Job 31:19

31:19 If I have seen anyone about to perish for lack of clothing,

or a poor man without a coat,

Deuteronomy 26:5

26:5 Then you must affirm before the Lord your God, “A wandering ¹  Aramean ²  was my ancestor, ³  and he went down to Egypt and lived there as a foreigner with a household few in number, ⁴  but there he became a great, powerful, and numerous people.

Proverbs 31:6-9

31:6 Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, ⁵ 

and wine to those who are bitterly distressed; ⁶ 

31:7 let them ⁷  drink and forget ⁸  their poverty,

and remember their misery no more.

31:8 Open your mouth ⁹  on behalf of those unable to speak, ¹⁰ 

for the legal rights of all the dying. ¹¹ 

31:9 Open your mouth, judge in righteousness, ¹² 

and plead the cause ¹³  of the poor and needy.

Isaiah 27:13

27:13 At that time ¹⁴  a large ¹⁵  trumpet will be blown, and the ones lost ¹⁶  in the land of Assyria will come, as well as the refugees in ¹⁷  the land of Egypt. They will worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem. ¹⁸ 

[26:5]  ¹ tn Though the Hebrew term אָבַד (’avad) generally means “to perish” or the like (HALOT 2-3 s.v.; BDB 1-2 s.v.; cf. KJV “a Syrian ready to perish”), a meaning “to go astray” or “to be lost” is also attested. The ambivalence in the Hebrew text is reflected in the versions where LXX Vaticanus reads ἀπέβαλεν (apebalen, “lose”) for a possibly metathesized reading found in Alexandrinus, Ambrosianus, ἀπέλαβεν (apelaben, “receive”); others attest κατέλειπεν (kateleipen, “leave, abandon”). “Wandering” seems to suit best the contrast with the sedentary life Israel would enjoy in Canaan (v. 9) and is the meaning followed by many English versions.

[26:5]  ² sn A wandering Aramean. This is a reference to Jacob whose mother Rebekah was an Aramean (Gen 24:10; 25:20, 26) and who himself lived in Aram for at least twenty years (Gen 31:41-42).

[26:5]  ³ tn Heb “father.”

[26:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “sojourned there few in number.” The words “with a household” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.

[31:6]  ⁵ sn Wine and beer should be given to those distressed and dying in order to ease their suffering and help them forget.

[31:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “to the bitter of soul.” The phrase לְמָרֵי נָפֶשׁ (lÿmare nafesh) has been translated “of heavy hearts” (KJV); “in anguish” (NIV); “in misery” (TEV); “in bitter distress” (NRSV); “sorely depressed” (NAB); “in deep depression (NLT); “have lost all hope” (CEV). The word “bitter” (מַר, mar) describes the physical and mental/spiritual suffering as a result of affliction, grief, or suffering – these people are in emotional pain. So the idea of “bitterly distressed” works as well as any other translation.

[31:7]  ⁷ tn The subjects and suffixes are singular (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB). Most other English versions render this as plural for stylistic reasons, in light of the preceding context.

[31:7]  ⁸ tn The king was not to “drink and forget”; the suffering are to “drink and forget.”

[31:8]  ⁹ sn The instruction to “open your mouth” is a metonymy of cause; it means “speak up for” (so NIV, TEV, NLT) or in this context “serve as an advocate in judgment” (cf. CEV “you must defend”).

[31:8]  ¹⁰ sn The instruction compares people who cannot defend themselves in court with those who are physically unable to speak (this is a figure of speech known as hypocatastasis, an implied comparison). The former can physically speak; but because they are the poor, the uneducated, the oppressed, they are unable to conduct a legal defense. They may as well be speechless.

[31:8]  ¹¹ tn Or “of all the defenseless.” The noun חֲלוֹף (khalof) means “passing away; vanishing” (properly an infinitive); in this construction “the sons of the passing away” means people who by nature are transitory, people who are dying – mortals. But in this context it would indicate people who are “defenseless” as opposed to those who are healthy and powerful.

[31:9]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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).

[27:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and it will be in that day.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[27:13]  ¹⁵ tn Traditionally, “great” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT); CEV “loud.”

[27:13]  ¹⁶ tn Or “the ones perishing.”

[27:13]  ¹⁷ tn Or “the ones driven into.”

[27:13]  ¹⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.