Job 31:16-22

31:16 If I have refused to give the poor what they desired, ¹ 

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 ²  –

31:18 but from my youth I raised the orphan ³  like a father,

and from my mother’s womb ⁴ 

I guided the widow! ⁵ 

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 ⁶ 

as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep, ⁷ 

31:21 if I have raised my hand ⁸  to vote against the orphan,

when I saw my support in the court, ⁹ 

31:22 then ¹⁰  let my arm fall from the shoulder, ¹¹ 

let my arm be broken off at the socket. ¹² 

Proverbs 11:24-25

11:24 One person is generous ¹³  and yet grows more wealthy, ¹⁴ 

but another withholds more than he should ¹⁵  and comes to poverty. ¹⁶ 

11:25 A generous person ¹⁷  will be enriched, ¹⁸ 

and the one who provides water ¹⁹  for others ²⁰  will himself be satisfied. ²¹ 

Isaiah 32:8

32:8 An honorable man makes honorable plans;

his honorable character gives him security. ²² 

Isaiah 58:7

58:7 I want you ²³  to share your food with the hungry

and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people. ²⁴ 

When you see someone naked, clothe him!

Don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood! ²⁵ 

Isaiah 58:10-11

58:10 You must ²⁶  actively help the hungry

and feed the oppressed. ²⁷ 

Then your light will dispel the darkness, ²⁸ 

and your darkness will be transformed into noonday. ²⁹ 

58:11 The Lord will continually lead you;

he will feed you even in parched regions. ³⁰ 

He will give you renewed strength, ³¹ 

and you will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring that continually produces water.

Luke 14:12-14

14:12 He ³²  said also to the man ³³  who had invited him, “When you host a dinner or a banquet, ³⁴  don’t invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors so you can be invited by them in return and get repaid. 14:13 But when you host an elaborate meal, ³⁵  invite the poor, the crippled, ³⁶  the lame, and ³⁷  the blind. ³⁸  14:14 Then ³⁹  you will be blessed, ⁴⁰  because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid ⁴¹  at the resurrection of the righteous.”

[31:16]  ¹ tn Heb “kept the poor from [their] desire.”

[31:17]  ² tn Heb “and an orphan did not eat from it.”

[31:18]  ³ tn Heb “he grew up with me.” Several commentators have decided to change the pronoun to “I,” and make it causative.

[31:18]  ⁴ tn The expression “from my mother’s womb” is obviously hyperbolic. It is a way of saying “all his life.”

[31:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “I guided her,” referring to the widow mentioned in v. 16.

[31:20]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ sn Here is the apodosis, the imprecation Job pronounces on himself if he has done any of these things just listed.

[31:22]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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.

[11:24]  ¹³ tn Heb “There is one who scatters.” The participle מְפַזֵּר (mÿfazzer, “one who scatters”) refers to charity rather than farming or investments (and is thus a hypocatastasis). Cf. CEV “become rich by being generous”).

[11:24]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “increases.” The verb means that he grows even more wealthy. This is a paradox: Generosity determines prosperity in God’s economy.

[11:24]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “more than what is right.” This one is not giving enough, but saving for himself.

[11:24]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “comes to lack.” The person who withholds will come to the diminishing of his wealth. The verse uses hyperbole to teach that giving to charity does not make anyone poor, and neither does refusal to give ensure prosperity.

[11:25]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the soul of blessing.” The genitive functions attributively. “Blessing” refers to a gift (Gen 33:11) or a special favor (Josh 15:19). The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) functions as a synecdoche of part (= soul) for the whole (= person); see BDB 660 s.v. 4.

[11:25]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “will grow fat.” Drawing on the standard comparison of fatness and abundance (Deut 32:15), the term means “become rich, prosperous.”

[11:25]  ¹⁹ tn The verb מַרְוֶה (marveh, “to be saturated; to drink one’s fill”) draws a comparison between providing water for others with providing for those in need (e.g., Jer 31:25; Lam 3:15). The kind act will be reciprocated.

[11:25]  ²⁰ tn The phrase “for others” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied by the causative Hiphil verb which normally takes a direct object; it is elided in the Hebrew for the sake of emphasis. It is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[11:25]  ²¹ tn This verb also means “to pour water,” and so continues the theme of the preceding participle: The one who gives refreshment to others will be refreshed. BDB 924 s.v. רָוָה lists the form יוֹרֶא (yore’) as a Hophal imperfect of רָוָה (ravah, the only occurrence) and translates it “will himself also be watered” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB). But the verb looks very much like a Hiphil of the root יָרָא (yara’, “to shoot; to pour”). So the editors of BHS suggest יוּאָר (yu’ar).

[32:8]  ²² tn Heb “and he upon honorable things stands.”

[58:7]  ²³ tn Heb “Is it not?” The rhetorical question here expects a positive answer, “It is!”

[58:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and afflicted [ones], homeless [ones] you should bring [into] a house.” On the meaning of מְרוּדִים (mÿrudim, “homeless”) see HALOT 633 s.v. *מָרוּד.

[58:7]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and from your flesh do not hide yourself.”

[58:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “if you.” See the note on “you must” in v. 9b.

[58:10]  ²⁷ tn Heb “If you furnish for the hungry [with] your being, and the appetite of the oppressed you satisfy.”

[58:10]  ²⁸ tn Heb “will rise in the darkness.”

[58:10]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and your darkness [will be] like noonday.”

[58:11]  ³⁰ tn Heb “he will satisfy in parched regions your appetite.”

[58:11]  ³¹ tn Heb “and your bones he will strengthen.”

[14:12]  ³² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[14:12]  ³³ sn That is, the leader of the Pharisees (v. 1).

[14:12]  ³⁴ tn The meaning of the two terms for meals here, ἄριστον (ariston) and δεῖπνον (deipnon), essentially overlap (L&N 23.22). Translators usually try to find two terms for a meal to use as equivalents (e.g., lunch and dinner, dinner and supper, etc.). In this translation “dinner” and “banquet” have been used, since the expected presence of rich neighbors later in the verse suggests a rather more elaborate occasion than an ordinary meal.

[14:13]  ³⁵ tn This term, δοχή (doch), is a third term for a meal (see v. 12) that could also be translated “banquet, feast.”

[14:13]  ³⁶ sn Normally the term means crippled as a result of being maimed or mutilated (L&N 23.177).

[14:13]  ³⁷ tn Here “and” has been supplied between the last two elements in the series in keeping with English style.

[14:13]  ³⁸ sn This list of needy is like Luke 7:22. See Deut 14:28-29; 16:11-14; 26:11-13.

[14:14]  ³⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate that this follows from the preceding action. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[14:14]  ⁴⁰ sn You will be blessed. God notes and approves of such generosity.

[14:14]  ⁴¹ sn The passive verb will be repaid looks at God’s commendation.