Job 22:5-9

22:5 Is not your wickedness great ¹ 

and is there no end to your iniquity?

22:6 “For you took pledges ²  from your brothers

for no reason,

and you stripped the clothing from the naked. ³ 

22:7 You gave the weary ⁴  no water to drink

and from the hungry you withheld food.

22:8 Although you were a powerful man, ⁵  owning land, ⁶ 

an honored man ⁷  living on it, ⁸ 

22:9 you sent widows away empty-handed,

and the arms ⁹  of the orphans you crushed. ¹⁰ 

Nehemiah 5:2-13

5:2 There were those who said, “With our sons and daughters, we are many. We must obtain ¹¹  grain in order to eat and stay alive.” 5:3 There were others who said, “We are putting up our fields, our vineyards, and our houses as collateral in order to obtain grain during the famine.” 5:4 Then there were those who said, “We have borrowed money to pay our taxes to the king ¹²  on our fields and our vineyards. 5:5 And now, though we share the same flesh and blood as our fellow countrymen, ¹³  and our children are just like their children, ¹⁴  still we have found it necessary to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. ¹⁵  Some of our daughters have been subjected to slavery, while we are powerless to help, ¹⁶  since our fields and vineyards now belong to other people.” ¹⁷ 

5:6 I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these complaints. ¹⁸  5:7 I considered these things carefully ¹⁹  and then registered a complaint with the wealthy ²⁰  and the officials. I said to them, “Each one of you is seizing the collateral ²¹  from your own countrymen!” ²²  Because of them I called for ²³  a great public assembly. 5:8 I said to them, “To the extent possible we have bought back our fellow Jews ²⁴  who had been sold to the Gentiles. But now you yourselves want to sell your own countrymen, ²⁵  so that we can then buy them back!” They were utterly silent, and could find nothing to say.

5:9 Then I ²⁶  said, “The thing that you are doing is wrong! ²⁷  Should you not conduct yourselves ²⁸  in the fear of our God in order to avoid the reproach of the Gentiles who are our enemies? 5:10 Even I and my relatives ²⁹  and my associates ³⁰  are lending them money and grain. But let us abandon this practice of seizing collateral! ³¹  5:11 This very day return to them their fields, their vineyards, their olive trees, and their houses, along with the interest ³²  that you are exacting from them on the money, the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil.”

5:12 They replied, “We will return these things, ³³  and we will no longer demand anything from them. We will do just as you say.” Then I called the priests and made the wealthy and the officials ³⁴  swear to do what had been promised. ³⁵  5:13 I also shook out my garment, ³⁶  and I said, “In this way may God shake out from his house and his property every person who does not carry out ³⁷  this matter. In this way may he be shaken out and emptied!” All the assembly replied, “So be it!” and they praised the LORD. Then the people did as they had promised. ³⁸ 

Psalms 72:12

72:12 For he will rescue the needy ³⁹  when they cry out for help,

and the oppressed ⁴⁰  who have no defender.

Psalms 82:2-4

82:2 He says, ⁴¹  “How long will you make unjust legal decisions

and show favoritism to the wicked? ⁴²  (Selah)

82:3 Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless! ⁴³ 

Vindicate the oppressed and suffering!

82:4 Rescue the poor and needy!

Deliver them from the power ⁴⁴  of the wicked!

Proverbs 21:13

21:13 The one who shuts his ears ⁴⁵  to the cry ⁴⁶  of the poor,

he too will cry out and will not be answered. ⁴⁷ 

Proverbs 24:11-12

24:11 Deliver those being taken away to death,

and hold back those slipping to the slaughter. ⁴⁸ 

24:12 If you say, “But we did not know about this,”

does not the one who evaluates ⁴⁹  hearts consider?

Does not the one who guards your life know?

Will he not repay each person according to his deeds? ⁵⁰ 

Jeremiah 22:16

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

So things went well for Judah.’ ⁵¹ 

The Lord says,

‘That is a good example of what it means to know me.’ ⁵² 

[22:5]  ¹ tn The adjective רַבָּה (rabbah) normally has the idea of “great” in quantity (“abundant,” ESV) rather than “great” in quality.

[22:6]  ² tn The verb חָבַל (khaval) means “to take pledges.” In this verse Eliphaz says that Job not only took as pledge things the poor need, like clothing, but he did it for no reason.

[22:6]  ³ tn The “naked” here refers to people who are poorly clothed. Otherwise, a reading like the NIV would be necessary: “you stripped the clothes…[leaving them] naked.” So either he made them naked by stripping their garments off, or they were already in rags.

[22:7]  ⁴ tn The term עָיֵף (’ayef) can be translated “weary,” “faint,” “exhausted,” or “tired.” Here it may refer to the fainting because of thirst – that would make a good parallel to the second part.

[22:8]  ⁵ tn The idiom is “a man of arm” (= “powerful”; see Ps 10:15). This is in comparison to the next line, “man of face” (= “dignity; high rank”; see Isa 3:5).

[22:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “and a man of arm, to whom [was] land.” The line is in contrast to the preceding one, and so the vav here introduces a concessive clause.

[22:8]  ⁷ tn The expression is unusual: “the one lifted up of face.” This is the “honored one,” the one to whom the dignity will be given.

