Ezekiel 18:12

18:12 oppresses the poor and the needy, ¹  commits robbery, does not give back what was given in pledge, prays to ²  idols, performs abominable acts,

Ezekiel 18:16

18:16 does not oppress anyone or keep what has been given in pledge, does not commit robbery, gives his food to the hungry, and clothes the naked,

Ezekiel 18:18

18:18 As for his father, because he practices extortion, robs his brother, and does what is not good among his people, he will die for his iniquity.

Ezekiel 22:12-13

22:12 They take bribes within you to shed blood. You engage in usury and charge interest; ³  you extort money from your neighbors. You have forgotten me, ⁴  declares the sovereign Lord. ⁵ 

22:13 “‘See, I strike my hands together ⁶  at the dishonest profit you have made, and at the bloodshed ⁷  they have done among you.

Ezekiel 22:27-29

22:27 Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey – shedding blood and destroying lives – so they can get dishonest profit. 22:28 Her prophets coat their messages with whitewash. ⁸  They see false visions and announce lying omens for them, saying, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says,’ when the Lord has not spoken. 22:29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have wronged the poor and needy; they have oppressed the foreigner who lives among them and denied them justice. ⁹ 

Exodus 22:21-24

22:21 “You must not wrong ¹⁰  a foreigner ¹¹  nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

22:22 “You must not afflict ¹²  any widow or orphan. 22:23 If you afflict them ¹³  in any way ¹⁴  and they cry to me, I will surely hear ¹⁵  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. ¹⁶ 

Exodus 23:9

23:9 “You must not oppress ¹⁷  a foreigner, since you know the life ¹⁸  of a foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

Leviticus 19:15

Justice, Love, and Propriety

19:15 “‘You ¹⁹  must not deal unjustly in judgment: ²⁰  you must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich. ²¹  You must judge your fellow citizen fairly. ²² 

Leviticus 25:14

25:14 If you make a sale ²³  to your fellow citizen ²⁴  or buy ²⁵  from your fellow citizen, no one is to wrong his brother. ²⁶ 

Leviticus 25:1

Regulations for the Sabbatical Year

25:1 The Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai:

Leviticus 12:3-4

12:3 On ²⁷  the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin ²⁸  must be circumcised. 12:4 Then she will remain ²⁹  thirty-three days in blood purity. ³⁰  She must not touch anything holy and she must not enter the sanctuary until the days of her purification are fulfilled. ³¹ 

Job 31:13-22

31:13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants

or my female servants

when they disputed ³²  with me,

31:14 then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment; ³³ 

when he intervenes, ³⁴ 

how will I respond to him?

31:15 Did not the one who made me in the womb make them? ³⁵ 

Did not the same one form us in the womb?

31:16 If I have refused to give the poor what they desired, ³⁶ 

or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

31:17 If I ate my morsel of bread myself,

and did not share any of it with orphans ³⁷  –

31:18 but from my youth I raised the orphan ³⁸  like a father,

and from my mother’s womb ³⁹ 

I guided the widow! ⁴⁰ 

31:19 If I have seen anyone about to perish for lack of clothing,

or a poor man without a coat,

31:20 whose heart did not bless me ⁴¹ 

as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep, ⁴² 

31:21 if I have raised my hand ⁴³  to vote against the orphan,

when I saw my support in the court, ⁴⁴ 

31:22 then ⁴⁵  let my arm fall from the shoulder, ⁴⁶ 

let my arm be broken off at the socket. ⁴⁷ 

Proverbs 3:31

3:31 Do not envy a violent man, ⁴⁸ 

and do not choose to imitate ⁴⁹  any of his ways;

Proverbs 14:31

14:31 The one who oppresses ⁵⁰  the poor insults ⁵¹  his Creator,

but whoever shows favor ⁵²  to the needy honors him.

Proverbs 22:22-23

22:22 Do not exploit ⁵³  a poor person because he is poor

and do not crush the needy in court, ⁵⁴ 

22:23 for the Lord will plead their case ⁵⁵ 

and will rob those who are robbing ⁵⁶  them.

