Ayub 31:17

31:17 If I ate my morsel of bread myself,

and did not share any of it with orphans ¹  –

Ulangan 15:7-11

The Spirit of Liberality

15:7 If a fellow Israelite ²  from one of your villages ³  in the land that the Lord your God is giving you should be poor, you must not harden your heart or be insensitive ⁴  to his impoverished condition. ⁵  15:8 Instead, you must be sure to open your hand to him and generously lend ⁶  him whatever he needs. ⁷  15:9 Be careful lest you entertain the wicked thought that the seventh year, the year of cancellation of debts, has almost arrived, and your attitude ⁸  be wrong toward your impoverished fellow Israelite ⁹  and you do not lend ¹⁰  him anything; he will cry out to the Lord against you and you will be regarded as having sinned. ¹¹  15:10 You must by all means lend ¹²  to him and not be upset by doing it, ¹³  for because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you attempt. 15:11 There will never cease to be some poor people in the land; therefore, I am commanding you to make sure you open ¹⁴  your hand to your fellow Israelites ¹⁵  who are needy and poor in your land.

Mazmur 112:9

112:9 He generously gives ¹⁶  to the needy;

his integrity endures. ¹⁷ 

He will be vindicated and honored. ¹⁸ 

Amsal 11:24-25

11:24 One person is generous ¹⁹  and yet grows more wealthy, ²⁰ 

but another withholds more than he should ²¹  and comes to poverty. ²² 

11:25 A generous person ²³  will be enriched, ²⁴ 

and the one who provides water ²⁵  for others ²⁶  will himself be satisfied. ²⁷ 

Amsal 19:17

19:17 The one who is gracious ²⁸  to the poor lends ²⁹  to the Lord,

and the Lord ³⁰  will repay him ³¹  for his good deed. ³² 

Yesaya 58:7

58:7 I want you ³³  to share your food with the hungry

and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people. ³⁴ 

When you see someone naked, clothe him!

Don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood! ³⁵ 

Yesaya 58:10

58:10 You must ³⁶  actively help the hungry

and feed the oppressed. ³⁷ 

Then your light will dispel the darkness, ³⁸ 

and your darkness will be transformed into noonday. ³⁹ 

Yehezkiel 18:7

18:7 does not oppress anyone, but gives the debtor back whatever was given in pledge, ⁴⁰  does not commit robbery, ⁴¹  but gives his bread to the hungry and clothes the naked,

Yehezkiel 18:16

18:16 does not oppress anyone or keep what has been given in pledge, does not commit robbery, gives his food to the hungry, and clothes the naked,

Matius 25:42

25:42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink.

Roma 12:20

12:20 Rather, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will be heaping burning coals on his head. ⁴² 

[31:17]  ¹ tn Heb “and an orphan did not eat from it.”

[15:7]  ² tn Heb “one of your brothers” (so NASB); NAB “one of your kinsmen”; NRSV “a member of your community.” See the note at v. 2.

[15:7]  ³ tn Heb “gates.”

[15:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “withdraw your hand.” Cf. NIV “hardhearted or tightfisted” (NRSV and NLT similar).

[15:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “from your needy brother.”

[15:8]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before both verbs. The translation indicates the emphasis with the words “be sure to” and “generously,” respectively.

[15:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “whatever his need that he needs for himself.” This redundant expression has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[15:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “your eye.”

[15:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “your needy brother.”

[15:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “give” (likewise in v. 10).

[15:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “it will be a sin to you.”

[15:10]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “by all means.”

[15:10]  ¹³ tc Heb “your heart must not be grieved in giving to him.” The LXX and Orig add, “you shall surely lend to him sufficient for his need,” a suggestion based on the same basic idea in v. 8. Such slavish adherence to stock phrases is without warrant in most cases, and certainly here.

[15:11]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “make sure.”

[15:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “your brother.”

[112:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he scatters, he gives.”

[112:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “stands forever.”

[112:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “his horn will be lifted up in honor.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17).

[11:24]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “There is one who scatters.” The participle מְפַזֵּר (mÿfazzer, “one who scatters”) refers to charity rather than farming or investments (and is thus a hypocatastasis). Cf. CEV “become rich by being generous”).

