Job 22:7-9

22:7 You gave the weary ¹  no water to drink

and from the hungry you withheld food.

22:8 Although you were a powerful man, ²  owning land, ³ 

an honored man ⁴  living on it, ⁵ 

22:9 you sent widows away empty-handed,

and the arms ⁶  of the orphans you crushed. ⁷ 

Deuteronomy 15:7-10

The Spirit of Liberality

15:7 If a fellow Israelite ⁸  from one of your villages ⁹  in the land that the Lord your God is giving you should be poor, you must not harden your heart or be insensitive ¹⁰  to his impoverished condition. ¹¹  15:8 Instead, you must be sure to open your hand to him and generously lend ¹²  him whatever he needs. ¹³  15:9 Be careful lest you entertain the wicked thought that the seventh year, the year of cancellation of debts, has almost arrived, and your attitude ¹⁴  be wrong toward your impoverished fellow Israelite ¹⁵  and you do not lend ¹⁶  him anything; he will cry out to the Lord against you and you will be regarded as having sinned. ¹⁷  15:10 You must by all means lend ¹⁸  to him and not be upset by doing it, ¹⁹  for because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you attempt.

Psalms 112:9

112:9 He generously gives ²⁰  to the needy;

his integrity endures. ²¹ 

He will be vindicated and honored. ²² 

Luke 16:21

16:21 who longed to eat ²³  what fell from the rich man’s table. In addition, the dogs ²⁴  came and licked ²⁵  his sores.

Acts 11:29

11:29 So the disciples, each in accordance with his financial ability, ²⁶  decided ²⁷  to send relief ²⁸  to the brothers living in Judea.

Galatians 2:10

2:10 They requested ²⁹  only that we remember the poor, the very thing I also was eager to do.

[22:7]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn The “arms of the orphans” are their helps or rights on which they depended for support.

[22:9]  ⁷ 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.

[15:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “one of your brothers” (so NASB); NAB “one of your kinsmen”; NRSV “a member of your community.” See the note at v. 2.

[15:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “gates.”

[15:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “withdraw your hand.” Cf. NIV “hardhearted or tightfisted” (NRSV and NLT similar).

[15:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “from your needy brother.”

[15:8]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before both verbs. The translation indicates the emphasis with the words “be sure to” and “generously,” respectively.

[15:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “whatever his need that he needs for himself.” This redundant expression has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[15:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “your eye.”

[15:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “your needy brother.”

[15:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “give” (likewise in v. 10).

[15:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “it will be a sin to you.”

[15:10]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “by all means.”

[15:10]  ¹⁹ tc Heb “your heart must not be grieved in giving to him.” The LXX and Orig add, “you shall surely lend to him sufficient for his need,” a suggestion based on the same basic idea in v. 8. Such slavish adherence to stock phrases is without warrant in most cases, and certainly here.

[112:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he scatters, he gives.”

[112:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “stands forever.”

[112:9]  ²² tn Heb “his horn will be lifted up in honor.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17).

[16:21]  ²³ tn Grk “to eat his fill,” but this phrase has been simplified as “to eat” for stylistic reasons.

[16:21]  ²⁴ tn The term κύνες (kunes) refers to “wild” dogs (either “street” dogs or watchdogs), not house pets (L&N 4.34).

[16:21]  ²⁵ 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.

[11:29]  ²⁶ tn So BDAG 410 s.v. εὐπορέω.

[11:29]  ²⁷ tn Or “determined,” “resolved.”

[11:29]  ²⁸ tn Grk “to send [something] for a ministry,” but today it is common to speak of sending relief for victims of natural disasters.

[2:10]  ²⁹ tn Grk “only that we remember the poor”; the words “They requested” have been supplied from the context to make a complete English sentence.