Isaiah 1:17

1:17 Learn to do what is right!

Promote justice!

Give the oppressed reason to celebrate! ⁵⁷ 

Take up the cause of the orphan!

Defend the rights of the widow! ⁵⁸ 

Isaiah 5:7

5:7 Indeed ⁵⁹  Israel ⁶⁰  is the vineyard of the Lord who commands armies,

the people ⁶¹  of Judah are the cultivated place in which he took delight.

He waited for justice, but look what he got – disobedience! ⁶² 

He waited for fairness, but look what he got – cries for help! ⁶³ 

Isaiah 33:15

33:15 The one who lives ⁶⁴  uprightly ⁶⁵ 

and speaks honestly;

the one who refuses to profit from oppressive measures

and rejects a bribe; ⁶⁶ 

the one who does not plot violent crimes ⁶⁷ 

and does not seek to harm others ⁶⁸  –

Isaiah 58:6

58:6 No, this is the kind of fast I want. ⁶⁹ 

I want you ⁷⁰  to remove the sinful chains,

to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke,

to set free the oppressed, ⁷¹ 

and to break every burdensome yoke.

Jeremiah 7:6-7

7:6 Stop oppressing foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands. ⁷²  Stop killing innocent people ⁷³  in this land. Stop paying allegiance to ⁷⁴  other gods. That will only bring about your ruin. ⁷⁵  7:7 If you stop doing these things, ⁷⁶  I will allow you to continue to live in this land ⁷⁷  which I gave to your ancestors as a lasting possession. ⁷⁸ 

Amos 2:6

God Will Judge Israel

2:6 This is what the Lord says:

“Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions ⁷⁹  –

make that four! ⁸⁰  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ⁸¹ 

They sold the innocent ⁸²  for silver,

the needy for a pair of sandals. ⁸³ 

Amos 8:4-6

8:4 Listen to this, you who trample ⁸⁴  the needy,

and do away with ⁸⁵  the destitute in the land.

8:5 You say,

“When will the new moon festival ⁸⁶  be over, ⁸⁷  so we can sell grain?

When will the Sabbath end, ⁸⁸  so we can open up the grain bins? ⁸⁹ 

We’re eager ⁹⁰  to sell less for a higher price, ⁹¹ 

and to cheat the buyer with rigged scales! ⁹² 

8:6 We’re eager to trade silver for the poor, ⁹³ 

a pair of sandals ⁹⁴  for the needy!

We want to mix in some chaff with the grain!” ⁹⁵ 

Micah 2:1

Land Robbers Will Lose their Land

2:1 Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, ⁹⁶ 

those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. ⁹⁷ 

As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, ⁹⁸ 

because they have the power to do so.

Micah 3:2

3:2 yet you ⁹⁹  hate what is good, ¹⁰⁰ 

and love what is evil. ¹⁰¹ 

You flay my people’s skin ¹⁰² 

and rip the flesh from their bones. ¹⁰³ 

Zechariah 7:9-11

7:9 “The Lord who rules over all said, ‘Exercise true judgment and show brotherhood and compassion to each other. 7:10 You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, or the poor, nor should anyone secretly plot evil against his fellow human being.’

7:11 “But they refused to pay attention, turning away stubbornly and stopping their ears so they could not hear.

Malachi 3:5

3:5 “I ¹⁰⁴  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, ¹⁰⁵  and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, ¹⁰⁶  who refuse to help ¹⁰⁷  the immigrant ¹⁰⁸  and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.

James 5:1-6

Warning to the Rich

5:1 Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud ¹⁰⁹  over the miseries that are coming on you. 5:2 Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten. 5:3 Your gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you. It will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have hoarded treasure! ¹¹⁰  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. 5:5 You have lived indulgently and luxuriously on the earth. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. ¹¹¹  5:6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person, although he does not resist you. ¹¹² 

[18:12]  ¹ sn The poor and needy are often mentioned together in the OT (Deut 24:14; Jer 22:16; Ezek 14:69; Ps 12:6; 35:10; 37:14).

