Psalms 22:24

22:24 For he did not despise or detest the suffering ¹  of the oppressed; ² 

he did not ignore him; ³ 

when he cried out to him, he responded. ⁴ 

Psalms 35:10

35:10 With all my strength I will say, ⁵ 

“O Lord, who can compare to you?

You rescue ⁶  the oppressed from those who try to overpower them; ⁷ 

the oppressed and needy from those who try to rob them.” ⁸ 

Psalms 40:17

40:17 I am oppressed and needy! ⁹ 

May the Lord pay attention to me! ¹⁰ 

You are my helper and my deliverer!

O my God, do not delay!

Psalms 70:5

70:5 I am oppressed and needy! ¹¹ 

O God, hurry to me! ¹² 

You are my helper and my deliverer!

O Lord, ¹³  do not delay!

Psalms 109:16

109:16 For he never bothered to show kindness; ¹⁴ 

he harassed the oppressed and needy,

and killed the disheartened. ¹⁵ 

[22:24]  ¹ tn Or “affliction”; or “need.”

[22:24]  ² sn In this verse the psalmist refers to himself in the third person and characterizes himself as oppressed.

[22:24]  ³ tn Heb “he did not hide his face from him.” For other uses of the idiom “hide the face” meaning “ignore,” see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9. Sometimes the idiom carries the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 27:9; 88:14).

[22:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “heard.”

[35:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “all my bones will say.”

[35:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “[the one who] rescues.” The substantival participle in the Hebrew text characterizes God as one who typically rescues the oppressed.

[35:10]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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.

[40:17]  ⁹ sn See Pss 35:10; 37:14.

[40:17]  ¹⁰ tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a jussive of prayer (as in the present translation; cf. NIV) or as an imperfect, “The Lord will pay attention to me” (cf. NRSV). The parallel in Ps 70:5 has, “O God, hurry to me!” For this reason some prefer to emend יַחֲשָׁב (yakhashav, “may he pay attention”) to חוּשָׁה (khushah, “hurry!”). The syntax of the Hebrew text is awkward; elsewhere when the Qal of חָשַׁב (khashav, “reckon; consider”) is collocated with the preposition -ל (lamed) and a pronominal suffix there is an accompanying direct object or additional prepositional phrase/adverbial accusative (see Gen 15:6; 2 Sam 19:19; Job 13:24; 19:11; 33:10; Pss 32:2; 41:7; Amos 6:5).

[70:5]  ¹³ sn See Pss 35:10; 37:14.

[70:5]  ¹⁴ tn Ps 40:17 has “may the Lord pay attention to me.”

[70:5]  ¹⁵ tn Ps 40:17 has “my God” instead of “Lord.”

[109:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he did not remember to do loyal love.”

[109:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and he chased an oppressed and needy man, and one timid of heart to put [him] to death.”