Reference: Poor
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Ps 12:5; 41:1-3, especially cared for in the Jewish dispensation, Ex 23:6; Pr 14:31, and even more so under the gospel, Mt 25:42-45; Jas 2:5. The slight offerings required of them by the law were as acceptable as the hecatombs of the rich, Le 5:7-13; Mr 12:41-44. The gleanings of the fields, the olive-trees, and the vines, were to be left for them, Le 19:9; De 24:19; Ru 2:2. Every seventh year, the spontaneous products of the ground were free to all, Le 25:7; and in the Jubilee their alienated inheritance returned to their possession. Compare also Le 25; De 24. Neglect and oppression of the poor were severely reproved by the prophets, Isa 10:2; Jer 5:28; Am 2:6; but charity to the poor was an eminent virtue among primitive Christians, Mt 6:2-4; Lu 10:33-35; 19:8; Ac 9:36-39; 10:2; 11:29-30.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of thy poor in his cause.
And if his hand be not able to bring what is so much as a sheep, then he shall bring for his trespass which he hath sinned two turtle-doves or two young pigeons, to Jehovah; one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering. And he shall bring them unto the priest, who shall present that which is for the sin-offering first, and pinch off his head at the neck, but shall not divide it; read more. and he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin-offering on the wall of the altar; and the rest of the blood shall be wrung out at the bottom of the altar: it is a sin-offering. And he shall offer the other for a burnt-offering, according to the ordinance. And the priest shall make atonement for him to cleanse him from his sin which he hath sinned, and it shall be forgiven him. But if his hand cannot attain to two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, then he that sinned shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin-offering: he shall put no oil on it, neither shall he put frankincense thereon; for it is a sin-offering. And he shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it, the memorial thereof, and burn it on the altar, with Jehovah's offerings by fire: it is a sin-offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin which he hath sinned in one of these, and it shall be forgiven him; and it shall be the priest's, as the oblation.
And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, and the gleaning of thy harvest thou shalt not gather.
and for the beasts that are in thy land: all the produce thereof shall be for food.
When thou reapest thy harvest in thy field, and forgettest a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not return to fetch it; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow; that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hands.
And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, Let me, I pray, go to the field and glean among the ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find favour. And she said to her, Go, my daughter.
Because of the oppression of the afflicted, because of the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith Jehovah, I will set him in safety, at whom they puff.
{To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David.} Blessed is he that understandeth the poor: Jehovah will deliver him in the day of evil. Jehovah will preserve him, and keep him alive; he shall be made happy in the land; and thou wilt not deliver him to the will of his enemies. read more. Jehovah will sustain him upon the bed of languishing: thou turnest all his bed in his sickness.
He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker; but he that honoureth Him is gracious to the needy.
to turn away the poor from judgment, and to take away the right from the afflicted of my people; that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!
They are become fat, they shine, yea, they surpass in deeds of wickedness; they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, and they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not adjudge.
Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke its sentence; because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes;
When therefore thou doest alms, sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may have glory from men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand does; read more. so that thine alms may be in secret, and thy Father who sees in secret will render it to thee.
for I hungered, and ye gave me not to eat; I thirsted, and ye gave me not to drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye did not clothe me; ill, and in prison, and ye did not visit me. read more. Then shall they also answer saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungering, or thirsting, or a stranger, or naked, or ill, or in prison, and have not ministered to thee? Then shall he answer them saying, Verily I say to you, Inasmuch as ye have not done it to one of these least, neither have ye done it to me.
And Jesus, having sat down opposite the treasury, saw how the crowd was casting money into the treasury; and many rich cast in much. And a poor widow came and cast in two mites, which is a farthing. read more. And having called his disciples to him he said to them, Verily I say unto you, This poor widow has cast in more than all who have cast into the treasury: for all have cast in of that which they had in abundance, but she of her destitution has cast in all that she had, the whole of her living.
But a certain Samaritan journeying came to him, and seeing him, was moved with compassion, and came up to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine; and having put him on his own beast, took him to the inn and took care of him. read more. And on the morrow as he left, taking out two denarii he gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou shalt expend more, I will render to thee on my coming back.
But Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I return him fourfold.
And in Joppa there was a certain female disciple, by name Tabitha, which being interpreted means Dorcas. She was full of good works and alms-deeds which she did. And it came to pass in those days that she grew sick and died; and, having washed her, they put her in the upper room. read more. But Lydda being near to Joppa, the disciples having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, beseeching him, Thou must not delay coming to us. And Peter rising up went with them, whom, when arrived, they brought up into the upper chamber; and all the widows stood by him weeping and shewing him the body-coats and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them.
pious, and fearing God with all his house, both giving much alms to the people, and supplicating God continually,
And they determined, according as any one of the disciples was well off, each of them to send to the brethren who dwelt in Judaea, to minister to them; which also they did, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
Hear, my beloved brethren: Has not God chosen the poor as to the world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to them that love him?
Easton
The Mosaic legislation regarding the poor is specially important. (1.) They had the right of gleaning the fields (Le 19:9-10; De 24:19,21).
(2.) In the sabbatical year they were to have their share of the produce of the fields and the vineyards (Ex 23:11; Le 25:6).
(3.) In the year of jubilee they recovered their property (Le 25:25-30).
(4.) Usury was forbidden, and the pledged raiment was to be returned before the sun went down (Ex 22:25-27; De 24:10-13). The rich were to be generous to the poor (De 15:7-11).
(5.) In the sabbatical and jubilee years the bond-servant was to go free (De 15:12-15; Le 25:39-42,47-54).
(6.) Certain portions from the tithes were assigned to the poor (De 14:28-29; 26:12-13).
(7.) They shared in the feasts (De 16:11,14; Ne 8:10).
(8.) Wages were to be paid at the close of each day (Le 19:13).
In the New Testament (Lu 3:11; 14:13; Ac 6:1; Ga 2:10; Jas 2:15-16) we have similar injunctions given with reference to the poor. Begging was not common under the Old Testament, while it was so in the New Testament times (Lu 16:20-21, etc.). But begging in the case of those who are able to work is forbidden, and all such are enjoined to "work with their own hands" as a Christian duty (1Th 4:11; 2Th 3:7-13; Eph 4:28). This word is used figuratively in Mt 5:3; Lu 6:20; 2Co 8:9; Re 3:17.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
if thou lend money to my people, the poor with thee,thou shalt not be to him as a usurer: ye shall charge him no interest. If thou at all take thy neighbour's garment in pledge, thou shalt return it to him before the sun goes down; read more. for that is his only covering, his garment for his skin: on what shall he lie down? And it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.
but in the seventh thou shalt let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of thy people may eat of it; and what they leave, the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thine olive-tree.
And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, and the gleaning of thy harvest thou shalt not gather. And thy vineyard shalt thou not glean, neither shalt thou gather what hath been left of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am Jehovah your God.
Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbour, neither rob him. The wages of the hired servant shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
And the sabbath of the land shall be for food for you, for thee, and for thy bondman, and for thy handmaid, and for thy hired servant, and for him that dwelleth as a sojourner with thee, and for thy cattle,
If thy brother grow poor, and sell of his possession, then shall his redeemer, his nearest relation, come and redeem that which his brother sold. And if the man have no one having right of redemption, and his hand have acquired and found what sufficeth for its redemption, read more. then shall he reckon the years since the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; and so return unto his possession. And if his hand have not found what sufficeth for him to restore it to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of the purchaser, until the year of jubilee; and in the jubilee it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession. And if any one sell a dwelling-house in a walled city, then he shall have the right of redemption up to the end of the year of the sale thereof; for a full year shall he have the right of redemption. But if it be not redeemed until a whole year is complete, then the house that is in the walled city shall be established for ever to him that bought it, throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubilee.
And if thy brother grow poor beside thee, and be sold unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant: as a hired servant, as a sojourner, shall he be with thee; until the year of jubilee shall he serve thee. read more. Then shall he depart from thee, he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return. For they are my bondmen, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as men sell bondmen.