[18:12]  ² tn Heb “lifts up his eyes.”

[22:12]  ³ tn Heb “usury and interest you take.” See 18:13, 17. This kind of economic exploitation violated the law given in Lev 25:36.

[22:12]  ⁴ sn Forgetting the Lord is also addressed in Deut 6:12; 8:11, 14; Jer 3:21; 13:25; Ezek 23:35; Hos 2:15; 8:14; 13:6.

[22:12]  ⁵ tn The second person verb forms are feminine singular in Hebrew, indicating that the personified city is addressed here as representing its citizens.

[22:13]  ⁶ sn This gesture apparently expresses mourning and/or anger (see 6:11; 21:14, 17).

[22:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “the blood which was in you.”

[22:28]  ⁸ tn Heb “her prophets coat for themselves with whitewash.” The expression may be based on Ezek 13:10-15.

[22:29]  ⁹ tn Heb “and the foreigner they have oppressed without justice.”

[22:21]  ¹⁰ tn Or “oppress.”

[22:21]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Here again and with “cry” the infinitive absolute functions with a diminished emphasis (GKC 342-43 §113.o).

[22:23]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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.

[23:9]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “soul, life” – “you know what it feels like.”

[19:15]  ¹⁹ tc Smr has the singular rather than the plural “you” of the MT, which brings this verb form into line with the ones surrounding it.

[19:15]  ²⁰ tn Heb “You shall not do injustice in judgment” (NASB similar); cf. NIV “do not pervert justice.”

[19:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “You shall not lift up faces of poor [people] and you shall not honor faces of great.”

[19:15]  ²² tn Heb “In righteousness you shall judge your fellow citizen.”

[25:14]  ²³ tn Heb “sell a sale.”

[25:14]  ²⁴ tn Or “to one of your countrymen” (NIV); NASB “to your friend.”

[25:14]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew infinitive absolute קָנֹה (qanoh, “buying”) substitutes for the finite verb here in sequence with the previous finite verb “sell” at the beginning of the verse (see GKC 345 §113.z).

[25:14]  ²⁶ tn Heb “do not oppress a man his brother.” Here “brother” does not refer only to a sibling, but to a fellow Israelite.

[12:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and in….”

[12:3]  ²⁸ tn This rendering, “the flesh of his foreskin,” is literal. Based on Lev 15:2-3, one could argue that the Hebrew word for “flesh” here (בָּשָׂר, basar) is euphemistic for the male genitals and therefore translate “the foreskin of his member” (see, e.g., J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:748). A number of English versions omit this reference to the foreskin and mention only circumcision, presumably for euphemistic reasons (cf. NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[12:4]  ²⁹ tn Heb “sit, dwell” (יָשָׁב, yashav) normally means “to sit, to dwell”), but here it means “to remain, to stay” in the same condition for a period of time (cf., e.g., Gen 24:55).

[12:4]  ³⁰ tn Heb “in bloods of purification” or “purifying” or “purity”; NASB “in the blood of her purification”; NRSV “her time of blood purification.” See the following note.

[12:4]  ³¹ tn The initial seven days after the birth of a son were days of blood impurity for the woman as if she were having her menstrual period. Her impurity was contagious during this period, so no one should touch her or even furniture on which she has sat or reclined (Lev 15:19-23), lest they too become impure. Even her husband would become impure for seven days if he had sexual intercourse with her during this time (Lev 15:24; cf. 18:19). The next thirty-three days were either “days of purification, purifying” or “days of purity,” depending on how one understands the abstract noun טֹהֳרָה (toharah, “purification, purity”) in this context. During this time the woman could not touch anything holy or enter the sanctuary, but she was no longer contagious like she had been during the first seven days. She could engage in normal everyday life, including sexual intercourse, without fear of contaminating anyone else (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 73-74; cf. J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:749-50). Thus, in a sense, the thirty-three days were a time of blood “purity” (cf. the present translation) as compared to the previous seven days of blood “impurity,” but they were also a time of blood “purification” (or “purifying”) as compared to the time after the thirty-three days, when the blood atonement had been made and she was pronounced “clean” by the priest (see vv. 6-8 below). In other words, the thirty-three day period was a time of “blood” (flow), but this was “pure blood,” as opposed to the blood of the first seven days.

