Deuteronomy 10:18

10:18 who justly treats ¹  the orphan and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing.

Deuteronomy 24:17

24:17 You must not pervert justice due a resident foreigner or an orphan, or take a widow’s garment as security for a loan.

Exodus 22:21-24

22:21 “You must not wrong ²  a foreigner ³  nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

22:22 “You must not afflict ⁴  any widow or orphan. 22:23 If you afflict them ⁵  in any way ⁶  and they cry to me, I will surely hear ⁷  their cry, 22:24 and my anger will burn and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will be widows and your children will be fatherless. ⁸ 

Exodus 23:2

23:2 “You must not follow a crowd ⁹  in doing evil things; ¹⁰  in a lawsuit you must not offer testimony that agrees with a crowd so as to pervert justice, ¹¹ 

Exodus 23:8-9

23:8 “You must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see ¹²  and subverts the words of the righteous.

23:9 “You must not oppress ¹³  a foreigner, since you know the life ¹⁴  of a foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

Psalms 82:2-4

82:2 He says, ¹⁵  “How long will you make unjust legal decisions

and show favoritism to the wicked? ¹⁶  (Selah)

82:3 Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless! ¹⁷ 

Vindicate the oppressed and suffering!

82:4 Rescue the poor and needy!

Deliver them from the power ¹⁸  of the wicked!

Proverbs 17:23

17:23 A wicked person receives a bribe secretly ¹⁹ 

to pervert ²⁰  the ways of justice.

Proverbs 31:5

31:5 lest they drink and forget what is decreed,

and remove ²¹  from all the poor ²²  their legal rights. ²³ 

Micah 3:9

3:9 Listen to this, you leaders of the family ²⁴  of Jacob,

you rulers of the nation ²⁵  of Israel!

You ²⁶  hate justice

and pervert all that is right.

Malachi 3:5

3:5 “I ²⁷  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, ²⁸  and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, ²⁹  who refuse to help ³⁰  the immigrant ³¹  and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.

[10:18]  ¹ tn Or “who executes justice for” (so NAB, NRSV); NLT “gives justice to.”

[22:21]  ² tn Or “oppress.”

[22:21]  ³ tn Or “alien,” both here and in 23:9. This individual is a resident foreigner; he lives in the land but, aside from provisions such as this, might easily be without legal rights.

[22:22]  ⁴ tn The verb “afflict” is a Piel imperfect from עָנָה (’anah); it has a wide range of meanings: “afflict, oppress, humiliate, rape.” These victims are at the mercy of the judges, businessmen, or villains. The righteous king and the righteous people will not mistreat them (see Isa 1:17; Job 31:16, 17, 21).

[22:23]  ⁵ tn The accusative here is the masculine singular pronoun, which leads S. R. Driver to conclude that this line is out of place, even though the masculine singular can be used in places like this (Exodus, 232). U. Cassuto says its use is to refer to certain classes (Exodus, 292).

[22:23]  ⁶ tn Here again and with “cry” the infinitive absolute functions with a diminished emphasis (GKC 342-43 §113.o).

[22:23]  ⁷ tn Here is the normal use of the infinitive absolute with the imperfect tense to emphasize the verb: “I will surely hear,” implying, “I will surely respond.”

[22:24]  ⁸ sn The punishment will follow the form of talionic justice, an eye for an eye, in which the punishment matches the crime. God will use invading armies (“sword” is a metonymy of adjunct here) to destroy them, making their wives widows and their children orphans.

[23:2]  ⁹ tn The word רָבִּים (rabbim), here rendered “crowd,” is also used infrequently to refer to the “mighty,” people of importance in society (Job 35:9; cf. Lev 19:15).

[23:2]  ¹⁰ tn For any individual to join a group that is bent on acting wickedly would be a violation of the Law and would incur personal responsibility.

[23:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you will not answer in a lawsuit to turn after the crowd to turn.” The form translated “agrees with” (Heb “to turn after”) is a Qal infinitive construct from נָטָה (natah); the same root is used at the end of the verse but as a Hiphil infinitive construct, “to pervert [justice].”

[23:8]  ¹² tn Heb “blinds the open-eyed.”

[23:9]  ¹³ tn The verb means “to crush.” S. R. Driver notes that in this context this would probably mean with an unfair judgment in the courts (Exodus, 239).

[23:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “soul, life” – “you know what it feels like.”

[82:2]  ¹⁵ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation to indicate that the following speech is God’s judicial decision (see v. 1).

[82:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and the face of the wicked lift up.”

[82:3]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew noun יָתוֹם (yatom) refers to one who has lost his father (not necessarily his mother, see Ps 109:9). Because they were so vulnerable and were frequently exploited, fatherless children are often mentioned as epitomizing the oppressed (see Pss 10:14; 68:5; 94:6; 146:9; as well as Job 6:27; 22:9; 24:3, 9; 29:12; 31:17, 21).

[82:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “hand.”

[17:23]  ¹⁹ sn The fact that the “gift” is given secretly (Heb “from the bosom” [מֵחֵיק, mekheq]; so NASB) indicates that it was not proper. Cf. NRSV “a concealed bribe”; TEV, CEV, NLT “secret bribes.”

[17:23]  ²⁰ tn The form לְהַטּוֹת (lÿhattot) is the Hiphil infinitive construct of נָטָה (natah), meaning “to thrust away,” i.e., to “pervert.” This purpose clause clarifies that the receiving of the “gift” is for evil intent.

[31:5]  ²¹ tn The verb means “change,” perhaps expressed in reversing decisions or removing rights.

[31:5]  ²² tn Heb “all the children of poverty.” This expression refers to the poor by nature. Cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV “the afflicted”; NIV “oppressed.”

[31:5]  ²³ sn The word is דִּין (din, “judgment”; so KJV). In this passage it refers to the cause or the plea for justice, i.e., the “legal rights.”

[3:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “house.”

[3:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “house.”

[3:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons (also at the beginning of v. 10).

[3:5]  ²⁷ tn The first person pronoun (a reference to the Lord) indicates that the Lord himself now speaks (see also v. 1). The prophet speaks in vv. 2-4 (see also 2:17).

[3:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “those who swear [oaths] falsely.” Cf. NIV “perjurers”; TEV “those who give false testimony”; NLT “liars.”

[3:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and against the oppressors of the worker for a wage, [the] widow and orphan.”

[3:5]  ³⁰ tn Heb “those who turn aside.”

[3:5]  ³¹ tn Or “resident foreigner”; NIV “aliens”; NRSV “the alien.”