Keluaran 2:24

2:24 God heard their groaning, ¹  God remembered ²  his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob,

Keluaran 3:7

3:7 The Lord said, “I have surely seen ³  the affliction of my people who are in Egypt. I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. ⁴ 

Keluaran 3:9

3:9 And now indeed ⁵  the cry ⁶  of the Israelites has come to me, and I have also seen how severely the Egyptians oppress them. ⁷ 

Keluaran 6:4

6:4 I also established my covenant with them ⁸  to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living as resident foreigners. ⁹ 

Bilangan 20:15-16

20:15 how our ancestors went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time, ¹⁰  and the Egyptians treated us and our ancestors badly. ¹¹  20:16 So when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent a messenger, ¹²  and has brought us up out of Egypt. Now ¹³  we are here in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your country. ¹⁴ 

Ulangan 26:7

26:7 So we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and he ¹⁵  heard us and saw our humiliation, toil, and oppression.

Hakim-hakim 2:18

2:18 When the Lord raised up leaders for them, the Lord was with each leader and delivered the people ¹⁶  from their enemies while the leader remained alive. The Lord felt sorry for them ¹⁷  when they cried out in agony because of what their harsh oppressors did to them. ¹⁸ 

Hakim-hakim 2:1

Confrontation and Repentance at Bokim

2:1 The Lord’s angelic messenger ¹⁹  went up from Gilgal to Bokim. He said, “I brought you up from Egypt and led you into the land I had solemnly promised to give to your ancestors. ²⁰  I said, ‘I will never break my agreement ²¹  with you,

1 Samuel 12:8

12:8 When Jacob entered Egypt, your ancestors cried out to the Lord. The Lord sent Moses and Aaron, and they led your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

Mazmur 5:3

5:3 Lord, in the morning ²²  you will hear ²³  me; ²⁴ 

in the morning I will present my case to you ²⁵  and then wait expectantly for an answer. ²⁶ 

Mazmur 18:7

18:7 The earth heaved and shook; ²⁷ 

the roots of the mountains ²⁸  trembled; ²⁹ 

they heaved because he was angry.

Mazmur 39:13

39:13 Turn your angry gaze away from me, so I can be happy

before I pass away. ³⁰ 

Mazmur 81:8

81:8 I said, ³¹  ‘Listen, my people!

I will warn ³²  you!

O Israel, if only you would obey me! ³³ 

Mazmur 102:2

102:2 Do not ignore me in my time of trouble! ³⁴ 

Listen to me! ³⁵ 

When I call out to you, quickly answer me!

Yakobus 5:4

5:4 Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

[2:24]  ¹ sn The word for this painfully intense “groaning” appears elsewhere to describe a response to having two broken arms (Ezek 30:24).

[2:24]  ² sn The two verbs “heard” and “remembered,” both preterites, say far more than they seem to say. The verb שָׁמַע (shama’, “to hear”) ordinarily includes responding to what is heard. It can even be found in idiomatic constructions meaning “to obey.” To say God heard their complaint means that God responded to it. Likewise, the verb זָכַר (zakhar, “to remember”) means to begin to act on the basis of what is remembered. A prayer to God that says, “Remember me,” is asking for more than mere recollection (see B. S. Childs, Memory and Tradition in Israel [SBT], 1-8). The structure of this section at the end of the chapter is powerful. There are four descriptions of the Israelites, with a fourfold reaction from God. On the Israelites’ side, they groaned (אָנַח [’anakh], נְאָקָה [nÿ’aqah]) and cried out (זָעַק [za’aq], שַׁוְעָה [shav’ah]) to God. On the divine side God heard (שָׁמָע, shama’) their groaning, remembered (זָכַר, zakhar) his covenant, looked (רָאָה, ra’ah) at the Israelites, and took notice (יָדַע, yada’) of them. These verbs emphasize God’s sympathy and compassion for the people. God is near to those in need; in fact, the deliverer had already been chosen. It is important to note at this point the repetition of the word “God.” The text is waiting to introduce the name “Yahweh” in a special way. Meanwhile, the fourfold repetition of “God” in vv. 24-25 is unusual and draws attention to the statements about his attention to Israel’s plight.

[3:7]  ³ tn The use of the infinitive absolute with the perfect tense intensifies the statement: I have surely seen – there is no doubt that I have seen and will do something about it.

[3:7]  ⁴ sn Two new words are introduced now to the report of suffering: “affliction” and “pain/suffering.” These add to the dimension of the oppression of God’s people.

[3:9]  ⁵ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) focuses attention on what is being said as grounds for what follows.

[3:9]  ⁶ tn The word is a technical term for the outcry one might make to a judge. God had seen the oppression and so knew that the complaints were accurate, and so he initiated the proceedings against the oppressors (B. Jacob, Exodus, 59).