[31:13]  ³² tn This construction is an adverbial clause using the temporal preposition, the infinitive from רִיב (riv, “contend”), and the suffix which is the subjective genitive.

[31:14]  ³³ tn Heb “arises.” The LXX reads “takes vengeance,” an interpretation that is somewhat correct but unnecessary. The verb “to rise” would mean “to confront in judgment.”

[31:14]  ³⁴ tn The verb פָקַד (paqad) means “to visit,” but with God as the subject it means any divine intervention for blessing or cursing, anything God does that changes a person’s life. Here it is “visit to judge.”

[31:15]  ³⁵ tn Heb “him,” but the plural pronoun has been used in the translation to indicate that the referent is the servants mentioned in v. 13 (since the previous “him” in v. 14 refers to God).

[31:16]  ³⁶ tn Heb “kept the poor from [their] desire.”

[31:17]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and an orphan did not eat from it.”

[31:18]  ³⁸ tn Heb “he grew up with me.” Several commentators have decided to change the pronoun to “I,” and make it causative.

[31:18]  ³⁹ tn The expression “from my mother’s womb” is obviously hyperbolic. It is a way of saying “all his life.”

[31:18]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “I guided her,” referring to the widow mentioned in v. 16.

[31:20]  ⁴¹ tn The MT has simply “if his loins did not bless me.” In the conditional clause this is another protasis. It means, “if I saw someone dying and if he did not thank me for clothing them.” It is Job’s way of saying that whenever he saw a need he met it, and he received his share of thanks – which prove his kindness. G. R. Driver has it “without his loins having blessed me,” taking “If…not” as an Aramaism, meaning “except” (AJSL 52 [1935/36]: 164f.).

[31:20]  ⁴² tn This clause is interpreted here as a subordinate clause to the first half of the verse. It could also be a separate clause: “was he not warmed…?”

[31:21]  ⁴³ tn The expression “raised my hand” refers to a threatening manner or gesture in the court rather than a threat of physical violence in the street. Thus the words “to vote” are supplied in the translation to indicate the setting.

[31:21]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “gate,” referring to the city gate where judicial decisions were rendered in the culture of the time. The translation uses the word “court” to indicate this to the modern reader, who might not associate a city gate complex with judicial functions.

[31:22]  ⁴⁵ sn Here is the apodosis, the imprecation Job pronounces on himself if he has done any of these things just listed.

[31:22]  ⁴⁶ tn The point is that if he has raised his arm against the oppressed it should be ripped off at the joint. The MT has “let fall my shoulder [כְּתֵפִי, kÿtefi] from the nape of the neck [or shoulder blade (מִשִּׁכְמָה, mishikhmah)].”

[31:22]  ⁴⁷ tn The word קָנֶה (qaneh) is “reed; shaft; beam,” and here “shoulder joint.” All the commentaries try to explain how “reed” became “socket; joint.” This is the only place that it is used in such a sense. Whatever the exact explanation – and there seems to be no convincing view – the point of the verse is nonetheless clear.

[3:31]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “a man of violence.” The noun חָמָס (khamas, “violence”) functions as an attributive genitive. The word itself means “violence, wrong” (HALOT 329 s.v.) and refers to physical violence, social injustice, harsh treatment, wild ruthlessness, injurious words, hatred, and general rudeness (BDB 329 s.v.).

[3:31]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “do not choose.”

[14:31]  ⁵⁰ tn The verb עָשַׁק (’ashaq) normally means “to oppress” (as in many English versions). However, here it might mean “to slander.” See J. A. Emerton, “Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” JTS 20 (1969): 202-22.

[14:31]  ⁵¹ sn In the Piel this verb has the meaning of “to reproach; to taunt; to say sharp things against” someone (cf. NIV “shows contempt for”). By oppressing the poor one taunts or mistreats God because that person is in the image of God – hence the reference to the “Creator.” To ridicule what God made is to ridicule God himself.

