Lukas 18:4

18:4 For ¹  a while he refused, but later on ²  he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor have regard for people, ³ 

Keluaran 18:21-22

18:21 But you choose ⁴  from the people capable men, ⁵  God-fearing, ⁶  men of truth, ⁷  those who hate bribes, ⁸  and put them over the people ⁹  as rulers ¹⁰  of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 18:22 They will judge ¹¹  the people under normal circumstances, ¹²  and every difficult case ¹³  they will bring to you, but every small case ¹⁴  they themselves will judge, so that ¹⁵  you may make it easier for yourself, ¹⁶  and they will bear the burden ¹⁷  with you.

Keluaran 18:2

18:2 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Moses’ wife Zipporah after he had sent her back,

Keluaran 19:3-9

19:3 Moses ¹⁸  went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, “Thus you will tell the house of Jacob, and declare to the people ¹⁹  of Israel: 19:4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I lifted you on eagles’ wings ²⁰  and brought you to myself. ²¹  19:5 And now, if you will diligently listen to me ²²  and keep ²³  my covenant, then you will be my ²⁴  special possession ²⁵  out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine, 19:6 and you will be to me ²⁶  a kingdom of priests ²⁷  and a holy nation.’ ²⁸  These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites.”

19:7 So Moses came and summoned the elders of Israel. He set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him, 19:8 and all the people answered together, “All that the Lord has commanded we will do!” ²⁹  So Moses brought the words of the people back to the Lord.

19:9 The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come ³⁰  to you in a dense cloud, ³¹  so that the people may hear when I speak with you and so that they will always believe in you.” ³²  And Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.

Ayub 29:7-17

29:7 When I went out to the city gate

and secured my seat in the public square, ³³ 

29:8 the young men would see me and step aside, ³⁴ 

and the old men would get up and remain standing;

29:9 the chief men refrained from talking

and covered their mouths with their hands;

29:10 the voices of the nobles fell silent, ³⁵ 

and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.

Job’s Benevolence

29:11 “As soon as the ear heard these things, ³⁶  it blessed me, ³⁷ 

and when the eye saw them, it bore witness to me,

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

and the orphan who ³⁸  had no one to assist him;

29:13 the blessing of the dying man descended on me, ³⁹ 

and I made the widow’s heart rejoice; ⁴⁰ 

29:14 I put on righteousness and it clothed me, ⁴¹ 

my just dealing ⁴²  was like a robe and a turban;

29:15 I was eyes for the blind

and feet for the lame;

29:16 I was a father ⁴³  to the needy,

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

29:17 I broke the fangs ⁴⁴  of the wicked,

and made him drop ⁴⁵  his prey from his teeth.

Mazmur 8:1-4

Psalm 8 ⁴⁶ 

For the music director, according to the gittith style; ⁴⁷  a psalm of David.

8:1 O Lord, our Lord, ⁴⁸ 

how magnificent ⁴⁹  is your reputation ⁵⁰  throughout the earth!

You reveal your majesty in the heavens above! ⁵¹ 

8:2 From the mouths of children and nursing babies

you have ordained praise on account of your adversaries, ⁵² 

so that you might put an end to the vindictive enemy. ⁵³ 

8:3 When I look up at the heavens, which your fingers made,

and see the moon and the stars, which you set in place, ⁵⁴ 

8:4 Of what importance is the human race, ⁵⁵  that you should notice ⁵⁶  them?

Of what importance is mankind, ⁵⁷  that you should pay attention to them, ⁵⁸ 

Yeremia 22:16-17

22:16 He upheld the cause of the poor and needy.

So things went well for Judah.’ ⁵⁹ 

The Lord says,

‘That is a good example of what it means to know me.’ ⁶⁰ 

22:17 But you are always thinking and looking

for ways to increase your wealth by dishonest means.

Your eyes and your heart are set

on killing some innocent person

and committing fraud and oppression. ⁶¹ 

Yehezkiel 22:6-8

22:6 “‘See how each of the princes of Israel living within you has used his authority to shed blood. ⁶²  22:7 They have treated father and mother with contempt ⁶³  within you; they have oppressed the foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan and the widow ⁶⁴  within you. 22:8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths!

Mikha 3:1-3

God Will Judge Judah’s Sinful Leaders

3:1 I said,

“Listen, you leaders ⁶⁵  of Jacob,

you rulers of the nation ⁶⁶  of Israel!

You ought to know what is just, ⁶⁷ 

3:2 yet you ⁶⁸  hate what is good, ⁶⁹ 

and love what is evil. ⁷⁰ 

You flay my people’s skin ⁷¹ 

and rip the flesh from their bones. ⁷² 

3:3 You ⁷³  devour my people’s flesh,

strip off their skin,

and crush their bones.