[11:24]  ²⁰ tn Heb “increases.” The verb means that he grows even more wealthy. This is a paradox: Generosity determines prosperity in God’s economy.

[11:24]  ²¹ tn Heb “more than what is right.” This one is not giving enough, but saving for himself.

[11:24]  ²² tn Heb “comes to lack.” The person who withholds will come to the diminishing of his wealth. The verse uses hyperbole to teach that giving to charity does not make anyone poor, and neither does refusal to give ensure prosperity.

[11:25]  ²³ tn Heb “the soul of blessing.” The genitive functions attributively. “Blessing” refers to a gift (Gen 33:11) or a special favor (Josh 15:19). The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”) functions as a synecdoche of part (= soul) for the whole (= person); see BDB 660 s.v. 4.

[11:25]  ²⁴ tn Heb “will grow fat.” Drawing on the standard comparison of fatness and abundance (Deut 32:15), the term means “become rich, prosperous.”

[11:25]  ²⁵ tn The verb מַרְוֶה (marveh, “to be saturated; to drink one’s fill”) draws a comparison between providing water for others with providing for those in need (e.g., Jer 31:25; Lam 3:15). The kind act will be reciprocated.

[11:25]  ²⁶ tn The phrase “for others” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied by the causative Hiphil verb which normally takes a direct object; it is elided in the Hebrew for the sake of emphasis. It is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[11:25]  ²⁷ tn This verb also means “to pour water,” and so continues the theme of the preceding participle: The one who gives refreshment to others will be refreshed. BDB 924 s.v. רָוָה lists the form יוֹרֶא (yore’) as a Hophal imperfect of רָוָה (ravah, the only occurrence) and translates it “will himself also be watered” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB). But the verb looks very much like a Hiphil of the root יָרָא (yara’, “to shoot; to pour”). So the editors of BHS suggest יוּאָר (yu’ar).

[19:17]  ²⁸ sn The participle חוֹנֵן (khonen, “shows favor to”) is related to the word for “grace.” The activity here is the kind favor shown poor people for no particular reason and with no hope of repayment. It is literally an act of grace.

[19:17]  ²⁹ tn The form מַלְוֵה (malveh) is the Hiphil participle from לָוָה (lavah) in construct; it means “to cause to borrow; to lend.” The expression here is “lender of the Lord.” The person who helps the poor becomes the creditor of God.

[19:17]  ³⁰ tn Heb “he.” The referent of the 3rd person masculine singular pronoun is “the Lord” in the preceding line, which has been supplied here in the translation for clarity.

[19:17]  ³¹ sn The promise of reward does not necessarily mean that the person who gives to the poor will get money back; the rewards in the book of Proverbs involve life and prosperity in general.

[19:17]  ³² tn Heb “and his good deed will repay him.” The word גְּמֻלוֹ (gÿmulo) could be (1) the subject or (2) part of a double accusative of the verb. Understanding it as part of the double accusative makes better sense, for then the subject of the verb is God. How “his deed” could repay him is not immediately obvious.

[58:7]  ³³ tn Heb “Is it not?” The rhetorical question here expects a positive answer, “It is!”

[58:7]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and afflicted [ones], homeless [ones] you should bring [into] a house.” On the meaning of מְרוּדִים (mÿrudim, “homeless”) see HALOT 633 s.v. *מָרוּד.

[58:7]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and from your flesh do not hide yourself.”

[58:10]  ³⁶ tn Heb “if you.” See the note on “you must” in v. 9b.

[58:10]  ³⁷ tn Heb “If you furnish for the hungry [with] your being, and the appetite of the oppressed you satisfy.”

[58:10]  ³⁸ tn Heb “will rise in the darkness.”

[58:10]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and your darkness [will be] like noonday.”

[18:7]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “restores to the debtor his pledge.” The root occurs in Exod 22:25 in reference to restoring a man’s garment as a pledge before nightfall.

[18:7]  ⁴¹ tn The Hebrew term refers to seizure of property, usually by the rich (Isa 3:14; 10:2; Mic 2:2 [see Lev 5:21, 22]).

[12:20]  ⁴² sn A quotation from Prov 25:21-22.