Psalms 22:6

22:6 But I ¹  am a worm, ²  not a man; ³ 

people insult me and despise me. ⁴ 

Psalms 40:17

40:17 I am oppressed and needy! ⁵ 

May the Lord pay attention to me! ⁶ 

You are my helper and my deliverer!

O my God, do not delay!

Proverbs 15:16

15:16 Better ⁷  is little with the fear of the Lord

than great wealth and turmoil ⁸  with it. ⁹ 

Proverbs 16:8

16:8 Better to have a little with righteousness ¹⁰ 

than to have abundant income without justice. ¹¹ 

Proverbs 19:1

19:1 Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity ¹² 

than one who is perverse in his speech ¹³  and is a fool. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 53:3

53:3 He was despised and rejected by people, ¹⁵ 

one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness;

people hid their faces from him; ¹⁶ 

he was despised, and we considered him insignificant. ¹⁷ 

Luke 6:20

6:20 Then ¹⁸  he looked up ¹⁹  at his disciples and said:

“Blessed ²⁰  are you who are poor, ²¹  for the kingdom of God belongs ²²  to you.

Luke 9:58

9:58 Jesus said to him, “Foxes have dens and the birds in the sky ²³  have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” ²⁴ 

Luke 9:2

9:2 and he sent ²⁵  them out to proclaim ²⁶  the kingdom of God ²⁷  and to heal the sick. ²⁸ 

Colossians 1:9

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ²⁹  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ³⁰  to fill ³¹  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

James 2:5

2:5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! ³²  Did not God choose the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?

[22:6]  ¹ tn The grammatical construction (conjunction + pronoun) highlights the contrast between the psalmist’s experience and that of his ancestors. When he considers God’s past reliability, it only heightens his despair and confusion, for God’s present silence stands in stark contrast to his past saving acts.

[22:6]  ² tn The metaphor expresses the psalmist’s self-perception, which is based on how others treat him (see the following line).

[22:6]  ³ tn Or “not a human being.” The psalmist perceives himself as less than human.

[22:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “a reproach of man and despised by people.”

[40:17]  ⁵ sn See Pss 35:10; 37:14.

[40:17]  ⁶ 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).

[15:16]  ⁷ sn One of the frequent characteristics of wisdom literature is the “better” saying; it is a comparison of different but similar things to determine which is to be preferred. These two verses focus on spiritual things being better than troubled material things.

[15:16]  ⁸ sn Turmoil refers to anxiety; the fear of the Lord alleviates anxiety, for it brings with it contentment and confidence.

[15:16]  ⁹ sn Not all wealth has turmoil with it. But the proverb is focusing on the comparison of two things – fear of the Lord with little and wealth with turmoil. Between these two, the former is definitely better.

[16:8]  ¹⁰ sn The lines contrast the modest income with the abundant income; but the real contrast is between righteousness and the lack of justice (or injustice). “Justice” is used for both legal justice and ethical conduct. It is contrasted with righteousness in 12:5 and 21:7; it describes ethical behavior in 21:3. Here the point is that unethical behavior tarnishes the great gain and will be judged by God.

[16:8]  ¹¹ sn This is another “better” saying; between these two things, the first is better. There are other options – such as righteousness with wealth – but the proverb is not concerned with that. A similar saying appears in Amenemope 8:19-20 (ANET 422).

[19:1]  ¹² sn People should follow honesty even if it leads to poverty (e.g., Prov 18:23; 19:22).

[19:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “lips.” The term “lips” is a metonymy for what one says with his lips. The expression “perverse in his lips” refers to speech that is morally perverted. Some medieval Hebrew mss, the Syriac, and Tg. Prov 19:1 have “his ways” rather than “his lips” (e.g., Prov 28:6); cf. NAB.

[19:1]  ¹⁴ tc The Syriac and Tg. Prov 19:1 read “rich” instead of MT “fool.” This makes tighter antithetical parallelism than MT and is followed by NAB. However, the MT makes sense as it stands; this is an example of metonymical parallelism. The MT reading is also supported by the LXX. The Hebrew construction uses וְהוּא (vÿhu’), “and he [is],” before “fool.” This may be rendered “one who is perverse while a fool” or “a fool at the same time.”

[53:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “lacking of men.” If the genitive is taken as specifying (“lacking with respect to men”), then the idea is that he lacked company because he was rejected by people. Another option is to take the genitive as indicating genus or larger class (i.e., “one lacking among men”). In this case one could translate, “he was a transient” (cf. the use of חָדֵל [khadel] in Ps 39:5 HT [39:4 ET]).

[53:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “like a hiding of the face from him,” i.e., “like one before whom the face is hidden” (see BDB 712 s.v. מַסְתֵּר).

[53:3]  ¹⁷ sn The servant is likened to a seriously ill person who is shunned by others because of his horrible disease.

[6:20]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[6:20]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “lifting up his eyes” (an idiom). The participle ἐπάρας (epara") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[6:20]  ²⁰ sn The term Blessed introduces the first of several beatitudes promising blessing to those whom God cares for. They serve as an invitation to come into the grace God offers.

[6:20]  ²¹ sn You who are poor is a reference to the “pious poor” for whom God especially cares. See Ps 14:6; 22:24; 25:16; 34:6; 40:17; 69:29.

[6:20]  ²² sn The present tense (belongs) here is significant. Jesus makes the kingdom and its blessings currently available. This phrase is unlike the others in the list with the possessive pronoun being emphasized. Jesus was saying, in effect, “the kingdom belongs even now to people like you.”

[9:58]  ²³ tn Grk “the birds of the sky” or “the birds of the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated either “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The idiomatic expression “birds of the sky” refers to wild birds as opposed to domesticated fowl (cf. BDAG 809 s.v. πετεινόν).

[9:58]  ²⁴ sn Jesus’ reply is simply this: Does the man understand the rejection he will be facing? Jesus has no home in the world (the Son of Man has no place to lay his head).

[9:2]  ²⁵ sn “To send out” is often a term of divine commission in Luke: 1:19; 4:18, 43; 7:27; 9:48; 10:1, 16; 11:49; 13:34; 24:49.

[9:2]  ²⁶ tn Or “to preach.”

[9:2]  ²⁷ sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21.

[9:2]  ²⁸ sn As Jesus’ own ministry (Luke 4:16-44) involved both word (to proclaim) and deed (to heal) so also would that of the disciples.

[1:9]  ²⁹ tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.

[1:9]  ³⁰ tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ³¹ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.

[2:5]  ³² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.