Amsal 21:13
Konteks21:13 The one who shuts his ears 1 to the cry 2 of the poor,
he too will cry out and will not be answered. 3
Amsal 21:1
Konteks21:1 The king’s heart 4 is in the hand 5 of the Lord like channels of water; 6
he turns it wherever he wants.
1 Samuel 25:9-11
Konteks25:9 So David’s servants went and spoke all these words to Nabal in David’s name. Then they paused. 25:10 But Nabal responded to David’s servants, “Who is David, and who is this son of Jesse? This is a time when many servants are breaking away from their masters! 25:11 Should I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers and give them to these men? I don’t even know where they came from!”
Yeremia 5:28
Konteks5:28 That is how 7 they have grown fat and sleek. 8
There is no limit to the evil things they do. 9
They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it.
They do not defend the rights of the poor.
Yeremia 22:15-17
Konteks22:15 Does it make you any more of a king
that you outstrip everyone else in 10 building with cedar?
Just think about your father.
He was content that he had food and drink. 11
He did what was just and right. 12
So things went well with him.
22:16 He upheld the cause of the poor and needy.
So things went well for Judah.’ 13
The Lord says,
‘That is a good example of what it means to know me.’ 14
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. 15
Yehezkiel 22:7
Konteks22:7 They have treated father and mother with contempt 16 within you; they have oppressed the foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan and the widow 17 within you.
Yehezkiel 22:29-31
Konteks22:29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have wronged the poor and needy; they have oppressed the foreigner who lives among them and denied them justice. 18
22:30 “I looked for a man from among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one. 19 22:31 So I have poured my anger on them, and destroyed them with the fire of my fury. I hereby repay them for what they have done, 20 declares the sovereign Lord.”
Mikha 3:1-4
Konteks3:1 I said,
“Listen, you leaders 21 of Jacob,
you rulers of the nation 22 of Israel!
You ought to know what is just, 23
3:2 yet you 24 hate what is good, 25
and love what is evil. 26
You flay my people’s skin 27
and rip the flesh from their bones. 28
3:3 You 29 devour my people’s flesh,
strip off their skin,
and crush their bones.
You chop them up like flesh in a pot 30 –
like meat in a kettle.
3:4 Someday these sinners will cry to the Lord for help, 31
but he will not answer them.
He will hide his face from them at that time,
because they have done such wicked deeds.”
[21:13] 1 sn The imagery means “pay no attention to” the cry for help or “refuse to help,” so it is a metonymy of cause for the effect.
[21:13] 2 sn “Cry” here would be a metonymy of effect for the cause, the cause being the great needs of the poor.
[21:13] 3 sn The proverb is teaching that those who show mercy will receive mercy. It involves the principle of talionic justice – those who refuse the needs of others will themselves be refused when they need help (so Luke 16:19-31).
[21:1] 4 sn “Heart” is a metonymy of subject; it signifies the ability to make decisions, if not the decisions themselves.
[21:1] 5 sn “Hand” in this passage is a personification; the word is frequently used idiomatically for “power,” and that is the sense intended here.
[21:1] 6 tn “Channels of water” (פַּלְגֵי, palge) is an adverbial accusative, functioning as a figure of comparison – “like channels of water.” Cf. NAB “Like a stream”; NIV “watercourse”; NRSV, NLT “a stream of water.”
[21:1] sn The farmer channels irrigation ditches where he wants them, where they will do the most good; so does the
[5:28] 7 tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to show that this line is parallel with the preceding.
[5:28] 8 tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. This verb occurs only here. The lexicons generally relate it to the word translated “plate” in Song 5:14 and understand it to mean “smooth, shiny” (so BDB 799 s.v. I עֶשֶׁת) or “fat” (so HALOT 850 s.v. II עֶשֶׁת). The word in Song 5:14 more likely means “smooth” than “plate” (so TEV). So “sleek” is most likely here.
[5:28] 9 tn Heb “they cross over/transgress with respect to matters of evil.”
[5:28] sn There is a wordplay in the use of this word which has twice been applied in v. 22 to the sea not crossing the boundary set for it by God.
[22:15] 10 tn For the use of this verb see Jer 12:5 where it is used of Jeremiah “competing” with horses. The form is a rare Tiphel (see GKC 153 §55.h).
[22:15] 11 tn Heb “Your father, did he not eat and drink and do justice and right.” The copulative vav in front of the verbs here (all Hebrew perfects) shows that these actions are all coordinate not sequential. The contrast drawn here between the actions of Jehoiakim and Josiah show that the phrase eating and drinking should be read in the light of the same contrasts in Eccl 2 which ends with the note of contentment in Eccl 2:24 (see also Eccl 3:13; 5:18 [5:17 HT]; 8:15). The question is, of course, rhetorical setting forth the positive role model against which Jehoiakim’s actions are to be condemned. The key terms here are “then things went well with him” which is repeated in the next verse after the reiteration of Josiah’s practice of justice.
[22:15] 12 sn The father referred to here is the godly king Josiah. He followed the requirements for kings set forth in 22:3 in contrast to his son who did not (22:13).
[22:16] 13 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] 14 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] 15 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.
[22:7] 16 tn Heb “treated lightly, cursed.”
[22:7] 17 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.
[22:29] 18 tn Heb “and the foreigner they have oppressed without justice.”
[22:30] 19 tn Heb “I did not find.”
[22:31] 20 tn Heb “their way on their head I have placed.”
[3:1] 23 tn Heb “Should you not know justice?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you should!”
[3:2] 24 tn Heb “the ones who.”
[3:2] 27 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
[3:2] 28 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] 30 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”).
[3:4] 31 tn Heb “then they will cry out to the
