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,

Proverbs 21:13

21:13 The one who shuts his ears ³  to the cry ⁴  of the poor,

he too will cry out and will not be answered. ⁵ 

Isaiah 3:14-15

3:14 The Lord comes to pronounce judgment

on the leaders of his people and their officials.

He says, ⁶  “It is you ⁷  who have ruined ⁸  the vineyard! ⁹ 

You have stashed in your houses what you have stolen from the poor. ¹⁰ 

3:15 Why do you crush my people

and grind the faces of the poor?” ¹¹ 

The sovereign Lord who commands armies ¹²  has spoken.

Amos 5:11-12

5:11 Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops ¹³ 

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 ¹⁴  vineyards you planted. ¹⁵ 

5:12 Certainly ¹⁶  I am aware of ¹⁷  your many rebellious acts ¹⁸ 

and your numerous sins.

You ¹⁹  torment the innocent, you take bribes,

and you deny justice to ²⁰  the needy at the city gate. ²¹ 

Amos 8:4-6

8:4 Listen to this, you who trample ²²  the needy,

and do away with ²³  the destitute in the land.

8:5 You say,

“When will the new moon festival ²⁴  be over, ²⁵  so we can sell grain?

When will the Sabbath end, ²⁶  so we can open up the grain bins? ²⁷ 

We’re eager ²⁸  to sell less for a higher price, ²⁹ 

and to cheat the buyer with rigged scales! ³⁰ 

8:6 We’re eager to trade silver for the poor, ³¹ 

a pair of sandals ³²  for the needy!

We want to mix in some chaff with the grain!” ³³ 

Micah 3:2-4

3:2 yet you ³⁴  hate what is good, ³⁵ 

and love what is evil. ³⁶ 

You flay my people’s skin ³⁷ 

and rip the flesh from their bones. ³⁸ 

3:3 You ³⁹  devour my people’s flesh,

strip off their skin,

and crush their bones.

You chop them up like flesh in a pot ⁴⁰  –

like meat in a kettle.

3:4 Someday these sinners will cry to the Lord for help, ⁴¹ 

but he will not answer them.

He will hide his face from them at that time,

because they have done such wicked deeds.”

Luke 16:20-21

16:20 But at his gate lay ⁴²  a poor man named Lazarus ⁴³  whose body was covered with sores, ⁴⁴  16:21 who longed to eat ⁴⁵  what fell from the rich man’s table. In addition, the dogs ⁴⁶  came and licked ⁴⁷  his sores.

[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.”

[21:13]  ³ sn The imagery means “pay no attention to” the cry for help or “refuse to help,” so it is a metonymy of cause for the effect.

[21:13]  ⁴ sn “Cry” here would be a metonymy of effect for the cause, the cause being the great needs of the poor.

[21:13]  ⁵ sn The proverb is teaching that those who show mercy will receive mercy. It involves the principle of talionic justice – those who refuse the needs of others will themselves be refused when they need help (so Luke 16:19-31).

[3:14]  ⁶ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[3:14]  ⁷ tn The pronominal element is masculine plural; the leaders are addressed.

[3:14]  ⁸ tn The verb בָּעַר (ba’ar, “graze, ruin”; HALOT 146 s.v. II בער) is a homonym of the more common בָּעַר (ba’ar, “burn”; see HALOT 145 s.v. I בער).

[3:14]  ⁹ sn The vineyard is a metaphor for the nation here. See 5:1-7.

[3:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the plunder of the poor [is] in your houses” (so NASB).

[3:15]  ¹¹ sn The rhetorical question expresses the Lord’s outrage at what the leaders have done to the poor. He finds it almost unbelievable that they would have the audacity to treat his people in this manner.

[3:15]  ¹² tn Heb “the master, the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].” On the title “the Lord who commands armies,” see the note at 1:9.

[5:11]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Or “lovely”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “pleasant”; NAB “choice”; NIV “lush.”

[5:11]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Or “for.”

[5:12]  ¹⁷ tn Or “I know” (so most English versions).

[5:12]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Those who.”

[5:12]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ sn Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate, where the town elders met.

[8:4]  ²² tn See the note on the word “trample” in 2:7.

[8:4]  ²³ tn Or “put an end to”; or “exterminate.”

[8:5]  ²⁴ sn Apparently work was prohibited during the new moon festival, just as it was on the Sabbath.

[8:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “pass by.”

[8:5]  ²⁶ tn The verb, though omitted in the Hebrew text, is supplied in the translation from the parallel line.

[8:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “sell grain.” Here “grain” could stand by metonymy for the bins where it was stored.

[8:5]  ²⁸ tn Here and in v. 6 the words “we’re eager” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[8:5]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and to cheat with deceptive scales”; NASB, NIV “dishonest scales”; NRSV “false balances.”

[8:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “to buy the poor for silver.”

[8:6]  ³² tn See the note on the word “sandals” in 2:6.

[8:6]  ³³ tn Heb “The chaff of the grain we will sell.”

[3:2]  ³⁴ tn Heb “the ones who.”

[3:2]  ³⁵ tn Or “good.”

[3:2]  ³⁶ tn Or “evil.”

[3:2]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and their flesh from their bones.”

[3:3]  ³⁹ tn Heb “who.”

[3:3]  ⁴⁰ tc The MT reads “and they chop up as in a pot.” The translation assumes an emendation of כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka’asher, “as”) to כִּשְׁאֵר (kish’er, “like flesh”).

[3:4]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “then they will cry out to the Lord.” The words “Someday these sinners” have been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[16:20]  ⁴² tn The passive verb ἐβέβλητο (ebeblhto) does not indicate how Lazarus got there. Cf. BDAG 163 s.v. βάλλω 1.b, “he lay before the door”; Josephus, Ant. 9.10.2 (9.209).

[16:20]  ⁴³ sn This is the one time in all the gospels that a figure in a parable is mentioned by name. It will become important later in the account.

[16:20]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “was covered with ulcers.” The words “whose body” are implied in the context (L&N 23.180).

[16:21]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “to eat his fill,” but this phrase has been simplified as “to eat” for stylistic reasons.

[16:21]  ⁴⁶ tn The term κύνες (kunes) refers to “wild” dogs (either “street” dogs or watchdogs), not house pets (L&N 4.34).

[16:21]  ⁴⁷ sn When the dogs came and licked his sores it meant that he was unclean. See the negative image of Rev 22:15 that draws on this picture.