[22:8]  ⁸ tn Many commentators simply delete the verse or move it elsewhere. Most take it as a general reference to Job, perhaps in apposition to the preceding verse.

[22:9]  ⁹ tn The “arms of the orphans” are their helps or rights on which they depended for support.

[22:9]  ¹⁰ tn The verb in the text is Pual: יְדֻכָּא (yÿdukka’, “was [were] crushed”). GKC 388 §121.b would explain “arms” as the complement of a passive imperfect. But if that is too difficult, then a change to Piel imperfect, second person, will solve the difficulty. In its favor is the parallelism, the use of the second person all throughout the section, and the reading in all the versions. The versions may have simply assumed the easier reading, however.

[5:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “take” (so also in v. 3).

[5:4]  ¹² tn Heb “for the tax of the king.”

[5:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “according to the flesh of our brothers is our flesh.”

[5:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “like their children, our children.”

[5:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to become slaves” (also later in this verse).

[5:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “there is not power for our hand.” The Hebrew expression used here is rather difficult.

[5:5]  ¹⁷ sn The poor among the returned exiles were being exploited by their rich countrymen. Moneylenders were loaning large amounts of money, and not only collecting interest on loans which was illegal (Lev 25:36-37; Deut 23:19-20), but also seizing pledges as collateral (Neh 5:3) which was allowed (Deut 24:10). When the debtors missed a payment, the moneylenders would seize their collateral: their fields, vineyards and homes. With no other means of income, the debtors were forced to sell their children into slavery, a common practice at this time (Neh 5:5). Nehemiah himself was one of the moneylenders (Neh 5:10), but he insisted that seizure of collateral from fellow Jewish countrymen was ethically wrong (Neh 5:9).

[5:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “words.”

[5:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “my heart was advised upon me.”

[5:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “nobles.”

[5:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “taking a creditor’s debt.” The Hebrew noun מַשָּׁא (masha’) means “interest; debt” and probably refers to the collateral (pledge) collected by a creditor (HALOT 641-42 s.v.). This particular noun form appears only in Nehemiah (5:7, 10; 10:32); however, it is related to מַשָּׁאָה (masha’ah, “contractual loan; debt; collateral”) which appears elsewhere (Deut 24:10; Prov 22:26; cf. Neh 5:11). See the note on the word “people” at the end of v. 5. The BHS editors suggest emending the MT to מָשָׂא (masa’, “burden”), following several medieval Hebrew MSS; however, the result is not entirely clear: “you are bearing a burden, a man with his brothers.”

[5:7]  ²² tn Heb “his brothers.”

[5:7]  ²³ tn Heb “I gave.”

[5:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “our brothers, the Jews.”

[5:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “your brothers.”

[5:9]  ²⁶ tc The translation reads with the Qere and the ancient versions וָאוֹמַר (va’omar, “and I said”) rather than the MT Kethib, וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyo’mer, “and he said”).

[5:9]  ²⁷ tn Heb “not good.” The statement “The thing…is not good” is an example of tapeinosis, a figurative expression which emphasizes the intended point (“The thing…is wrong!”) by negating its opposite.

[5:9]  ²⁸ tn Heb “[should you not] walk.”

[5:10]  ²⁹ tn Heb “brothers.”

[5:10]  ³⁰ tn Heb “lads.”

[5:10]  ³¹ tn Heb “this debt.” This expression is a metonymy of association: “debt” refers to the seizure of the collateral of the debt.

[5:11]  ³² tc The MT reads וּמְאַת (umÿ’at, “and the hundredth”) which is somewhat enigmatic. The BHS editors suggest emending to וּמַשַּׁאת (umasha’t, “and the debt”) which refers to the interest or collateral (pledge) seized by a creditor (Deut 24:10; Prov 22:26; see HALOT 641-42 s.v. מַשָּׁא). The term מַשַּׁאת (masha’t) is related to the noun מָשָּׁא (masha’, “debt”) in 5:7, 10.

[5:12]  ³³ tn The words “these things” are not included in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:12]  ³⁴ tn Heb “took an oath from them”; the referents (the wealthy and the officials, cf. v. 7) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:12]  ³⁵ tn Heb “according to this word.”

[5:13]  ³⁶ tn Heb “my bosom.”

[5:13]  ³⁷ tn Heb “cause to stand.”

[5:13]  ³⁸ tn Heb “according to this word.”

[72:12]  ³⁹ tn The singular is representative. The typical needy individual here represents the entire group.

[72:12]  ⁴⁰ tn The singular is representative. The typical oppressed individual here represents the entire group.

[82:2]  ⁴¹ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation to indicate that the following speech is God’s judicial decision (see v. 1).

[82:2]  ⁴² tn Heb “and the face of the wicked lift up.”

[82:3]  ⁴³ 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]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “hand.”

[21:13]  ⁴⁵ 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]  ⁴⁶ sn “Cry” here would be a metonymy of effect for the cause, the cause being the great needs of the poor.

[21:13]  ⁴⁷ 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).

[24:11]  ⁴⁸ 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]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “weighs” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV) meaning “tests” or “evaluates.”

[24:12]  ⁵⁰ 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.

[22:16]  ⁵¹ 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]  ⁵² 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.