[14:31]  ⁵² sn The phrase “shows favor” is contrasted with the term “oppresses.” To “show favor” means to be gracious to (or treat kindly) those who do not deserve it or cannot repay it. It is treatment that is gratis. This honors God because he commanded it to be done (Prov 14:21; 17:5; 19:17).

[22:22]  ⁵³ 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]  ⁵⁴ 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]  ⁵⁵ 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]  ⁵⁶ 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.

[1:17]  ⁵⁷ tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. The translation assumes an emendation of חָמוֹץ (khamots, “oppressor [?]”) to חָמוּץ (khamuts, “oppressed”), a passive participle from II חָמַץ (khamats, “oppress”; HALOT 329 s.v. II חמץ) and takes the verb II אָשַׁר (’ashar) in the sense of “make happy” (the delocutive Piel, meaning “call/pronounce happy,” is metonymic here, referring to actually effecting happiness). The parallelism favors this interpretation, for the next two lines speak of positive actions on behalf of the destitute. The other option is to retain the MT pointing and translate, “set right the oppressor,” but the nuance “set right” is not clearly attested elsewhere for the verb I אשׁר. This verb does appear as a participle in Isa 3:12 and 9:16 with the meaning “to lead or guide.” If it can mean to “lead” or “rebuke/redirect” in this verse, the prophet could be contrasting this appeal for societal reformation (v. 17c) with a command to reorder their personal lives (v. 17a-b). J. A. Motyer (The Prophecy of Isaiah, 47) suggests that these three statements (v. 17a-c) provide “the contrast between the two ends of imperfect society, the oppressor and the needy, the one inflicting and the other suffering the hurt. Isaiah looks for a transformed society wherever it needs transforming.”

[1:17]  ⁵⁸ tn This word refers to a woman who has lost her husband, by death or divorce. The orphan and widow are often mentioned in the OT as epitomizing the helpless and impoverished who have been left without the necessities of life due to the loss of a family provider.

[5:7]  ⁵⁹ tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[5:7]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “the house of Israel” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[5:7]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “men,” but in a generic sense.

[5:7]  ⁶² 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]  ⁶³ 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.

[33:15]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “walks” (so NASB, NIV).

[33:15]  ⁶⁵ tn Or, possibly, “justly”; NAB “who practices virtue.”

[33:15]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “[who] shakes off his hands from grabbing hold of a bribe.”

[33:15]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “[who] shuts his ear from listening to bloodshed.”

[33:15]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “[who] closes his eyes from seeing evil.”

[58:6]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “Is this not a fast I choose?” “No” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[58:6]  ⁷⁰ tn The words “I want you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[58:6]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “crushed.”

[7:6]  ⁷² tn Heb “Stop oppressing foreigner, orphan, and widow.”

[7:6]  ⁷³ tn Heb “Stop shedding innocent blood.”

[7:6]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “going/following after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom involved here.

[7:6]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “going after other gods to your ruin.”

[7:7]  ⁷⁶ tn The translation uses imperatives in vv. 5-6 followed by the phrase, “If you do all this,” to avoid the long and complex sentence structure of the Hebrew sentence which has a series of conditional clauses in vv. 5-6 followed by a main clause in v. 7.

[7:7]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “live in this place, in this land.”

[7:7]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “gave to your fathers [with reference to] from ancient times even unto forever.”

[2:6]  ⁷⁹ tn For this translation see the note at 2:4.

[2:6]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “Because of three violations of Israel, even because of four.”

[2:6]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.

[2:6]  ⁸² tn Or “honest” (CEV, NLT). The Hebrew word sometimes has a moral-ethical connotation, “righteous, godly,” but the parallelism (note “poor”) suggests a socio-economic or legal sense here. The practice of selling debtors as slaves is in view (Exod 21:2-11; Lev 25:35-55; Deut 15:12-18) See the note at Exod 21:8 and G. C. Chirichigno, Debt-Slavery in Israel and the Ancient Near East (JSOTSup). Probably the only “crime” the victim had committed was being unable to pay back a loan or an exorbitant interest rate on a loan. Some have suggested that this verse refers to bribery in legal proceedings: The innocent are “sold” in the sense that those in power pay off the elders or judges for favorable decisions (5:12; cf. Exod 23:6-7).

