Deuteronomy 15:9

15:9 Be careful lest you entertain the wicked thought that the seventh year, the year of cancellation of debts, has almost arrived, and your attitude ¹  be wrong toward your impoverished fellow Israelite ²  and you do not lend ³  him anything; he will cry out to the Lord against you and you will be regarded as having sinned. ⁴ 

Exodus 22:23-24

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 

Job 31:38

Job’s Final Solemn Oath ⁹ 

31:38 “If my land cried out against me ¹⁰ 

and all its furrows wept together,

Job 34:28

34:28 so that they caused ¹¹  the cry of the poor

to come before him,

so that he hears ¹²  the cry of the needy.

Job 35:9

35:9 “People ¹³  cry out

because of the excess of oppression; ¹⁴ 

they cry out for help

because of the power ¹⁵  of the mighty. ¹⁶ 

Proverbs 22:22-23

22:22 Do not exploit ¹⁷  a poor person because he is poor

and do not crush the needy in court, ¹⁸ 

22:23 for the Lord will plead their case ¹⁹ 

and will rob those who are robbing ²⁰  them.

Proverbs 23:10-11

23:10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone,

or take over ²¹  the fields of the fatherless,

23:11 for their Protector ²²  is strong;

he will plead their case against you. ²³ 

Isaiah 5:7

5:7 Indeed ²⁴  Israel ²⁵  is the vineyard of the Lord who commands armies,

the people ²⁶  of Judah are the cultivated place in which he took delight.

He waited for justice, but look what he got – disobedience! ²⁷ 

He waited for fairness, but look what he got – cries for help! ²⁸ 

James 5:4

5:4 Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

[15:9]  ¹ tn Heb “your eye.”

[15:9]  ² tn Heb “your needy brother.”

[15:9]  ³ tn Heb “give” (likewise in v. 10).

[15:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “it will be a sin to you.”

[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.

[31:38]  ⁹ sn Many commentators place vv. 38-40b at the end of v. 34, so that there is no return to these conditional clauses after his final appeal.

[31:38]  ¹⁰ sn Some commentators have suggested that the meaning behind this is that Job might not have kept the year of release (Deut 15:1), and the law against mixing seed (Lev 19:19). But the context will make clear that the case considered is obtaining the land without paying for it and causing the death of its lawful owner (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 206). Similar to this would be the case of Naboth’s vineyard.

[34:28]  ¹¹ tn The verse begins with the infinitive construct of בּוֹא (bo’, “go”), showing the result of their impious actions.

[34:28]  ¹² tn The verb here is an imperfect; the clause is circumstantial to the preceding clause, showing either the result, or the concomitant action.

[35:9]  ¹³ tn The word “people” is supplied, because the sentence only has the masculine plural verb.

[35:9]  ¹⁴ tn The final noun is an abstract plural, “oppression.” There is no reason to change it to “oppressors” to fit the early versions. The expression is literally “multitude of oppression.”

[35:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the arm,” a metaphor for strength or power.

[35:9]  ¹⁶ tn Or “of the many” (see HALOT 1172 s.v. I רַב 6.a).

[22:22]  ¹⁷ tn Two negated jussives form the instruction here: אַל־תִּגְזָל (’al-tigzal, “do not exploit”) and וְאַל־תְּדַכֵּא (ve’al-tÿdakke’, “do not crush”).

[22:22]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “in the gate” (so KJV); NAB, NASB, NRSV “at the gate.” The “gate” of the city was the center of activity, the place of business as well as the place for settling legal disputes. The language of the next verse suggests a legal setting, so “court” is an appropriate translation here.

[22:23]  ¹⁹ tn The construction uses the verb יָרִיב (yariv) with its cognate accusative. It can mean “to strive,” but here it probably means “to argue a case, plead a case” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV). How the Lord will do this is not specified – either through righteous people or by direct intervention.

[22:23]  ²⁰ tn The verb קָבַע (qava’, “to rob; to spoil; to plunder”) is used here in both places to reflect the principle of talionic justice. What the oppressors did to the poor will be turned back on them by the Lord.

[23:10]  ²¹ tn Or “encroach on” (NIV, NRSV); Heb “go into.”

[23:11]  ²² tn The participle גֹּאֵל (go’el) describes a “kinsman redeemer.” Some English versions explicitly cite “God” (e.g., NCV, CEV) or “the Lord” (e.g. TEV).

[23:11]  ²³ sn This is the tenth saying; once again there is a warning not to encroach on other people’s rights and property, especially the defenseless (see v. 10; 22:22-23, 28).

[5:7]  ²⁴ tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[5:7]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the house of Israel” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[5:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “men,” but in a generic sense.

[5:7]  ²⁷ tn Heb “but, look, disobedience.” The precise meaning of מִשְׂפָּח (mishpakh), which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. Some have suggested a meaning “bloodshed.” The term is obviously chosen for its wordplay value; it sounds very much like מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat, “justice”). The sound play draws attention to the point being made; the people have not met the Lord’s expectations.

[5:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “but, look, a cry for help.” The verb (“he waited”) does double duty in the parallelism. צְעָקָה (tsa’qah) refers to the cries for help made by the oppressed. It sounds very much like צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah, “fairness”). The sound play draws attention to the point being made; the people have not met the Lord’s expectations.