Sin’s Location

Who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry.  The LORD sets the prisoners free.  The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; the LORD raises up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous; Psalm 146:7-8  NASB

The oppressed – When we read “the oppressed” we are likely to think of two categories of people.  The first are probably those who live under some form of political tyranny or are the victims of the most recent human power conflicts.  The second are probably those who are psychologically oppressed: the depressed, the abused, the castigated.  Unfortunately, our own cultural motifs get in the way of reading this text.  With a little investigation, we will discover something quite unusual about this Hebrew word, ‘ashaq.

Gerstenberger points out that guttural words like this one are almost always connected to some form of violent or aggressive action in nearly all Semitic languages.  In this case, the root shem-qof is often translated “destroy,” “deal violently with,” “slaughter,” or “quarrel.”  What’s important is to realize that this root “always denotes negatively construed actions and states.”[1] Words derived from this root threaten well-being.

By the time translators were occupied with Greek renditions of ‘ashaq, the word shifted toward adikia, and was rendered “injustice.”  That moved the meaning from violent acts to legal determinations.  Thus, the Hebrew word in Deuteronomy became a way of describing economic and political transgressions.  Proverbs uses the word to highlight the fact that the wealthy abuse and take advantage of (exploit) the poor.  The prophets use the word to describe inhumane and godless conduct.  Everywhere we hear the cries of the poor, we are likely to encounter ‘ashaq.  Whether the abuse occurs by the economically powerful or the politically or religiously advantaged, God’s prophets provide stern predictions of judgment against those who are ‘osheqim (the perpetrators).

But this verse gives us an even deeper insight.  YHWH executes justice for the ‘ashuqim.  This is expected.  What isn’t expected is the fact that the ‘ashuqim are the righteous (look at the end of verse 8).  In other words, YHWH protects and vindicates His own – and they are found in the midst of the exploited, the hungry, the imprisoned, the humbled and the blind!  YHWH proclaims that all of these, His righteous ones, will have justice!  The fact that the righteous are located in the midst of those whom the world rejects and exploits is one more indication that our measurements of success are completely misaligned.  The prosperity message is not only foolish, it is idolatrous.  Nearly universally, those with power, wealth and possessions are the oppressors, not the righteous.  And God will judge them.

‘ashaq is a verb about terrible, violent damage.  And ‘ashuqim is a noun about those whom God loves.  The Hebrew insight depends only on where you are standing when the Lord arrives.  What does your GPS tell you?

Topical Index:  ‘ashaq, ‘ashuqim, exploit, oppress, Psalm 146:7-8, righteous