Isaiah 1:23

1:23 Your officials are rebels, ¹ 

they associate with ²  thieves.

All of them love bribery,

and look for ³  payoffs. ⁴ 

They do not take up the cause of the orphan, ⁵ 

or defend the rights of the widow. ⁶ 

Psalms 82:3-4

82:3 Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless! ⁷ 

Vindicate the oppressed and suffering!

82:4 Rescue the poor and needy!

Deliver them from the power ⁸  of the wicked!

Proverbs 31:9

31:9 Open your mouth, judge in righteousness, ⁹ 

and plead the cause ¹⁰  of the poor and needy.

Jeremiah 22:3

22:3 The Lord says, “Do what is just and right. Deliver those who have been robbed from those ¹¹  who oppress them. Do not exploit or mistreat foreigners who live in your land, children who have no fathers, or widows. ¹²  Do not kill innocent people ¹³  in this land.

Jeremiah 22:15-16

22:15 Does it make you any more of a king

that you outstrip everyone else in ¹⁴  building with cedar?

Just think about your father.

He was content that he had food and drink. ¹⁵ 

He did what was just and right. ¹⁶ 

So things went well with him.

22:16 He upheld the cause of the poor and needy.

So things went well for Judah.’ ¹⁷ 

The Lord says,

‘That is a good example of what it means to know me.’ ¹⁸ 

Daniel 4:27

4:27 Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps your prosperity will be prolonged.” ¹⁹ 

Micah 6:8

6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good,

and what the Lord really wants from you: ²⁰ 

He wants you to ²¹  promote ²²  justice, to be faithful, ²³ 

and to live obediently before ²⁴  your God.

Zephaniah 2:3

2:3 Seek the Lord’s favor, ²⁵  all you humble people ²⁶  of the land who have obeyed his commands! ²⁷ 

Strive to do what is right! ²⁸  Strive to be humble! ²⁹ 

Maybe you will be protected ³⁰  on the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.

Zechariah 7:9-10

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.’

Zechariah 8:16

8:16 These are the things you must do: Speak the truth, each of you, to one another. Practice true and righteous judgment in your courts. ³¹ 

[1:23]  ¹ tn Or “stubborn”; CEV “have rejected me.”

[1:23]  ² tn Heb “and companions of” (so KJV, NASB); CEV “friends of crooks.”

[1:23]  ³ tn Heb “pursue”; NIV “chase after gifts.”

[1:23]  ⁴ sn Isaiah may have chosen the word for gifts (שַׁלְמוֹנִים, shalmonim; a hapax legomena here), as a sarcastic pun on what these rulers should have been doing. Instead of attending to peace and wholeness (שָׁלוֹם, shalom), they sought after payoffs (שַׁלְמוֹנִים).

[1:23]  ⁵ sn See the note at v. 17.

[1:23]  ⁶ sn The rich oppressors referred to in Isaiah and the other eighth century prophets were not rich capitalists in the modern sense of the word. They were members of the royal military and judicial bureaucracies in Israel and Judah. As these bureaucracies grew, they acquired more and more land and gradually commandeered the economy and legal system. At various administrative levels bribery and graft become commonplace. The common people outside the urban administrative centers were vulnerable to exploitation in such a system, especially those, like widows and orphans, who had lost their family provider through death. Through confiscatory taxation, conscription, excessive interest rates, and other oppressive governmental measures and policies, they were gradually disenfranchised and lost their landed property, and with it, their rights as citizens. The socio-economic equilibrium envisioned in the law of Moses was radically disturbed.

[82:3]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “hand.”

[31:9]  ⁹ tn The noun צֶדֶק (tsedeq) serves here as an adverbial accusative of manner. The decisions reached (שְׁפָט, shÿfat) in this advocacy must conform to the standard of the law. So it is a little stronger than “judging fairly” (cf. NIV, NCV), although it will be fair if it is done righteously for all.

[31:9]  ¹⁰ sn Previously the noun דִּין (din, judgment”) was used, signifying the legal rights or the pleas of the people. Now the imperative דִּין is used. It could be translated “judge,” but in this context “judge the poor” could be misunderstood to mean “condemn.” Here advocacy is in view, and so “plead the cause” is a better translation (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV “defend the rights”). It was – and is – the responsibility of the king (ruler) to champion the rights of the poor and needy, who otherwise would be ignored and oppressed. They are the ones left destitute by the cruelties and inequalities of life (e.g., 2 Sam 14:4-11; 1 Kgs 3:16-28; Pss 45:3-5, 72:4; Isa 9:6-7).

[22:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “from the hand [or power] of.”

[22:3]  ¹² tn Heb “aliens, orphans, or widows” treating the terms as generic or collective. However, the term “alien” carries faulty connotations and the term “orphan” is not totally appropriate because the Hebrew term does not necessarily mean that both parents have died.

[22:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “Do not shed innocent blood.”

[22:15]  ¹⁴ tn For the use of this verb see Jer 12:5 where it is used of Jeremiah “competing” with horses. The form is a rare Tiphel (see GKC 153 §55.h).

[22:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Your father, did he not eat and drink and do justice and right.” The copulative vav in front of the verbs here (all Hebrew perfects) shows that these actions are all coordinate not sequential. The contrast drawn here between the actions of Jehoiakim and Josiah show that the phrase eating and drinking should be read in the light of the same contrasts in Eccl 2 which ends with the note of contentment in Eccl 2:24 (see also Eccl 3:13; 5:18 [5:17 HT]; 8:15). The question is, of course, rhetorical setting forth the positive role model against which Jehoiakim’s actions are to be condemned. The key terms here are “then things went well with him” which is repeated in the next verse after the reiteration of Josiah’s practice of justice.

[22:15]  ¹⁶ sn The father referred to here is the godly king Josiah. He followed the requirements for kings set forth in 22:3 in contrast to his son who did not (22:13).

[22:16]  ¹⁷ tn The words “for Judah” are not in the text, but the absence of the preposition plus object as in the preceding verse suggests that this is a more general statement, i.e., “things went well for everyone.”

[22:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Is that not what it means to know me.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer. It is translated in the light of the context.

[4:27]  ¹⁹ tn Aram “if there may be a lengthening to your prosperity.”

[6:8]  ²⁰ sn What the Lord really wants from you. Now the prophet switches roles and answers the hypothetical worshiper’s question. He makes it clear that the Lord desires proper attitudes more than ritual and sacrifice.

[6:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “except.” This statement is actually linked with what precedes, “What does he want from you except….”

[6:8]  ²² tn Heb “to do,” in the sense of “promote.”

[6:8]  ²³ tn Heb “to love faithfulness.”

[6:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “to walk humbly [or perhaps, “carefully”] with.”

[2:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “seek the Lord,” but “favor” seems to be implied from the final line of the verse.

[2:3]  ²⁶ tn Or “poor.” The precise referent of this Hebrew term is unclear. The word may refer to the economically poor or to the spiritually humble.

[2:3]  ²⁷ tn The present translation assumes the Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) here refers to God’s covenantal requirements and is a synonym for the Law. The word can mean “justice” and could refer more specifically to the principles of justice contained in the Law. In this case the phrase could be translated, “who have promoted the justice God demands.”

[2:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Seek what is right.”

[2:3]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Seek humility.”

[2:3]  ³⁰ tn Heb “hidden.” Cf. NEB “it may be that you will find shelter”; NRSV “perhaps you may be hidden.”

[8:16]  ³¹ sn For a similar reference to true and righteous judgment see Mic 6:8.