Proverbs 21:13

21:13 The one who shuts his ears ¹  to the cry ²  of the poor,

he too will cry out and will not be answered. ³ 

Proverbs 21:1

21:1 The king’s heart ⁴  is in the hand ⁵  of the Lord like channels of water; ⁶ 

he turns it wherever he wants.

Proverbs 25:8-11

25:8 Do not go out hastily to litigation, ⁷ 

or ⁸  what will you do afterward

when your neighbor puts you to shame?

25:9 When you argue a case ⁹  with your neighbor,

do not reveal the secret of another person, ¹⁰ 

25:10 lest the one who hears it put you to shame

and your infamy ¹¹  will never go away.

25:11 Like apples of gold in settings of silver, ¹² 

so is a word skillfully spoken. ¹³ 

Psalms 112:5

112:5 It goes well for the one ¹⁴  who generously lends money,

and conducts his business honestly. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 112:9

112:9 He generously gives ¹⁶  to the needy;

his integrity endures. ¹⁷ 

He will be vindicated and honored. ¹⁸ 

Isaiah 32:6-8

32:6 For a fool speaks disgraceful things; ¹⁹ 

his mind plans out sinful deeds. ²⁰ 

He commits godless deeds ²¹ 

and says misleading things about the Lord;

he gives the hungry nothing to satisfy their appetite ²² 

and gives the thirsty nothing to drink. ²³ 

32:7 A deceiver’s methods are evil; ²⁴ 

he dreams up evil plans ²⁵ 

to ruin the poor with lies,

even when the needy are in the right. ²⁶ 

32:8 An honorable man makes honorable plans;

his honorable character gives him security. ²⁷ 

Micah 3:2-3

3:2 yet you ²⁸  hate what is good, ²⁹ 

and love what is evil. ³⁰ 

You flay my people’s skin ³¹ 

and rip the flesh from their bones. ³² 

3:3 You ³³  devour my people’s flesh,

strip off their skin,

and crush their bones.

You chop them up like flesh in a pot ³⁴  –

like meat in a kettle.

James 2:13

2:13 For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over ³⁵  judgment.

James 5:4-6

5:4 Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5:5 You have lived indulgently and luxuriously on the earth. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. ³⁶  5:6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person, although he does not resist you. ³⁷ 

[21:13]  ¹ 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]  ² sn “Cry” here would be a metonymy of effect for the cause, the cause being the great needs of the poor.

[21:13]  ³ 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).

[21:1]  ⁴ sn “Heart” is a metonymy of subject; it signifies the ability to make decisions, if not the decisions themselves.

[21:1]  ⁵ sn “Hand” in this passage is a personification; the word is frequently used idiomatically for “power,” and that is the sense intended here.

[21:1]  ⁶ tn “Channels of water” (פַּלְגֵי, palge) is an adverbial accusative, functioning as a figure of comparison – “like channels of water.” Cf. NAB “Like a stream”; NIV “watercourse”; NRSV, NLT “a stream of water.”

[25:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “do not go out hastily to strive”; the verb “to strive” means dispute in the legal context. The last clause of v. 7, “what your eyes have seen,” does fit very well with the initial clause of v. 8. It would then say: What you see, do not take hastily to court, but if the case was not valid, he would end up in disgrace.

[25:8]  ⁸ tn The clause begins with פֶּן (pen, “lest”) which seems a bit out of place in this line. C. H. Toy suggests changing it to כִּי (ki, “for”) to make a better connection, instead of supplying an ellipsis: “lest it be said what…” (Proverbs [ICC], 461).

[25:9]  ¹⁰ tn The verse begins with the direct object רִיבְךָ (ribkha, “your case”) followed by the imperative from the same root, רִיב (riv, “argue”). It is paralleled by the negated Piel jussive. The construction of the clauses indicates that the first colon is foundational to the second: “Argue…but do not reveal,” or better, “When you argue…do not reveal.”

[25:9]  ¹¹ sn The concern is that in arguing with one person a secret about another might be divulged, perhaps deliberately in an attempt to clear oneself. The point then is about damaging a friendship by involving the friend without necessity or warrant in someone else’s quarrel.

[25:10]  ¹³ tn The noun דִּבָּה (dibbah, “infamy; defamation; evil report; whispering”) is used of an evil report here (e.g., Gen 37:2), namely a true report of evil doing. So if a person betrays another person’s confidence, he will never be able to live down the bad reputation he made as one who betrays secrets (cf. NIV).

[25:11]  ¹⁶ sn The verse uses emblematic parallelism, stating the simile in the first part and the point in the second. The meaning of the simile is not entirely clear, but it does speak of beauty, value, and artistry. The “apples of gold” (possibly citrons, quinces, oranges, or apricots) may refer to carvings of fruit in gold on columns.

[25:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “on its wheels.” This expression means “aptly, fittingly.” The point is obviously about the immense value and memorable beauty of words used skillfully (R. N. Whybray, Proverbs [CBC], 148). Noting the meaning of the term and the dual form of the word, W. McKane suggests that the expression is metaphorical for the balancing halves of a Hebrew parallel wisdom saying: “The stichos is a wheel, and the sentence consisting of two wheels is a ‘well-turned’ expression” (Proverbs [OTL], 584). The line then would be describing a balanced, well-turned saying, a proverb; it is skillfully constructed, beautifully written, and of lasting value.

[112:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “man.”

[112:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he sustains his matters with justice.”

[112:9]  ²² tn Heb “he scatters, he gives.”

[112:9]  ²³ tn Heb “stands forever.”

[112:9]  ²⁴ 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).

[32:6]  ²⁵ tn Or “foolishness,” in a moral-ethical sense. See 9:17.

[32:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and his heart commits sin”; KJV, ASV “his heart will work iniquity”; NASB “inclines toward wickedness.”

[32:6]  ²⁷ tn Heb “in order to do [or “so that he does”] what is godless [or “defiled”].”

[32:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “so that he leaves empty the appetite [or “desire”] of the hungry.”

[32:6]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and the drink of the thirsty he causes to fail.”

[32:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “as for a deceiver, his implements [or “weapons”] are evil.”

[32:7]  ²⁹ tn Or “he plans evil things”; NIV “he makes up evil schemes.”

[32:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “to ruin the poor with words of falsehood, even when the needy speak what is just.”

[32:8]  ³¹ tn Heb “and he upon honorable things stands.”

[3:2]  ³⁴ tn Heb “the ones who.”

[3:2]  ³⁵ tn Or “good.”

[3:2]  ³⁶ tn Or “evil.”

[3:2]  ³⁷ tn Heb “their skin from upon them.” The referent of the pronoun (“my people,” referring to Jacob and/or the house of Israel, with the Lord as the speaker) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:2]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and their flesh from their bones.”

[3:3]  ³⁷ tn Heb “who.”

[3:3]  ³⁸ tc The MT reads “and they chop up as in a pot.” The translation assumes an emendation of כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka’asher, “as”) to כִּשְׁאֵר (kish’er, “like flesh”).

[2:13]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “boasts against, exults over,” in victory.

[5:5]  ⁴³ sn James’ point seems to be that instead of seeking deliverance from condemnation, they have defied God’s law (fattened your hearts) and made themselves more likely objects of his judgment (in a day of slaughter).

[5:6]  ⁴⁶ tn Literally a series of verbs without connectives, “you have condemned, you have murdered…he does not resist.”