Discovery BoxEsther 4:11
Context4:11 “All the servants of the king and the people of the king’s provinces know that there is only one law applicable 1 to any man or woman who comes uninvited to the king in the inner court – that person will be put to death, unless the king extends to him the gold scepter, permitting him to be spared. 2 Now I have not been invited to come to the king for some thirty days!”
Esther 4:14
Context4:14 “Don’t imagine that because you are part of the king’s household you will be the one Jew 3 who will escape. If you keep quiet at this time, liberation and protection for the Jews will appear 4 from another source, 5 while you and your father’s household perish. It may very well be 6 that you have achieved royal status 7 for such a time as this!”
Proverbs 24:11-12
Context24:11 Deliver those being taken away to death,
and hold back those slipping to the slaughter. 8
24:12 If you say, “But we did not know about this,”
does not the one who evaluates 9 hearts consider?
Does not the one who guards your life know?
Will he not repay each person according to his deeds? 10
Amos 5:11-13
Context5:11 Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops 11
and exact a grain tax from them,
you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone,
nor will you drink the wine from the fine 12 vineyards you planted. 13
5:12 Certainly 14 I am aware of 15 your many rebellious acts 16
and your numerous sins.
You 17 torment the innocent, you take bribes,
and you deny justice to 18 the needy at the city gate. 19
5:13 For this reason whoever is smart 20 keeps quiet 21 in such a time,
for it is an evil 22 time.
Micah 7:3
Context7:3 They are determined to be experts at doing evil; 23
government officials and judges take bribes, 24
prominent men make demands,
and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them. 25
[4:11] 1 tn Heb “one is his law”; NASB “he (the king NIV) has but one law”
[4:11] 2 tn Heb “and he will live”; KJV, ASV “that he may live”; NIV “and spare his life.”
[4:14] 3 tn Heb “from all the Jews”; KJV “more than all the Jews”; NIV “you alone of all the Jews.”
[4:14] 4 tn Heb “stand”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NLT “arise.”
[4:14] 5 tn Heb “place” (so KJV, NIV, NLT); NRSV “from another quarter.” This is probably an oblique reference to help coming from God. D. J. A. Clines disagrees; in his view a contrast between deliverance by Esther and deliverance by God is inappropriate (Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther [NCBC], 302). But Clines’ suggestion that perhaps the reference is to deliverance by Jewish officials or by armed Jewish revolt is less attractive than seeing this veiled reference as part of the literary strategy of the book, which deliberately keeps God’s providential dealings entirely in the background.
[4:14] 6 tn Heb “And who knows whether” (so NASB). The question is one of hope, but free of presumption. Cf. Jonah 3:9.
[4:14] 7 tn Heb “have come to the kingdom”; NRSV “to royal dignity”; NIV “to royal position”; NLT “have been elevated to the palace.”
[24:11] 8 tn The idea of “slipping” (participle from מוֹט, mot) has troubled some commentators. G. R. Driver emends it to read “at the point of” (“Problems in Proverbs,” ZAW 50 [1932]: 146). But the MT as it stands makes good sense. The reference would be general, viz., to help any who are in mortal danger or who might be tottering on the edge of such disaster – whether through sin, or through disease, war, or danger. Several English versions (e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV) render this term as “staggering.”
[24:12] 9 tn Heb “weighs” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV) meaning “tests” or “evaluates.”
[24:12] 10 sn The verse completes the saying by affirming that people will be judged responsible for helping those in mortal danger. The verse uses a series of rhetorical questions to affirm that God knows our hearts and we cannot plead ignorance.
[5:11] 11 tn Traditionally, “because you trample on the poor” (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). The traditional view derives the verb from בּוּס (bus, “to trample”; cf. Isa. 14:25), but more likely it is cognate to an Akkadian verb meaning “to exact an agricultural tax” (see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 49; S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 172-73).
[5:11] 12 tn Or “lovely”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “pleasant”; NAB “choice”; NIV “lush.”
[5:11] 13 tn Heb “Houses of chiseled stone you built, but you will not live in them. Fine vineyards you planted, but you will not drink their wine.”
[5:12] 15 tn Or “I know” (so most English versions).
[5:12] 16 tn Or “transgressions,” “sins.” See the note on the word “crimes” in 1:3 and on the phrase “covenant violations” in 2:4.
[5:12] 18 tn Heb “turn aside.” They “turn aside” the needy by denying them the justice they deserve at the city gate (where legal decisions were made, and therefore where justice should be done).
[5:12] 19 sn Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate, where the town elders met.
[5:13] 20 tn Or “the wise”; or “the prudent.” Another option is to translate “the successful, prosperous” and understand this as a reference to the rich oppressors. See G. V. Smith, Amos, 169-70. In this case the following verb will also have a different nuance, that is, the wealthy remain silent before the abuses they perpetuate. See the note on the verb translated “keeps quiet” later in this verse.
[5:13] 21 tn Or “moans, laments,” from a homonymic verbal root. If the rich oppressors are in view, then the verb (whether translated “will be silenced” or “will lament”) describes the result of God’s judgment upon them. See G. V. Smith, Amos, 170.
[5:13] 22 tn If this is a judgment announcement against the rich, then the Hebrew phrase עֵת רָעָה (’et ra’ah) must be translated, “[a] disastrous time.” See G. V. Smith, Amos, 170.
[7:3] 23 tn Heb “upon evil [are their] hands to do [it] well.”
[7:3] 24 tn Heb “the official asks – and the judge – for a bribe.”
[7:3] 25 tn More literally, “the great one announces what his appetite desires and they weave it together.” Apparently this means that subordinates plot and maneuver to make sure the prominent man’s desires materialize.
