Proverbs 23:11

23:11 for their Protector ¹  is strong;

he will plead their case against you. ² 

Proverbs 23:1

23:1 When you sit down to eat with a ruler,

consider carefully ³  what ⁴  is before you,

Proverbs 24:12

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

does not the one who evaluates ⁵  hearts consider?

Does not the one who guards your life know?

Will he not repay each person according to his deeds? ⁶ 

Proverbs 24:15

24:15 Do not lie in wait like the wicked ⁷  against the place where the righteous live;

do not assault ⁸  his home.

Proverbs 25:1

Proverbs of Solomon Collected by Hezekiah

25:1 These also are proverbs of Solomon,

which the men of King Hezekiah of Judah copied: ⁹ 

Psalms 12:5

12:5 “Because of the violence done to the oppressed, ¹⁰ 

because of the painful cries ¹¹  of the needy,

I will spring into action,” ¹²  says the Lord.

“I will provide the safety they so desperately desire.” ¹³ 

Psalms 35:1

Psalm 35 ¹⁴ 

By David.

35:1 O Lord, fight ¹⁵  those who fight with me!

Attack those who attack me!

Psalms 35:10

35:10 With all my strength I will say, ¹⁶ 

“O Lord, who can compare to you?

You rescue ¹⁷  the oppressed from those who try to overpower them; ¹⁸ 

the oppressed and needy from those who try to rob them.” ¹⁹ 

Psalms 43:1

Psalm 43 ²⁰ 

43:1 Vindicate me, O God!

Fight for me ²¹  against an ungodly nation!

Deliver me ²²  from deceitful and evil men! ²³ 

Psalms 68:5

68:5 He is a father to the fatherless

and an advocate for widows. ²⁴ 

God rules from his holy palace. ²⁵ 

Psalms 140:12

140:12 I know ²⁶  that the Lord defends the cause of the oppressed

and vindicates the poor. ²⁷ 

Jeremiah 50:34

50:34 But the one who will rescue them ²⁸  is strong.

He is known as the Lord who rules over all. ²⁹ 

He will strongly ³⁰  champion their cause.

As a result ³¹  he will bring peace and rest to the earth,

but trouble and turmoil ³²  to the people who inhabit Babylonia. ³³ 

Jeremiah 51:36

51:36 Therefore the Lord says,

“I will stand up for your cause.

I will pay the Babylonians back for what they have done to you. ³⁴ 

I will dry up their sea.

I will make their springs run dry. ³⁵ 

Micah 7:9

7:9 I must endure ³⁶  the Lord’s anger,

for I have sinned against him.

But then ³⁷  he will defend my cause, ³⁸ 

and accomplish justice on my behalf.

He will lead me out into the light;

I will experience firsthand ³⁹  his deliverance. ⁴⁰ 

Malachi 3:5

3:5 “I ⁴¹  will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, ⁴²  and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, ⁴³  who refuse to help ⁴⁴  the immigrant ⁴⁵  and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.

[23:11]  ¹ tn The participle גֹּאֵל (go’el) describes a “kinsman redeemer.” Some English versions explicitly cite “God” (e.g., NCV, CEV) or “the Lord” (e.g. TEV).

[23:11]  ² sn This is the tenth saying; once again there is a warning not to encroach on other people’s rights and property, especially the defenseless (see v. 10; 22:22-23, 28).

[23:1]  ³ tn The construction uses the imperfect tense of instruction with the infinitive absolute to emphasize the careful discernment required on such occasions. Cf. NIV “note well”; NLT “pay attention.”

[23:1]  ⁴ tn Or “who,” referring to the ruler (so ASV, NAB, TEV).

[24:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “weighs” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV) meaning “tests” or “evaluates.”

[24:12]  ⁶ 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.

[24:15]  ⁷ tn The word “wicked” could be taken as a vocative (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, “O wicked man”); but since the next line refers to the wicked this is unlikely. It serves better as an adverbial accusative (“like the wicked”).

[24:15]  ⁸ sn The saying warns that it is futile and self-defeating to mistreat God’s people, for they survive – the wicked do not. The warning is against a deliberate, planned assault on their places of dwelling.

[25:1]  ⁹ sn This section of the book of Proverbs contains proverbs attributed to Solomon but copied by Hezekiah’s sages (between 715 b.c. and 687 b.c.). Some scholars conclude that this has no historical value other than to report the later disposition that people thought they came from Solomon’s time, but if that were the only consideration, then that in itself would have to be considered as a piece of historical information. But if the reference is an earlier note in the collection, then it becomes more valuable for consideration. The proverbs in these lines differ from the earlier ones in that these are multiple line sayings using more similes; chapters 28-29 are similar to 10-16, but chapters 25-27 differ in having few references to God.

[12:5]  ¹⁰ tn The term translated “oppressed” is an objective genitive; the oppressed are the recipients/victims of violence.

[12:5]  ¹¹ tn Elsewhere in the psalms this noun is used of the painful groans of prisoners awaiting death (79:11; 102:20). The related verb is used of the painful groaning of those wounded in combat (Jer 51:52; Ezek 26:15) and of the mournful sighing of those in grief (Ezek 9:4; 24:17).

[12:5]  ¹² tn Heb “I will rise up.”

