Psalms 9:16

9:16 The Lord revealed himself;

he accomplished justice;

the wicked were ensnared by their own actions. ¹  (Higgaion. ²  Selah)

Psalms 10:14-15

10:14 You have taken notice, ³ 

for ⁴  you always see ⁵  one who inflicts pain and suffering. ⁶ 

The unfortunate victim entrusts his cause to you; ⁷ 

you deliver ⁸  the fatherless. ⁹ 

10:15 Break the arm ¹⁰  of the wicked and evil man!

Hold him accountable for his wicked deeds, ¹¹ 

which he thought you would not discover. ¹² 

Psalms 10:18

10:18 You defend ¹³  the fatherless and oppressed, ¹⁴ 

so that mere mortals may no longer terrorize them. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 12:5

12:5 “Because of the violence done to the oppressed, ¹⁶ 

because of the painful cries ¹⁷  of the needy,

I will spring into action,” ¹⁸  says the Lord.

“I will provide the safety they so desperately desire.” ¹⁹ 

Psalms 72:4

72:4 He will defend ²⁰  the oppressed among the people;

he will deliver ²¹  the children ²²  of the poor

and crush the oppressor.

Psalms 103:6

103:6 The Lord does what is fair,

and executes justice for all the oppressed. ²³ 

Proverbs 22:22-23

22:22 Do not exploit ²⁴  a poor person because he is poor

and do not crush the needy in court, ²⁵ 

22:23 for the Lord will plead their case ²⁶ 

and will rob those who are robbing ²⁷  them.

Proverbs 23:10-11

23:10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone,

or take over ²⁸  the fields of the fatherless,

23:11 for their Protector ²⁹  is strong;

he will plead their case against you. ³⁰ 

Isaiah 9:4

9:4 For their oppressive yoke

and the club that strikes their shoulders,

the cudgel the oppressor uses on them, ³¹ 

you have shattered, as in the day of Midian’s defeat. ³² 

Malachi 3:5

3:5 “I ³³  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, ³⁴  and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, ³⁵  who refuse to help ³⁶  the immigrant ³⁷  and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.

[9:16]  ¹ tn Heb “by the work of his hands [the] wicked [one] was ensnared. The singular form רָשָׁע (rasha’, “wicked”) is collective or representative here (see vv. 15, 17). The form נוֹקֵשׁ (noqesh) appears to be an otherwise unattested Qal form (active participle) from נָקַשׁ (naqash), but the form should be emended to נוֹקַשׁ (noqash), a Niphal perfect from יָקַשׁ (yaqash).

[9:16]  ² tn This is probably a technical musical term.

[10:14]  ³ tn Heb “you see.” One could translate the perfect as generalizing, “you do take notice.”

[10:14]  ⁴ tn If the preceding perfect is taken as generalizing, then one might understand כִּי (ki) as asseverative: “indeed, certainly.”

[10:14]  ⁵ tn Here the imperfect emphasizes God’s typical behavior.

[10:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “destruction and suffering,” which here refers metonymically to the wicked, who dish out pain and suffering to their victims.

[10:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “to give into your hand, upon you, he abandons, [the] unfortunate [one].” The syntax is awkward and the meaning unclear. It is uncertain who or what is being given into God’s hand. Elsewhere the idiom “give into the hand” means to deliver into one’s possession. If “to give” goes with what precedes (as the accentuation of the Hebrew text suggests), then this may refer to the wicked man being delivered over to God for judgment. The present translation assumes that “to give” goes with what follows (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). The verb יַעֲזֹב (ya’azov) here has the nuance “entrust” (see Gen 39:6; Job 39:11); the direct object (“[his] cause”) is implied.

[10:14]  ⁸ tn Or “help.”

[10:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “[for] one who is fatherless, you are a deliverer.” The noun יָתוֹם (yatom) refers to one who has lost his father (not necessarily his mother, see Ps 109:9).

[10:15]  ¹⁰ sn The arm symbolizes the strength of the wicked, which they use to oppress and exploit the weak.

[10:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you seek his wickedness.” As in v. 13, the verb דָרַשׁ (darash, “seek”) is used here in the sense of “seek an accounting.” One could understand the imperfect as describing a fact, “you hold him accountable,” or as anticipating divine judgment, “you will hold him accountable.” However, since the verb is in apparent parallelism with the preceding imperative (“break”), it is better to understand the imperfect as expressing the psalmist’s desire or request.

[10:15]  ¹² tn Heb “you will not find.” It is uncertain how this statement relates to what precedes. Some take בַל (bal), which is used as a negative particle in vv. 4, 6, 11, 18, as asseverative here, “Indeed find (i.e., judge his wickedness).” The translation assumes that the final words are an asyndetic relative clause which refers back to what the wicked man boasted in God’s face (“you will not find [i.e., my wickedness]”). See v. 13.

[10:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “to judge (on behalf of),” or “by judging (on behalf of).”

[10:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “crushed.” See v. 10.

[10:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he will not add again [i.e., “he will no longer”] to terrify, man from the earth.” The Hebrew term אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh, “man”) refers here to the wicked nations (v. 16). By describing them as “from the earth,” the psalmist emphasizes their weakness before the sovereign, eternal king.

[12:5]  ¹⁶ tn The term translated “oppressed” is an objective genitive; the oppressed are the recipients/victims of violence.

[12:5]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “I will rise up.”

[12:5]  ¹⁹ 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.

[72:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “judge [for].”

[72:4]  ²¹ tn The prefixed verbal form appears to be an imperfect, not a jussive.

[72:4]  ²² tn Heb “sons.”

[103:6]  ²³ tn Heb “the Lord does fairness, and [acts of] justice for all the oppressed.”

[22:22]  ²⁴ tn Two negated jussives form the instruction here: אַל־תִּגְזָל (’al-tigzal, “do not exploit”) and וְאַל־תְּדַכֵּא (ve’al-tÿdakke’, “do not crush”).

[22:22]  ²⁵ tn Heb “in the gate” (so KJV); NAB, NASB, NRSV “at the gate.” The “gate” of the city was the center of activity, the place of business as well as the place for settling legal disputes. The language of the next verse suggests a legal setting, so “court” is an appropriate translation here.

[22:23]  ²⁶ tn The construction uses the verb יָרִיב (yariv) with its cognate accusative. It can mean “to strive,” but here it probably means “to argue a case, plead a case” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV). How the Lord will do this is not specified – either through righteous people or by direct intervention.

[22:23]  ²⁷ tn The verb קָבַע (qava’, “to rob; to spoil; to plunder”) is used here in both places to reflect the principle of talionic justice. What the oppressors did to the poor will be turned back on them by the Lord.

[23:10]  ²⁸ tn Or “encroach on” (NIV, NRSV); Heb “go into.”

[23:11]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ 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).

[9:4]  ³¹ tn Heb “for the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the scepter of the oppressor against him.” The singular pronouns are collective, referring to the people. The oppressed nation is compared to an ox weighed down by a heavy yoke and an animal that is prodded and beaten.

[9:4]  ³² sn This alludes to Gideon’s victory over Midian (Judg 7-8), when the Lord delivered Israel from an oppressive foreign invader.

[3:5]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ tn Heb “those who swear [oaths] falsely.” Cf. NIV “perjurers”; TEV “those who give false testimony”; NLT “liars.”

[3:5]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and against the oppressors of the worker for a wage, [the] widow and orphan.”

[3:5]  ³⁶ tn Heb “those who turn aside.”

[3:5]  ³⁷ tn Or “resident foreigner”; NIV “aliens”; NRSV “the alien.”