[2:6]  ⁸³ tn Perhaps the expression “for a pair of sandals” indicates a relatively small price or debt. Some suggest that the sandals may have been an outward token of a more substantial purchase price. Others relate the sandals to a ritual attached to the transfer of property, signifying here that the poor would be losing their inherited family lands because of debt (Ruth 4:7; cf. Deut 25:8-10). Still others emend the Hebrew form slightly to נֶעְלָם (ne’lam, “hidden thing”; from the root עָלַם, ’alam, “to hide”) and understand this as referring to a bribe.

[8:4]  ⁸⁴ tn See the note on the word “trample” in 2:7.

[8:4]  ⁸⁵ tn Or “put an end to”; or “exterminate.”

[8:5]  ⁸⁶ sn Apparently work was prohibited during the new moon festival, just as it was on the Sabbath.

[8:5]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “pass by.”

[8:5]  ⁸⁸ tn The verb, though omitted in the Hebrew text, is supplied in the translation from the parallel line.

[8:5]  ⁸⁹ tn Heb “sell grain.” Here “grain” could stand by metonymy for the bins where it was stored.

[8:5]  ⁹⁰ tn Here and in v. 6 the words “we’re eager” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[8:5]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “to make small the ephah and to make great the shekel.” The “ephah” was a unit of dry measure used to determine the quantity purchased, while the “shekel” was a standard weight used to determine the purchase price. By using a smaller than standard ephah and a heavier than standard shekel, these merchants were able to increase their profit (“sell less for a higher price”) by cheating the buyer.

[8:5]  ⁹² tn Heb “and to cheat with deceptive scales”; NASB, NIV “dishonest scales”; NRSV “false balances.”

[8:6]  ⁹³ tn Heb “to buy the poor for silver.”

[8:6]  ⁹⁴ tn See the note on the word “sandals” in 2:6.

[8:6]  ⁹⁵ tn Heb “The chaff of the grain we will sell.”

[2:1]  ⁹⁶ tn Heb “Woe to those who plan sin.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”; “ah”) was a cry used in mourning the dead.

[2:1]  ⁹⁷ tn Heb “those who do evil upon their beds.”

[2:1]  ⁹⁸ tn Heb “at the light of morning they do it.”

[3:2]  ⁹⁹ tn Heb “the ones who.”

[3:2]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Or “good.”

[3:2]  ¹⁰¹ tn Or “evil.”

[3:2]  ¹⁰² tn Heb “their skin from upon them.” The referent of the pronoun (“my people,” referring to Jacob and/or the house of Israel, with the Lord as the speaker) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:2]  ¹⁰³ tn Heb “and their flesh from their bones.”

[3:5]  ¹⁰⁴ 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]  ¹⁰⁵ tn Heb “those who swear [oaths] falsely.” Cf. NIV “perjurers”; TEV “those who give false testimony”; NLT “liars.”

[3:5]  ¹⁰⁶ tn Heb “and against the oppressors of the worker for a wage, [the] widow and orphan.”

[3:5]  ¹⁰⁷ tn Heb “those who turn aside.”

[3:5]  ¹⁰⁸ tn Or “resident foreigner”; NIV “aliens”; NRSV “the alien.”

[5:1]  ¹⁰⁹ tn Or “wail”; Grk “crying aloud.”

[5:3]  ¹¹⁰ tn Or “hoarded up treasure for the last days”; Grk “in the last days.”

[5:5]  ¹¹¹ sn James’ point seems to be that instead of seeking deliverance from condemnation, they have defied God’s law (fattened your hearts) and made themselves more likely objects of his judgment (in a day of slaughter).

[5:6]  ¹¹² tn Literally a series of verbs without connectives, “you have condemned, you have murdered…he does not resist.”