Mazmur 22:26

22:26 Let the oppressed eat and be filled! ¹ 

Let those who seek his help praise the Lord!

May you ²  live forever!

Mazmur 76:9

76:9 when God arose to execute judgment,

and to deliver all the oppressed of the earth. (Selah)

Mazmur 147:6

147:6 The Lord lifts up the oppressed,

but knocks ³  the wicked to the ground.

Mazmur 149:4

149:4 For the Lord takes delight in his people;

he exalts the oppressed by delivering them. ⁴ 

Yesaya 11:4

11:4 He will treat the poor fairly, ⁵ 

and make right decisions ⁶  for the downtrodden of the earth. ⁷ 

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, ⁸ 

and order the wicked to be executed. ⁹ 

Yesaya 61:1

The Lord Will Rejuvenate His People

61:1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,

because the Lord has chosen ¹⁰  me. ¹¹ 

He has commissioned ¹²  me to encourage ¹³  the poor,

to help ¹⁴  the brokenhearted,

to decree the release of captives,

and the freeing of prisoners,

Zefanya 2:3

2:3 Seek the Lord’s favor, ¹⁵  all you humble people ¹⁶  of the land who have obeyed his commands! ¹⁷ 

Strive to do what is right! ¹⁸  Strive to be humble! ¹⁹ 

Maybe you will be protected ²⁰  on the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.

Matius 5:5

5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Galatia 5:23

5:23 gentleness, and ²¹  self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Yakobus 1:21

1:21 So put away all filth and evil excess and humbly ²²  welcome the message implanted within you, which is able to save your souls.

Yakobus 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From James, ²³  a slave ²⁴  of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. ²⁵  Greetings!

Pengkhotbah 3:4

3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

Pengkhotbah 3:15

3:15 Whatever exists now has already been, and whatever will be has already been;

for God will seek to do again ²⁶  what has occurred ²⁷  in the past. ²⁸ 

[22:26]  ¹ sn Eat and be filled. In addition to praising the Lord, the psalmist also offers a thank offering to the Lord and invites others to share in a communal meal.

[22:26]  ² tn Heb “may your heart[s].”

[147:6]  ³ tn Heb “brings down.”

[149:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “he honors the oppressed [with] deliverance.”

[11:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “with justice” (so NAB) or “with righteousness” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[11:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “make decisions with rectitude”; cf. ASV, NRSV “and decide with equity.”

[11:4]  ⁷ tn Or “land” (NAB, NCV, CEV). It is uncertain if the passage is picturing universal dominion or focusing on the king’s rule over his covenant people. The reference to God’s “holy mountain” in v. 9 and the description of renewed Israelite conquests in v. 14 suggest the latter, though v. 10 seems to refer to a universal kingdom (see 2:2-4).

[11:4]  ⁸ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and he will strike the earth with the scepter of his mouth.” Some have suggested that in this context אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”) as an object of judgment seems too broad in scope. The parallelism is tighter if one emends the word to ץ(י)עָרִ (’arits, “potentate, tyrant”). The phrase “scepter of his mouth” refers to the royal (note “scepter”) decrees that he proclaims with his mouth. Because these decrees will have authority and power (see v. 2) behind them, they can be described as “striking” the tyrants down. Nevertheless, the MT reading may not need emending. Isaiah refers to the entire “earth” as the object of God’s judgment in several places without specifying the wicked as the object of the judgment (Isa 24:17-21; 26:9, 21; 28:22; cf. 13:11).

[11:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “and by the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.” The “breath of his lips” refers to his speech, specifically in this context his official decrees that the wicked oppressors be eliminated from his realm. See the preceding note.

[61:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.

[61:1]  ¹¹ sn The speaker is not identified, but he is distinct from the Lord and from Zion’s suffering people. He possesses the divine spirit, is God’s spokesman, and is sent to release prisoners from bondage. The evidence suggests he is the Lord’s special servant, described earlier in the servant songs (see 42:1-4, 7; 49:2, 9; 50:4; see also 51:16).

