Psalms 72:12-14

72:12 For he will rescue the needy ¹  when they cry out for help,

and the oppressed ²  who have no defender.

72:13 He will take pity ³  on the poor and needy;

the lives of the needy he will save.

72:14 From harm and violence he will defend them; ⁴ 

he will value their lives. ⁵ 

Job 29:12

29:12 for I rescued the poor who cried out for help,

and the orphan who ⁶  had no one to assist him;

Job 29:16-17

29:16 I was a father ⁷  to the needy,

and I investigated the case of the person I did not know;

29:17 I broke the fangs ⁸  of the wicked,

and made him drop ⁹  his prey from his teeth.

Proverbs 24:11-12

24:11 Deliver those being taken away to death,

and hold back those slipping to the slaughter. ¹⁰ 

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

does not the one who evaluates ¹¹  hearts consider?

Does not the one who guards your life know?

Will he not repay each person according to his deeds? ¹² 

[72:12]  ¹ tn The singular is representative. The typical needy individual here represents the entire group.

[72:12]  ² tn The singular is representative. The typical oppressed individual here represents the entire group.

[72:13]  ³ tn The prefixed verb form is best understood as a defectively written imperfect (see Deut 7:16).

[72:14]  ⁴ tn Or “redeem their lives.” The verb “redeem” casts the Lord in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis (see Pss 19:14; 69:18).

[72:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “their blood will be precious in his eyes.”

[29:12]  ⁶ tn The negative introduces a clause that serves as a negative attribute; literally the following clause says, “and had no helper” (see GKC 482 §152.u).

[29:16]  ⁷ sn The word “father” does not have a wide range of meanings in the OT. But there are places that it is metaphorical, especially in a legal setting like this where the poor need aid.

[29:17]  ⁸ tn The word rendered “fangs” actually means “teeth,” i.e., the molars probably; it is used frequently of the teeth of wild beasts. Of course, the language is here figurative, comparing the oppressing enemy to a preying animal.

[29:17]  ⁹ tn “I made [him] drop.” The verb means “to throw; to cast,” throw in the sense of “to throw away.” But in the context with the figure of the beast with prey in its mouth, “drop” or “cast away” is the idea. Driver finds another cognate meaning “rescue” (see AJSL 52 [1935/36]: 163).

[24:11]  ¹⁰ tn The idea of “slipping” (participle from מוֹט, mot) has troubled some commentators. G. R. Driver emends it to read “at the point of” (“Problems in Proverbs,” ZAW 50 [1932]: 146). But the MT as it stands makes good sense. The reference would be general, viz., to help any who are in mortal danger or who might be tottering on the edge of such disaster – whether through sin, or through disease, war, or danger. Several English versions (e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV) render this term as “staggering.”

[24:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “weighs” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV) meaning “tests” or “evaluates.”

[24:12]  ¹² 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.