And if a stranger or sojourner become wealthy beside thee, and thy brother beside him grow poor, and sell himself unto the stranger, who is settled by thee, or to a scion of the stranger's family, after that he is sold there shall be right of redemption for him; one of his brethren may redeem him. read more. Either his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him, or one of his next relations of his family may redeem him; or if his means be sufficient, he may redeem himself. And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubilee; and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of the years, according to the days of a hired servant shall he be with him. If there are yet many years, according unto them shall he return his redemption money out of the money that he was bought for; and if there remain but few years unto the year of jubilee, then he shall reckon with him; according unto his remaining years of service shall he give him back his redemption money. As a hired servant shall he be with him year by year; his master shall not rule with rigour over him before thine eyes. And if he be not redeemed in this manner, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, he and his children with him.
At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates; and the Levite for he hath no portion nor inheritance with thee and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hand which thou doest.
If there be amongst you a poor man, any one of thy brethren in one of thy gates, in thy land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy brother in need; but thou shalt open thy hand bountifully unto him, and shalt certainly lend him on pledge what is sufficient for his need, in that which he lacketh. read more. Beware that there be not a wicked thought in thy heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry against thee to Jehovah, and it be sin in thee. Thou shalt bountifully give unto him, and thy heart shall not be evil-disposed when thou givest unto him; because for this thing Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all thy works, and in all the business of thy hand. For the needy shall never cease from within the land; therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thy hand bountifully unto thy brother, to thy poor and to thy needy, in thy land. If thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, have been sold unto thee, he shall serve thee six years, and in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty; thou shalt certainly furnish him from thy sheep, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of what Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee with shalt thou give unto him. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and that Jehovah thy God redeemed thee; therefore I command thee this thing to-day.
and thou shalt rejoice before Jehovah thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy bondman, and thy handmaid, and the Levite that is in thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow that are in thy midst in the place that Jehovah thy God will choose to cause his name to dwell there.
And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy bondman, and thy handmaid, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are in thy gates.
When thou dost lend thy brother anything, thou shalt not go into his house to secure his pledge. Thou shalt stand outside, and the man to whom thou hast made a loan shall bring out the pledge to thee without. read more. And if the man be needy, thou shalt not lie down with his pledge; in any case thou shalt return him the pledge at the going down of the sun, that he may sleep in his own upper garment and bless thee; and it shall be righteousness unto thee before Jehovah thy God.
When thou reapest thy harvest in thy field, and forgettest a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not return to fetch it; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow; that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hands.
When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterwards; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.
When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thy produce in the third year, the year of tithing, thou shalt give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, that they may eat in thy gates, and be filled; and thou shalt say before Jehovah thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of the house, and also have given them to the Levite, and to the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandment which thou hast commanded me; I have not transgressed nor forgotten any of thy commandments:
And he said to them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions to them for whom nothing is prepared; for the day is holy to our Lord; and be not grieved, for the joy of Jehovah is your strength.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.
And he answering says to them, He that has two body-coats, let him give to him that has none; and he that has food, let him do likewise.
And he, lifting up his eyes upon his disciples, said, Blessed are ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
But when thou makest a feast, call poor, crippled, lame, blind:
And there was a poor man, by name Lazarus, who was laid at his gateway full of sores, and desiring to be filled with the crumbs which fell from the table of the rich man; but the dogs also coming licked his sores.
But in those days, the disciples multiplying in number, there arose a murmuring of the Hellenists against the Hebrews because their widows were overlooked in the daily ministration.
only that we should remember the poor, which same thing also I was diligent to do.
Let the stealer steal no more, but rather let him toil, working what is honest with his hands, that he may have to distribute to him that has need.
and to seek earnestly to be quiet and mind your own affairs, and work with your own hands, even as we charged you,
Now if a brother or a sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one from amongst you say to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled; but give not to them the needful things for the body, what is the profit?