[61:1]  ¹² tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”

[61:1]  ¹³ tn Or “proclaim good news to.”

[61:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”

[2:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “seek the Lord,” but “favor” seems to be implied from the final line of the verse.

[2:3]  ¹⁶ tn Or “poor.” The precise referent of this Hebrew term is unclear. The word may refer to the economically poor or to the spiritually humble.

[2:3]  ¹⁷ tn The present translation assumes the Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) here refers to God’s covenantal requirements and is a synonym for the Law. The word can mean “justice” and could refer more specifically to the principles of justice contained in the Law. In this case the phrase could be translated, “who have promoted the justice God demands.”

[2:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Seek what is right.”

[2:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Seek humility.”

[2:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “hidden.” Cf. NEB “it may be that you will find shelter”; NRSV “perhaps you may be hidden.”

[5:23]  ²¹ tn “And” is supplied here as a matter of English style, which normally inserts “and” between the last two elements of a list or series.

[1:21]  ²² tn Or “with meekness.”

[1:1]  ²³ tn Grk “James.” The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ²⁴ tn Traditionally, “servant” or “bondservant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  sn Undoubtedly the background for the concept of being the Lord’s slave or servant is to be found in the Old Testament scriptures. For a Jew this concept did not connote drudgery, but honor and privilege. It was used of national Israel at times (Isa 43:10), but was especially associated with famous OT personalities, including such great men as Moses (Josh 14:7), David (Ps 89:3; cf. 2 Sam 7:5, 8) and Elijah (2 Kgs 10:10); all these men were “servants (or slaves) of the Lord.”

[1:1]  ²⁵ tn Grk “to the twelve tribes in the Diaspora.” The Greek term διασπορά (diaspora, “dispersion”) refers to Jews not living in Palestine but “dispersed” or scattered among the Gentiles.

[3:15]  ²⁶ tn The phrase “to do again” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[3:15]  ²⁷ tn Heb “God will seek that which is driven away.” The meaning of יְבַקֵּשׁ אֶת־נִרְדָּף (yÿvaqqesh ’et-nirdaf) is difficult to determine: יְבַקֵּשׁ (yÿvaqqesh) is Piel imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from בָּקַשׁ (baqash, “to seek”) and נִרְדָּף (nirdaf) is a Niphal participle 3rd person masculine singular from רָדַף (radaf, “to drive away”). There are several options: (1) God watches over the persecuted: יְבַקֵּשׁ (“seeks”) functions as a metonymy of cause for effect (i.e., to protect), and אֶת־נִרְדָּף (“what is driven away”) refers to “those who are persecuted.” But this does not fit the context. (2) God will call the past to account: יְבַקֵּשׁ functions as a metonymy of cause for effect (i.e., to hold accountable), and אֶת־נִרְדָּף is a metonymy of attribute (i.e., the past). This approach is adopted by several English translations: “God requires that which is past” (KJV), “God will call the past to account” (NIV) and “God summons each event back in its turn” (NEB). (3) God finds what has been lost: יְבַקֵּשׁ functions as a metonymy of cause for effect (i.e., to find), and אֶת־נִרְדָּף refers to what has been lost: “God restores what would otherwise be displaced” (NAB). (4) God repeats what has already occurred: יְבַקֵּשׁ functions as a metonymy of effect (i.e., to repeat), and אֶת־נִרְדָּף is a metonymy (i.e., that which has occurred). This fits the context and provides a tight parallel with the preceding line: “That which is has already been, and that which will be has already been” (3:15a) parallels “God seeks [to repeat] that which has occurred [in the past].” This is the most popular approach among English versions: “God restores that which has past” (Douay), “God seeks again that which is passed away” (ASV), “God seeks what has passed by” (NASB), “God seeks what has been driven away” (RSV), “God seeks out what has passed by” (MLB), “God seeks out what has gone by” (NRSV), and “God is ever bringing back what disappears” (Moffatt).

[3:15]  ²⁸ tn The phrase “in the past” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.