[3:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.” The word for the oppression is now לַחַץ (lakhats), which has the idea of pressure with the oppression – squeezing, pressuring – which led to its later use in the Semitic languages for torture. The repetition in the Hebrew text of the root in the participle form after this noun serves to stress the idea. This emphasis has been represented in the translation by the expression “seen how severely the Egyptians oppress them.”

[6:4]  ⁸ tn The statement refers to the making of the covenant with Abraham (Gen 15 and following) and confirming it with the other patriarchs. The verb הֲקִמֹתִי (haqimoti) means “set up, establish, give effect to, conclude” a covenant agreement. The covenant promised the patriarchs a great nation, a land – Canaan, and divine blessing. They lived with those promises, but now their descendants were in bondage in Egypt. God’s reference to the covenant here is meant to show the new revelation through redemption will start to fulfill the promises and show what the reality of the name Yahweh is to them.

[6:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “the land of their sojournings.” The noun מְגֻרִים (mÿgurim) is a reminder that the patriarchs did not receive the promises. It is also an indication that those living in the age of promise did not experience the full meaning of the name of the covenant God. The “land of their sojournings” is the land of Canaan where the family lived (גּרוּ, garu) as foreigners, without owning property or having the rights of kinship with the surrounding population.

[20:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “many days.”

[20:15]  ¹¹ tn The verb רָעַע (ra’a’) means “to act or do evil.” Evil here is in the sense of causing pain or trouble. So the causative stem in our passage means “to treat wickedly.”

[20:16]  ¹² tn The word could be rendered “angel” or “messenger.” Some ambiguity may be intended in this report.

[20:16]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) to emphasize the “here and now” aspect of the report to Edom.

[20:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “your border.”

[26:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 26:2.

[2:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:18]  ¹⁷ tn The phrase “for them” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:18]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the ones oppressing them and afflicting them.” The synonyms “oppressing” and “afflicting” are joined together in the translation as “harsh oppressors” to emphasize the cruel character of their enemies.

[2:1]  ¹⁹ sn See Exod 14:19; 23:20.

[2:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the land that I had sworn to your fathers.”

[2:1]  ²¹ tn Or “covenant” (also in the following verse).

[5:3]  ²² sn In the morning is here viewed as the time of prayer (Pss 59:16; 88:13) and/or of deliverance (Ps 30:5).

[5:3]  ²³ tn The imperfect is here understood in a specific future sense; the psalmist is expressing his confidence that God will be willing to hear his request. Another option is to understand the imperfect as expressing the psalmist’s wish or request. In this case one could translate, “Lord, in the morning hear me.”

[5:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “my voice.”

[5:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “I will arrange for you.” Some understand a sacrifice or offering as the implied object (cf. NEB “I set out my morning sacrifice”). The present translation assumes that the implied object is the psalmist’s case/request. See Isa 44:7.

[5:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and I will watch.”

[18:7]  ²⁷ sn The earth heaved and shook. The imagery pictures an earthquake in which the earth’s surface rises and falls. The earthquake motif is common in OT theophanies of God as warrior and in ancient Near Eastern literary descriptions of warring gods and kings. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 160-62.

[18:7]  ²⁸ tn 2 Sam 22:8 has “heavens” which forms a merism with “earth” in the preceding line. The “foundations of the heavens” would be the mountains. However, the reading “foundations of the mountains” has a parallel in Deut 32:22.

[18:7]  ²⁹ tn In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect. Note the three prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive in the verse.

[39:13]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Gaze away from me and I will smile before I go and am not.” The precise identification of the initial verb form (הָשַׁע, hasha’) is uncertain. It could be from the root שָׁעָע (sha’a’, “smear”), but “your eyes” would be the expected object in this case (see Isa 6:10). The verb may be an otherwise unattested Hiphil form of שָׁעָה (sha’ah, “to gaze”) meaning “cause your gaze to be.” Some prefer to emend the form to the Qal שְׁעֵה (shÿ’eh, “gaze”; see Job 14:6). If one does read a form of the verb “to gaze,” the angry divine “gaze” of discipline would seem to be in view (see vv. 10-11). For a similar expression of this sentiment see Job 10:20-21.

[81:8]  ³¹ tn The words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Verses 8-10 appear to recall what the Lord commanded the generation of Israelites that experienced the events described in v. 7. Note the statement in v. 11, “my people did not listen to me.”

[81:8]  ³² tn Or perhaps “command.”

[81:8]  ³³ tn The Hebrew particle אִם (“if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (GKC 321 §109.b). Note that the apodosis (the “then” clause of the conditional sentence) is suppressed.

[102:2]  ³⁴ tn Heb “do not hide your face from me in the day of my trouble.” The idiom “to hide the face” can mean “to ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or carry the stronger idea of “to reject” (see Pss 29:7; 30:7; 88:14).

[102:2]  ³⁵ tn Heb “turn toward me your ear.”