10:17 Lord, you have heard 1 the request 2 of the oppressed;
you make them feel secure because you listen to their prayer. 3
34:6 This oppressed man cried out and the Lord heard;
he saved him 4 from all his troubles.
72:12 For he will rescue the needy 5 when they cry out for help,
and the oppressed 6 who have no defender.
72:13 He will take pity 7 on the poor and needy;
the lives of the needy he will save.
72:14 From harm and violence he will defend them; 8
he will value their lives. 9
102:17 when he responds to the prayer of the destitute, 10
and does not reject 11 their request. 12
102:20 in order to hear the painful cries of the prisoners,
and to set free those condemned to die, 13
66:2 My hand made them; 14
that is how they came to be,” 15 says the Lord.
I show special favor 16 to the humble and contrite,
who respect what I have to say. 17
4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed 18 me to proclaim good news 19 to the poor. 20
He has sent me 21 to proclaim release 22 to the captives
and the regaining of sight 23 to the blind,
to set free 24 those who are oppressed, 25
1 sn You have heard. The psalmist is confident that God has responded positively to his earlier petitions for divine intervention. The psalmist apparently prayed the words of vv. 16-18 after the reception of an oracle of deliverance (given in response to the confident petition of vv. 12-15) or after the Lord actually delivered him from his enemies.
2 tn Heb “desire.”
3 tn Heb “you make firm their heart, you cause your ear to listen.”
4 tn The pronoun refers back to “this oppressed man,” namely, the psalmist.
5 tn The singular is representative. The typical needy individual here represents the entire group.
6 tn The singular is representative. The typical oppressed individual here represents the entire group.
7 tn The prefixed verb form is best understood as a defectively written imperfect (see Deut 7:16).
8 tn Or “redeem their lives.” The verb “redeem” casts the
9 tn Heb “their blood will be precious in his eyes.”
10 tn The Hebrew adjective עַרְעָר (’arar, “destitute”) occurs only here in the OT. It is derived from the verbal root ערר (“to strip oneself”).
11 tn Heb “despise.”
12 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.
13 tn Heb “the sons of death.” The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 79:11) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.
14 tn Heb “all these.” The phrase refers to the heavens and earth, mentioned in the previous verse.
15 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.”
16 tn Heb “and to this one I look” (KJV and NASB both similar).
17 tn Heb “to the humble and the lowly in spirit and the one who trembles at my words.”
18 sn The phrase he has anointed me is an allusion back to Jesus’ baptism in Luke 3:21-22.
19 tn Grk “to evangelize,” “to preach the gospel.”
20 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.
21 tc The majority of
22 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).
23 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).
24 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.
25 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).