Mazmur 10:14

10:14 You have taken notice, ¹ 

for ²  you always see ³  one who inflicts pain and suffering. ⁴ 

The unfortunate victim entrusts his cause to you; ⁵ 

you deliver ⁶  the fatherless. ⁷ 

Mazmur 34:6

34:6 This oppressed man cried out and the Lord heard;

he saved him ⁸  from all his troubles.

Mazmur 40:17

40:17 I am oppressed and needy! ⁹ 

May the Lord pay attention to me! ¹⁰ 

You are my helper and my deliverer!

O my God, do not delay!

Mazmur 72:12-14

72:12 For he will rescue the needy ¹¹  when they cry out for help,

and the oppressed ¹²  who have no defender.

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

the lives of the needy he will save.

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

he will value their lives. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 102:17

102:17 when he responds to the prayer of the destitute, ¹⁶ 

and does not reject ¹⁷  their request. ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 119:22

119:22 Spare me ¹⁹  shame and humiliation,

for I observe your rules.

Mazmur 140:12

140:12 I know ²⁰  that the Lord defends the cause of the oppressed

and vindicates the poor. ²¹ 

[10:14]  ¹ tn Heb “you see.” One could translate the perfect as generalizing, “you do take notice.”

[10:14]  ² tn If the preceding perfect is taken as generalizing, then one might understand כִּי (ki) as asseverative: “indeed, certainly.”

[10:14]  ³ tn Here the imperfect emphasizes God’s typical behavior.

[10:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “destruction and suffering,” which here refers metonymically to the wicked, who dish out pain and suffering to their victims.

[10:14]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Or “help.”

[10:14]  ⁷ 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).

[10:14]  sn The fatherless. Because they were so vulnerable and were frequently exploited, fatherless children are often mentioned as epitomizing the oppressed (see Pss 68:5; 82:3; 94:6; 146:9; as well as Job 6:27; 22:9; 24:3, 9; 29:12; 31:17, 21).

[34:6]  ⁸ tn The pronoun refers back to “this oppressed man,” namely, the psalmist.

[40:17]  ⁹ sn See Pss 35:10; 37:14.

[40:17]  ¹⁰ tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a jussive of prayer (as in the present translation; cf. NIV) or as an imperfect, “The Lord will pay attention to me” (cf. NRSV). The parallel in Ps 70:5 has, “O God, hurry to me!” For this reason some prefer to emend יַחֲשָׁב (yakhashav, “may he pay attention”) to חוּשָׁה (khushah, “hurry!”). The syntax of the Hebrew text is awkward; elsewhere when the Qal of חָשַׁב (khashav, “reckon; consider”) is collocated with the preposition -ל (lamed) and a pronominal suffix there is an accompanying direct object or additional prepositional phrase/adverbial accusative (see Gen 15:6; 2 Sam 19:19; Job 13:24; 19:11; 33:10; Pss 32:2; 41:7; Amos 6:5).

[72:12]  ¹¹ tn The singular is representative. The typical needy individual here represents the entire group.

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

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

[72:14]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “their blood will be precious in his eyes.”

[102:17]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew adjective עַרְעָר (’arar, “destitute”) occurs only here in the OT. It is derived from the verbal root ערר (“to strip oneself”).

[102:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “despise.”

[102:17]  ¹⁸ tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 16-17 are functioning as future perfects, indicating future actions that will precede the future developments described in v. 15.

[119:22]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “roll away from upon me.” Some derive the imperatival form גַּל (gal) from גָּלָה (galah, “uncover,” as in v. 18), but here the form is from גָּלַל (galal, “roll”; see Josh 5:9, where חֶרְפָּה [kherpah, “shame; reproach”] also appears as object of the verb). Some, following the lead of a Dead Sea scroll (11QPs^a), emend the form to גֹּל (gol).

[140:12]  ²⁰ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading a first person verb form here. The Kethib reads the second person.

[140:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “and the just cause of the poor.”