You chop them up like flesh in a pot ⁷⁴  –

like meat in a kettle.

Roma 3:14-18

3:14 “Their mouths are ⁷⁵  full of cursing and bitterness.” ⁷⁶ 

3:15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,

3:16 ruin and misery are in their paths,

3:17 and the way of peace they have not known.” ⁷⁷ 

3:18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” ⁷⁸ 

[18:4]  ¹ tn Grk “And for.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[18:4]  ² tn Grk “after these things.”

[18:4]  ³ tn Grk “man,” but the singular ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic in comparison to God.

[18:21]  ⁴ tn The construction uses the independent pronoun for emphasis, and then the imperfect tense “see” (חָזָה, khazah) – “and you will see from all….” Both in Hebrew and Ugaritic expressions of “seeing” are used in the sense of choosing (Gen 41:33). See U. Cassuto, Exodus, 220.

[18:21]  ⁵ tn The expression is אַנְשֵׁי־חַיִל (’anshe khayil, “capable men”). The attributive genitive is the word used in expressions like “mighty man of valor.” The word describes these men as respected, influential, powerful people, those looked up to by the community as leaders, and those who will have the needs of the community in mind.

[18:21]  ⁶ tn The description “fearers of God” uses an objective genitive. It describes them as devout, worshipful, obedient servants of God.

[18:21]  ⁷ tn The expression “men of truth” (אַנְשֵׁי אֱמֶת, ’anshe ’emet) indicates that these men must be seekers of truth, who know that the task of a judge is to give true judgment (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 220). The word “truth” includes the ideas of faithfulness or reliability, as well as factuality itself. It could be understood to mean “truthful men,” men whose word is reliable and true.

[18:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “haters of bribes.” Here is another objective genitive, one that refers to unjust gain. To hate unjust gain is to reject and refuse it. Their decisions will not be swayed by greed.

[18:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “over them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:21]  ¹⁰ sn It is not clear how this structure would work in a judicial setting. The language of “captains of thousands,” etc., is used more for military ranks. There must have been more detailed instruction involved here, for each Israelite would have come under four leaders with this arrangement, and perhaps difficult cases would be sent to the next level. But since the task of these men would also involve instruction and guidance, the breakdown would be very useful. Deut 1:9, 13 suggest that the choice of these people was not simply Moses’ alone.

[18:22]  ¹¹ tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive, making it equivalent to the imperfect of instruction in the preceding verse.

[18:22]  ¹² tn Heb “in every time,” meaning “in all normal cases” or “under normal circumstances.” The same phrase occurs in v. 26.

[18:22]  ¹³ tn Heb “great thing.”

[18:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “thing.”

[18:22]  ¹⁵ tn The vav here shows the result or the purpose of the instructions given.

[18:22]  ¹⁶ tn The expression וְהָקֵל מֵעָלֶיךָ (vÿhaqel me’aleykha) means literally “and make it light off yourself.” The word plays against the word for “heavy” used earlier – since it was a heavy or burdensome task, Moses must lighten the load.

[18:22]  ¹⁷ tn Here “the burden” has been supplied.

[19:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and Moses went up.”

[19:3]  ¹⁹ tn This expression is normally translated as “Israelites” in this translation, but because in this place it is parallel to “the house of Jacob” it seemed better to offer a fuller rendering.

[19:4]  ²⁰ tn The figure compares the way a bird would teach its young to fly and leave the nest with the way Yahweh brought Israel out of Egypt. The bird referred to could be one of several species of eagles, but more likely is the griffin-vulture. The image is that of power and love.

[19:4]  ²¹ sn The language here is the language of a bridegroom bringing the bride to the chamber. This may be a deliberate allusion to another metaphor for the covenant relationship.

[19:5]  ²² tn Heb “listen to my voice.” The construction uses the imperfect tense in the conditional clause, preceded by the infinitive absolute from the same verb. The idiom “listen to the voice of” implies obedience, not just mental awareness of sound.

[19:5]  ²³ tn The verb is a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it continues the idea in the protasis of the sentence: “and [if you will] keep.”

[19:5]  ²⁴ tn The lamed preposition expresses possession here: “to me” means “my.”

[19:5]  ²⁵ tn The noun is סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah), which means a special possession. Israel was to be God’s special possession, but the prophets will later narrow it to the faithful remnant. All the nations belong to God, but Israel was to stand in a place of special privilege and enormous responsibility. See Deut 7:6; 14:2; 26:18; Ps 135:4; and Mal 3:17. See M. Greenburg, “Hebrew sÿgulla: Akkadian sikiltu,” JAOS 71 (1951): 172ff.

[19:6]  ²⁶ tn Or “for me” (NIV, NRSV), or, if the lamed (ל) preposition has a possessive use, “my kingdom” (so NCV).