[12:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “I will place in deliverance, he pants for it.” The final two words in Hebrew (יָפִיחַ לוֹ, yafiakh lo) comprise an asyndetic relative clause, “the one who pants for it.” “The one who pants” is the object of the verb “place” and the antecedent of the pronominal suffix (in the phrase “for it”) is “deliverance.” Another option is to translate, “I will place in deliverance the witness for him,” repointing יָפִיחַ (a Hiphil imperfect from פּוּחַ, puakh, “pant”) as יָפֵחַ (yafeakh), a noun meaning “witness.” In this case the Lord would be promising protection to those who have the courage to support the oppressed in the court of law. However, the first part of the verse focuses on the oppressed, not their advocates.

[35:1]  ¹⁴ sn Psalm 35. The author, who faces ruthless enemies who seek his life for no reason, begs the Lord to fight his battles for him and to vindicate him by annihilating his adversaries.

[35:1]  ¹⁵ tn Or “contend.”

[35:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “all my bones will say.”

[35:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “[the one who] rescues.” The substantival participle in the Hebrew text characterizes God as one who typically rescues the oppressed.

[35:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “from [the one who is] too strong for him.” The singular forms are used in a representative sense. The typical oppressed individual and typical oppressor are in view.

[35:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the oppressed [one] and needy [one] from [the one who] robs him.” As in the previous line, the singular forms are used in a representative sense.

[43:1]  ²⁰ sn Psalm 43. Many medieval Hebrew mss combine Psalm 43 and Psalm 42 into one psalm. Psalm 43 is the only psalm in Book 2 of the Psalter (Psalms 42-72) that does not have a heading, suggesting that it was originally the third and concluding section of Psalm 42. Ps 43:5 is identical to the refrain in Ps 42:11 and almost identical to the refrain in Ps 42:5.

[43:1]  ²¹ tn Or “argue my case.”

[43:1]  ²² tn The imperfect here expresses a request or wish. Note the imperatives in the first half of the verse. See also v. 3.

[43:1]  ²³ tn Heb “from the deceitful and evil man.” The Hebrew text uses the singular form “man” in a collective sense, as the reference to a “nation” in the parallel line indicates.

[68:5]  ²⁴ sn God is depicted here as a just ruler. In the ancient Near Eastern world a king was responsible for promoting justice, including caring for the weak and vulnerable, epitomized by the fatherless and widows.

[68:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “God [is] in his holy dwelling place.” He occupies his throne and carries out his royal responsibilities.

[140:12]  ²⁶ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading a first person verb form here. The Kethib reads the second person.

[140:12]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and the just cause of the poor.”

[50:34]  ²⁸ sn Heb “their redeemer.” The Hebrew term “redeemer” referred in Israelite family law to the nearest male relative who was responsible for securing the freedom of a relative who had been sold into slavery. For further discussion of this term as well as its metaphorical use to refer to God as the one who frees Israel from bondage in Egypt and from exile in Assyria and Babylonia see the study note on 31:11.

[50:34]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies is his name.” For the rendering of this title see the study note on 2:19.

[50:34]  ³⁰ tn Or “he will certainly champion.” The infinitive absolute before the finite verb here is probably functioning to intensify the verb rather than to express the certainty of the action (cf. GKC 333 §112.n and compare usage in Gen 43:3 and 1 Sam 20:6 listed there).

[50:34]  ³¹ tn This appears to be another case where the particle לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) introduces a result rather than giving the purpose or goal. See the translator’s note on 25:7 for a listing of other examples in the book of Jeremiah and also the translator’s note on 27:10.

[50:34]  ³² tn Heb “he will bring rest to the earth and will cause unrest to.” The terms “rest” and “unrest” have been doubly translated to give more of the idea underlying these two concepts.

[50:34]  ³³ tn This translation again reflects the problem often encountered in these prophecies where the Lord appears to be speaking but refers to himself in the third person. It would be possible to translate here using the first person as CEV and NIrV do. However, to sustain that over the whole verse results in a considerably greater degree of paraphrase. The verse could be rendered “But I am strong and I will rescue them. I am the Lord who rules over all. I will champion their cause. And I will bring peace and rest to….”

[51:36]  ³⁴ tn Heb “I will avenge your vengeance [= I will take vengeance for you; the phrase involves a verb and a cognate accusative].” The meaning of the phrase has been spelled out in more readily understandable terms.

[51:36]  ³⁵ tn Heb “I will dry up her [Babylon’s] sea and make her fountain dry.” “Their” has been substituted for “her” because “Babylonians” has been inserted in the previous clause and is easier to understand than the personification of Babylon = “her.”

[7:9]  ³⁶ tn Heb “lift, bear.”

[7:9]  ³⁷ tn Heb “until.”

[7:9]  ³⁸ tn Or “plead my case” (NASB and NIV both similar); NRSV “until he takes my side.”

[7:9]  ³⁹ tn Heb “see.”

[7:9]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “justice, vindication.”

[3:5]  ⁴¹ tn The first person pronoun (a reference to the Lord) indicates that the Lord himself now speaks (see also v. 1). The prophet speaks in vv. 2-4 (see also 2:17).

[3:5]  ⁴² tn Heb “those who swear [oaths] falsely.” Cf. NIV “perjurers”; TEV “those who give false testimony”; NLT “liars.”

[3:5]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and against the oppressors of the worker for a wage, [the] widow and orphan.”

[3:5]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “those who turn aside.”

[3:5]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “resident foreigner”; NIV “aliens”; NRSV “the alien.”