperfect emphasizes God’s typical behavior.
4 tn Heb “destruction and suffering,” which here refers metonymically to the wicked, who dish out pain and suffering to their victims.
5 tn Heb “to give into your hand, upon you, he abandons, [the] unfortunate [one].” The syntax is awkward and the meaning unclear. It is uncertain who or what is being given into God’s hand. Elsewhere the idiom “give into the hand” means to deliver into one’s possession. If “to give” goes with what precedes (as the accentuation of the Hebrew text suggests), then this may refer to the wicked man being delivered over to God for judgment. The present translation assumes that “to give” goes with what follows (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). The verb יַעֲזֹב (ya’azov) here has the nuance “entrust” (see Gen 39:6; Job 39:11); the direct object (“[his] cause”) is implied.
6 tn Or “help.”
7 tn Heb “[for] one who is fatherless, you are a deliverer.” The noun יָתוֹם (yatom) refers to one who has lost his father (not necessarily his mother, see Ps 109:9).
8 tn The pronoun refers back to “this oppressed man,” namely, the psalmist.
9 sn See Pss 35:10; 37:14.
10 tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a jussive of prayer (as in the present translation; cf. NIV) or as an imperfect, “The
11 tn The singular is representative. The typical needy individual here represents the entire group.
12 tn The singular is representative. The typical oppressed individual here represents the entire group.
13 tn The prefixed verb form is best understood as a defectively written imperfect (see Deut 7:16).
14 tn Or “redeem their lives.” The verb “redeem” casts the
15 tn Heb “their blood will be precious in his eyes.”
16 tn The Hebrew adjective עַרְעָר (’arar, “destitute”) occurs only here in the OT. It is derived from the verbal root ערר (“to strip oneself”).
17 tn Heb “despise.”
18 tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 16-17 are functioning as future perfects, indicating future actions that will precede the future developments described in v. 15.
19 tn Heb “roll away from upon me.” Some derive the imperatival form גַּל (gal) from גָּלָה (galah, “uncover,” as in v. 18), but here the form is from גָּלַל (galal, “roll”; see Josh 5:9, where חֶרְפָּה [kherpah, “shame; reproach”] also appears as object of the verb). Some, following the lead of a Dead Sea scroll (11QPsa), emend the form to גֹּל (gol).
20 tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew
21 tn Heb “and the just cause of the poor.”
22 tn Heb “all these.” The phrase refers to the heavens and earth, mentioned in the previous verse.
23 tn Heb “and all these were.” Some prefer to emend וַיִּהְיוּ (vayyihyu, “and they were”) to וְלִי הָיוּ (vÿli hayu, “and to me they were”), i.e., “and they belong to me.”
24 tn Heb “and to this one I look” (KJV and NASB both similar).
25 tn Heb “to the humble and the lowly in spirit and the one who trembles at my words.”
26 sn The term Blessed introduces the first of several beatitudes promising blessing to those whom God cares for. They serve as an invitation to come into the grace God offers.
27 sn The poor in spirit is a reference to the “pious poor” for whom God especially cares. See Ps 14:6; 22:24; 25:16; 34:6; 40:17; 69:29.
28 sn The present tense (belongs) here is significant. Jesus makes the kingdom and its blessings currently available. This phrase is unlike the others in the list with the possessive pronoun being emphasized.
29 sn The phrase he has anointed me is an allusion back to Jesus’ baptism in Luke 3:21-22.
30 tn Grk “to evangelize,” “to preach the gospel.”
31 sn The poor is a key term in Luke. It refers to the pious poor and indicates Jesus’ desire to reach out to those the world tends to forget or mistreat. It is like 1:52 in force and also will be echoed in 6:20 (also 1 Pet 2:11-25). Jesus is commissioned to do this.
32 tc The majority of
33 sn The release in view here is comprehensive, both at a physical level and a spiritual one, as the entire ministry of Jesus makes clear (Luke 1:77-79; 7:47; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 5:31; 10:43).
34 sn Again, as with the previous phrase, regaining of sight may well mean more than simply miraculously restoring physical sight, which itself pictures a deeper reality (Luke 1:77-79; 18:35-43).
35 sn The essence of Jesus’ messianic work is expressed in the phrase to set free. This line from Isa 58 says that Jesus will do what the nation had failed to do. It makes the proclamation messianic, not merely prophetic, because Jesus doesn’t just proclaim the message – he brings the deliverance. The word translated set free is the same Greek word (ἄφεσις, afesi") translated release earlier in the verse.
36 sn Again, as with the previous phrases, oppressed may well mean more than simply political or economic oppression, but a deeper reality of oppression by sin (Luke 1:77-79; 18:35-43).
37 tn Grk “brother.” Here the term “brother” means “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. TEV, NLT “Christians”; CEV “God’s people”). The term broadly connotes familial relationships within the family of God (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a).
38 tn Grk “the lowly brother,” but “lowly/humble” is clarified in context by the contrast with “wealthy” in v. 10.
39 tn Grk “let him boast.”
40 tn Grk “his height,” “his exaltation.”
41 tn Grk “a flower of grass.”
42 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.