[19:6]  ²⁷ tn The construction “a kingdom of priests” means that the kingdom is made up of priests. W. C. Kaiser (“Exodus,” EBC 2:417) offers four possible renderings of the expression: 1) apposition, viz., “kings, that is, priests; 2) as a construct with a genitive of specification, “royal priesthood”; 3) as a construct with the genitive being the attribute, “priestly kingdom”; and 4) reading with an unexpressed “and” – “kings and priests.” He takes the latter view that they were to be kings and priests. (Other references are R. B. Y. Scott, “A Kingdom of Priests (Exodus xix. 6),” OTS 8 [1950]: 213-19; William L. Moran, “A Kingdom of Priests,” The Bible in Current Catholic Thought, 7-20). However, due to the parallelism of the next description which uses an adjective, this is probably a construct relationship. This kingdom of God will be composed of a priestly people. All the Israelites would be living wholly in God’s service and enjoying the right of access to him. And, as priests, they would have the duty of representing God to the nations, following what they perceived to be the duties of priests – proclaiming God’s word, interceding for people, and making provision for people to find God through atonement (see Deut 33:9,10).

[19:6]  ²⁸ tn They are also to be “a holy nation.” They are to be a nation separate and distinct from the rest of the nations. Here is another aspect of their duty. It was one thing to be God’s special possession, but to be that they had to be priestly and holy. The duties of the covenant will specify what it would mean to be a holy nation. In short, they had to keep themselves free from everything that characterized pagan people (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 171). So it is a bilateral covenant: they received special privileges but they must provide special services by the special discipline. See also H. Kruse, “Exodus 19:5 and the Mission of Israel,” North East Asian Journal of Theology 24/25 (1980): 239-42.

[19:8]  ²⁹ tn The verb is an imperfect. The people are not being presumptuous in stating their compliance – there are several options open for the interpretation of this tense. It may be classified as having a desiderative nuance: “we are willing to do” or, “we will do.”

[19:9]  ³⁰ tn The construction uses the deictic particle and the participle to express the imminent future, what God was about to do. Here is the first announcement of the theophany.

[19:9]  ³¹ tn Heb “the thickness of the cloud”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT “in a thick cloud.”

[19:9]  ³² tn Since “and also in you” begins the clause, the emphasis must be that the people would also trust Moses. See Exod 4:1-9, 31; 14:31.

[29:7]  ³³ sn In the public square. The area referred to here should not be thought of in terms of modern western dimensions. The wide space, plaza, or public square mentioned here is the open area in the gate complex where legal and business matters were conducted. The area could be as small as a few hundred square feet.

[29:8]  ³⁴ tn The verb means “to hide; to withdraw.” The young men out of respect would withdraw or yield the place of leadership to Job (thus the translation “step aside”). The old men would rise and remain standing until Job took his seat – a sign of respect.

[29:10]  ³⁵ tn The verb here is “hidden” as well as in v. 8. But this is a strange expression for voices. Several argue that the word was erroneously inserted from 8a and needs to be emended. But the word “hide” can have extended meanings of “withdraw; be quiet; silent” (see Gen 31:27). A. Guillaume relates the Arabic habi’a, “the fire dies out,” applying the idea of “silent” only to v. 10 (it is a form of repetition of words with different senses, called jinas). The point here is that whatever conversation was going on would become silent or hushed to hear what Job had to say.

[29:11]  ³⁶ tn The words “these things” and “them” in the next colon are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[29:11]  ³⁷ tn The main clause is introduced by the preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive (see GKC 327 §111.h); the clause before it is therefore temporal and circumstantial to the main clause.

[29:12]  ³⁸ 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).

[29:13]  ³⁹ tn The verb is simply בּוֹא (bo’, “to come; to enter”). With the preposition עַל (’al, “upon”) it could mean “came to me,” or “came upon me,” i.e., descended (see R. Gordis, Job, 320).

[29:13]  ⁴⁰ tn The verb אַרְנִן (’arnin) is from רָנַן (ranan, “to give a ringing cry”) but here “cause to give a ringing cry,” i.e., shout of joy. The rejoicing envisioned in this word is far greater than what the words “sing” or “rejoice” suggest.

[29:14]  ⁴¹ tn Both verbs in this first half-verse are from לָבַשׁ (lavash, “to clothe; to put on clothing”). P. Joüon changed the vowels to get a verb “it adorned me” instead of “it clothed me” (Bib 11 [1930]: 324). The figure of clothing is used for the character of the person: to wear righteousness is to be righteous.

[29:14]  ⁴² tn The word מִשְׁפָּטִי (mishpati) is simply “my justice” or “my judgment.” It refers to the decisions he made in settling issues, how he dealt with other people justly.