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and am grown rich, and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art the wretched and the miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked;
Fausets
The considerate provisions of the law for the poor (based on principles already recognized by the patriarchs: Job 20:19; 24:3-4,9-10; especially Job 29:11-16; 31:17) were:
(1) The right of gleaning; the corners of the field were not to be reaped, nor all the grapes to be gathered, nor the olive trees to be beaten a second time; the stranger, fatherless, and widow might gather the leavings; the forgotten sheaf was to be left for them (Le 19:9-10; De 24:19,21; Ru 2:2).
(2) They were to have their share of the produce in sabbatical years (Ex 23:11; Le 25:6).
(3) They recovered their land, but not town houses, in the Jubilee year (Le 25:25-30).
(4) Usury, i.e. interest on loans to an Israelite, was forbidden; the pledged raiment was to be returned before sundown (Ex 22:25-27; De 24:10-13); generous lending, even at the approach of Jubilee release, is enjoined: (De 15:7-11) "thou shalt open thy hand wide to THY poor"; God designs that we should appropriate them as our own, whereas men say "the poor."
(5) Lasting bondservice was forbidden, and manumission, with a liberal present, enjoined in the sabbatical and Jubilee years (De 15:12-15; Le 25:39-42,47-54); the children were not enslaved; an Israelite might redeem an Israelite who was in bondage to a rich foreign settler.
(6) Portions from the tithes belonged to the poor after the Levites (De 14:28-29; 26:12-13).
(7) The poor shared in the feasts at the festivals of weeks and tabernacles (De 16:11,14; Ne 8:10).
(8) Wages must be paid at the day's end (Le 19:13); yet partiality in judgment must not be shown to the poor (Ex 23:3; Le 19:15).
In the New Testament, Christ lays down the same love to the poor (Lu 3:11; 14:13; Ac 6:1; Ga 2:10; Jas 2:15; Ro 15:26), the motive being "Christ, who was rich, for our sake became poor that we through His poverty might be rich" (2Co 8:9). Begging was common in New Testament times, not under Old Testament (Lu 16:20-21; 18:35; Mr 10:46; Joh 9:8; Ac 3:2.) Mendicancy in the ease of the able bodied is discouraged, and honest labour for one's living is encouraged by precept and example (1Th 4:11; Eph 4:28; 2Th 3:7-12).
The prophets especially vindicate the claims of the poor: compare Eze 18:12,16-17; 22:29; Jer 22:13,16; 5:28; Isa 10:2; Am 2:7, "pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor," i.e., thirst after prostrating the poor by oppression, so as to lay their heads in the dust; or less simply (Pusey) "grudge to the poor debtor the dust which as a mourner he strewed on his head" (2Sa 1:2; Job 2:12). In De 15:4 the creditor must not exact a debt in the year of release, "save when there shall be no poor among you," but as De 15:11 says "the poor shalt never cease out of the land," translated "no poor with thee," i.e. release the debt for the year except when no poor person is concerned, which may happen, "for the Lord shall greatly bless thee": you may call in a loan on the year of release, when the borrower is not poor. Others regard the promise, De 15:11, conditional, Israel's disobedience frustrating its fulfillment. Less costly sacrifices might be substituted by the poor (Le 5:7,11).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
if thou lend money to my people, the poor with thee,thou shalt not be to him as a usurer: ye shall charge him no interest. If thou at all take thy neighbour's garment in pledge, thou shalt return it to him before the sun goes down; read more. for that is his only covering, his garment for his skin: on what shall he lie down? And it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.
but in the seventh thou shalt let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of thy people may eat of it; and what they leave, the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thine olive-tree.
And if his hand be not able to bring what is so much as a sheep, then he shall bring for his trespass which he hath sinned two turtle-doves or two young pigeons, to Jehovah; one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering.
But if his hand cannot attain to two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, then he that sinned shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin-offering: he shall put no oil on it, neither shall he put frankincense thereon; for it is a sin-offering.
And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, and the gleaning of thy harvest thou shalt not gather. And thy vineyard shalt thou not glean, neither shalt thou gather what hath been left of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am Jehovah your God.
Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbour, neither rob him. The wages of the hired servant shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment; thou shalt not respect the person of the lowly, nor honour the person of the great; in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.
