Amos 5:7

5:7 The Israelites ¹  turn justice into bitterness; ² 

they throw what is fair and right ³  to the ground. ⁴ 

Amos 5:14-15

5:14 Seek good and not evil so you can live!

Then the Lord, the God who commands armies, just might be with you,

as you claim he is.

5:15 Hate what is wrong, love what is right!

Promote ⁵  justice at the city gate! ⁶ 

Maybe the Lord, the God who commands armies, will have mercy on ⁷  those who are left from ⁸  Joseph. ⁹ 

Job 29:12-17

29:12 for I rescued the poor who cried out for help,

and the orphan who ¹⁰  had no one to assist him;

29:13 the blessing of the dying man descended on me, ¹¹ 

and I made the widow’s heart rejoice; ¹² 

29:14 I put on righteousness and it clothed me, ¹³ 

my just dealing ¹⁴  was like a robe and a turban;

29:15 I was eyes for the blind

and feet for the lame;

29:16 I was a father ¹⁵  to the needy,

and I investigated the case of the person I did not know;

29:17 I broke the fangs ¹⁶  of the wicked,

and made him drop ¹⁷  his prey from his teeth.

Proverbs 21:3

21:3 To do righteousness and justice

is more acceptable ¹⁸  to the Lord than sacrifice. ¹⁹ 

Hosea 6:6

6:6 For I delight in faithfulness, not simply in sacrifice;

I delight ²⁰  in acknowledging God, not simply in whole burnt offerings. ²¹ 

Micah 6:8

6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good,

and what the Lord really wants from you: ²² 

He wants you to ²³  promote ²⁴  justice, to be faithful, ²⁵ 

and to live obediently before ²⁶  your God.

Mark 12:32-34

12:32 The expert in the law said to him, “That is true, Teacher; you are right to say that he is one, and there is no one else besides him. ²⁷  12:33 And to love him with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength ²⁸  and to love your neighbor as yourself ²⁹  is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 12:34 When Jesus saw that he had answered thoughtfully, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” Then no one dared any longer to question him.

[5:7]  ¹ tn Heb “Those who”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity. In light of vv. 11-13, it is also possible that the words are directed at a more limited group within the nation – those with social and economic power.

[5:7]  ² tn There is an interesting wordplay here with the verb הָפַךְ (hafakh, “overturn, turn”). Israel “turns” justice into wormwood (cf. 6:12), while the Lord “turns” darkness into morning (v. 8; cf. 4:11; 8:10). Israel’s turning is for evil, whereas the Lord’s is to demonstrate his absolute power and sovereignty.

[5:7]  ³ tn Heb “they throw righteousness.”

[5:7]  ⁴ sn In v. 7 the prophet begins to describe the guilty Israelites, but then interrupts his word picture with a parenthetical, but powerful, description of the judge they must face (vv. 8-9). He resumes his description of the sinners in v. 10.

[5:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “set up, establish.” In the ancient Near East it was the responsibility especially of the king to establish justice. Here the prophet extends that demand to local leaders and to the nation as a whole (cf. 5:24).

[5:15]  ⁶ sn Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate (see the note in v. 12). This repetition of this phrase serves to highlight a deliberate contrast to the injustices cited in vv. 11-13.

[5:15]  ⁷ tn Or “will show favor to.”

[5:15]  ⁸ tn Or “the remnant of” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “what’s left of your people.”

[5:15]  ⁹ sn Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.

[29:12]  ¹⁰ tn The negative introduces a clause that serves as a negative attribute; literally the following clause says, “and had no helper” (see GKC 482 §152.u).

[29:13]  ¹¹ tn The verb is simply בּוֹא (bo’, “to come; to enter”). With the preposition עַל (’al, “upon”) it could mean “came to me,” or “came upon me,” i.e., descended (see R. Gordis, Job, 320).

[29:13]  ¹² tn The verb אַרְנִן (’arnin) is from רָנַן (ranan, “to give a ringing cry”) but here “cause to give a ringing cry,” i.e., shout of joy. The rejoicing envisioned in this word is far greater than what the words “sing” or “rejoice” suggest.

[29:14]  ¹³ tn Both verbs in this first half-verse are from לָבַשׁ (lavash, “to clothe; to put on clothing”). P. Joüon changed the vowels to get a verb “it adorned me” instead of “it clothed me” (Bib 11 [1930]: 324). The figure of clothing is used for the character of the person: to wear righteousness is to be righteous.

[29:14]  ¹⁴ tn The word מִשְׁפָּטִי (mishpati) is simply “my justice” or “my judgment.” It refers to the decisions he made in settling issues, how he dealt with other people justly.

[29:16]  ¹⁵ sn The word “father” does not have a wide range of meanings in the OT. But there are places that it is metaphorical, especially in a legal setting like this where the poor need aid.

[29:17]  ¹⁶ tn The word rendered “fangs” actually means “teeth,” i.e., the molars probably; it is used frequently of the teeth of wild beasts. Of course, the language is here figurative, comparing the oppressing enemy to a preying animal.

[29:17]  ¹⁷ tn “I made [him] drop.” The verb means “to throw; to cast,” throw in the sense of “to throw away.” But in the context with the figure of the beast with prey in its mouth, “drop” or “cast away” is the idea. Driver finds another cognate meaning “rescue” (see AJSL 52 [1935/36]: 163).

[21:3]  ¹⁸ tn The Niphal participle בָּחַר (bakhar, “to choose”) means “choice to the Lord” or “chosen of the Lord,” meaning “acceptable to the Lord”; cf. TEV “pleases the Lord more.”

[21:3]  ¹⁹ sn The Lord prefers righteousness above religious service (e.g., Prov 15:8; 21:29; 1 Sam 15:22; Ps 40:6-8; Isa 1:11-17). This is not a rejection of ritual worship; rather, religious acts are without value apart from righteous living.

[6:6]  ²⁰ tn The phrase “I delight” does not appear in the Hebrew text a second time in this verse, but is implied from the parallelism in the preceding line.

[6:6]  ²¹ sn Contrary to popular misunderstanding, Hosea does not reject animal sacrifice nor cultic ritual, and advocate instead obedience only. Rather, God does not delight in ritual sacrifice without the accompanying prerequisite moral obedience (1 Sam 15:22; Pss 40:6-8; 51:16-17; Prov 21:3; Isa 1:11-17; Jer 7:21-23; Hos 6:6; Mic 6:6-8). However, if prerequisite moral obedience is present, he delights in sacrificial worship as an outward expression (Ps 51:19). Presented by a repentant obedient worshiper, whole burnt offerings were “an aroma pleasing” to the Lord (Lev 1:9, 13).

[6:8]  ²² sn What the Lord really wants from you. Now the prophet switches roles and answers the hypothetical worshiper’s question. He makes it clear that the Lord desires proper attitudes more than ritual and sacrifice.

[6:8]  ²³ tn Heb “except.” This statement is actually linked with what precedes, “What does he want from you except….”

[6:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “to do,” in the sense of “promote.”

[6:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “to love faithfulness.”

[6:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “to walk humbly [or perhaps, “carefully”] with.”

[12:32]  ²⁷ sn A quotation from Deut 4:35.

[12:33]  ²⁸ sn A quotation from Deut 6:5.

[12:33]  ²⁹ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.