[29:16]  ⁴³ 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]  ⁴⁴ 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]  ⁴⁵ 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).

[8:1]  ⁴⁶ sn Psalm 8. In this hymn to the sovereign creator, the psalmist praises God’s majesty and marvels that God has given mankind dominion over the created order.

[8:1]  ⁴⁷ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הגתית is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or type of instrument.

[8:1]  ⁴⁸ tn The plural form of the title emphasizes the Lord’s absolute sovereignty.

[8:1]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “awesome”; or “majestic.”

[8:1]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[8:1]  ⁵¹ tc Heb “which, give, your majesty on the heavens.” The verb form תְּנָה (tÿnah; an imperative?) is corrupt. The form should be emended to a second masculine singular perfect (נָתַתָּה, natatah) or imperfect (תִתֵן, titen) form. The introductory אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “which”) can be taken as a relative pronoun (“you who”) or as a causal conjunction (“because”). One may literally translate, “you who [or “because you”] place your majesty upon the heavens.” For other uses of the phrase “place majesty upon” see Num 27:20 and 1 Chr 29:25.

[8:2]  ⁵² tn Heb “you establish strength because of your foes.” The meaning of the statement is unclear. The present translation follows the reading of the LXX which has “praise” (αἶνος, ainos) in place of “strength” (עֹז, ’oz); cf. NIV, NCV, NLT.

[8:2]  ⁵³ tn Heb “to cause to cease an enemy and an avenger.” The singular forms are collective. The Hitpael participle of נָקַם (naqam) also occurs in Ps 44:16.

[8:3]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “when I see your heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and stars which you established.” The verb “[and] see” is understood by ellipsis in the second half of the verse.

[8:4]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “What is man[kind]?” The singular noun אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh, “man”) is used here in a collective sense and refers to the human race.

[8:4]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “remember him.”

[8:4]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “and the son of man.” The phrase “son of man” is used here in a collective sense and refers to human beings. For other uses of the phrase in a collective or representative manner, see Num 23:19; Ps 146:3; Isa 51:12.

[8:4]  ⁵⁸ tn The two imperfect verbal forms in v. 4 describe God’s characteristic activity.

[22:16]  ⁵⁹ tn The words “for Judah” are not in the text, but the absence of the preposition plus object as in the preceding verse suggests that this is a more general statement, i.e., “things went well for everyone.”

[22:16]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “Is that not what it means to know me.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer. It is translated in the light of the context.

[22:16]  sn Comparison of the usage of the words “know me” in their context in Jer 2:8; 9:3, 6, 24 and here will show that more than mere intellectual knowledge is involved. It involves also personal commitment to God and obedience to the demands of the agreements with him. The word “know” is used in ancient Near Eastern treaty contexts of submission to the will of the overlord. See further the notes on 9:3.

[22:17]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “Your eyes and your heart do not exist except for dishonest gain and for innocent blood to shed [it] and for fraud and for oppression to do [them].” The sentence has been broken up to conform more to English style and the significance of “eyes” and “heart” explained before they are introduced into the translation.

[22:6]  ⁶² tn Heb “Look! The princes of Israel, each according to his arm, were in you in order to shed blood.”

[22:7]  ⁶³ tn Heb “treated lightly, cursed.”

[22:7]  ⁶⁴ tn Widows and orphans are often coupled together in the OT (Deut 14:29; 16:11, 14; 24:19-21; 26:12-13; Jer 7:6; 22:3). They represented all who were poor and vulnerable to economic exploitation.

[3:1]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “heads.”

[3:1]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “house.”

[3:1]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “Should you not know justice?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you should!”

[3:2]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “the ones who.”

[3:2]  ⁶⁹ tn Or “good.”

[3:2]  ⁷⁰ tn Or “evil.”

[3:2]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “their skin from upon them.” The referent of the pronoun (“my people,” referring to Jacob and/or the house of Israel, with the Lord as the speaker) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:2]  ⁷² tn Heb “and their flesh from their bones.”

[3:2]  sn Micah compares the social injustice perpetrated by the house of Jacob/Israel to cannibalism, because it threatens the very lives of the oppressed.

[3:3]  ⁷³ tn Heb “who.”

[3:3]  ⁷⁴ tc The MT reads “and they chop up as in a pot.” The translation assumes an emendation of כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka’asher, “as”) to כִּשְׁאֵר (kish’er, “like flesh”).

[3:14]  ⁷⁵ tn Grk “whose mouth is.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[3:14]  ⁷⁶ sn A quotation from Ps 10:7.

[3:17]  ⁷⁷ sn Rom 3:15-17 is a quotation from Isa 59:7-8.

[3:18]  ⁷⁸ sn A quotation from Ps 36:1.