And the sabbath of the land shall be for food for you, for thee, and for thy bondman, and for thy handmaid, and for thy hired servant, and for him that dwelleth as a sojourner with thee, and for thy cattle,
If thy brother grow poor, and sell of his possession, then shall his redeemer, his nearest relation, come and redeem that which his brother sold. And if the man have no one having right of redemption, and his hand have acquired and found what sufficeth for its redemption, read more. then shall he reckon the years since the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; and so return unto his possession. And if his hand have not found what sufficeth for him to restore it to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of the purchaser, until the year of jubilee; and in the jubilee it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession. And if any one sell a dwelling-house in a walled city, then he shall have the right of redemption up to the end of the year of the sale thereof; for a full year shall he have the right of redemption. But if it be not redeemed until a whole year is complete, then the house that is in the walled city shall be established for ever to him that bought it, throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubilee.
And if thy brother grow poor beside thee, and be sold unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant: as a hired servant, as a sojourner, shall he be with thee; until the year of jubilee shall he serve thee. read more. Then shall he depart from thee, he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return. For they are my bondmen, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as men sell bondmen.
And if a stranger or sojourner become wealthy beside thee, and thy brother beside him grow poor, and sell himself unto the stranger, who is settled by thee, or to a scion of the stranger's family, after that he is sold there shall be right of redemption for him; one of his brethren may redeem him. read more. Either his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him, or one of his next relations of his family may redeem him; or if his means be sufficient, he may redeem himself. And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubilee; and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of the years, according to the days of a hired servant shall he be with him. If there are yet many years, according unto them shall he return his redemption money out of the money that he was bought for; and if there remain but few years unto the year of jubilee, then he shall reckon with him; according unto his remaining years of service shall he give him back his redemption money. As a hired servant shall he be with him year by year; his master shall not rule with rigour over him before thine eyes. And if he be not redeemed in this manner, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, he and his children with him.
At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates; and the Levite for he hath no portion nor inheritance with thee and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hand which thou doest.
save when there shall be no one in need among you; for Jehovah will greatly bless thee in the land that Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it,
If there be amongst you a poor man, any one of thy brethren in one of thy gates, in thy land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy brother in need; but thou shalt open thy hand bountifully unto him, and shalt certainly lend him on pledge what is sufficient for his need, in that which he lacketh. read more. Beware that there be not a wicked thought in thy heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry against thee to Jehovah, and it be sin in thee. Thou shalt bountifully give unto him, and thy heart shall not be evil-disposed when thou givest unto him; because for this thing Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all thy works, and in all the business of thy hand. For the needy shall never cease from within the land; therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thy hand bountifully unto thy brother, to thy poor and to thy needy, in thy land.
For the needy shall never cease from within the land; therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thy hand bountifully unto thy brother, to thy poor and to thy needy, in thy land.
For the needy shall never cease from within the land; therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thy hand bountifully unto thy brother, to thy poor and to thy needy, in thy land. If thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, have been sold unto thee, he shall serve thee six years, and in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. read more. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty; thou shalt certainly furnish him from thy sheep, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of what Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee with shalt thou give unto him. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and that Jehovah thy God redeemed thee; therefore I command thee this thing to-day.
and thou shalt rejoice before Jehovah thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy bondman, and thy handmaid, and the Levite that is in thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow that are in thy midst in the place that Jehovah thy God will choose to cause his name to dwell there.
And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy bondman, and thy handmaid, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are in thy gates.
When thou dost lend thy brother anything, thou shalt not go into his house to secure his pledge. Thou shalt stand outside, and the man to whom thou hast made a loan shall bring out the pledge to thee without. read more. And if the man be needy, thou shalt not lie down with his pledge; in any case thou shalt return him the pledge at the going down of the sun, that he may sleep in his own upper garment and bless thee; and it shall be righteousness unto thee before Jehovah thy God.
When thou reapest thy harvest in thy field, and forgettest a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not return to fetch it; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow; that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hands.
When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterwards; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.
When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thy produce in the third year, the year of tithing, thou shalt give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, that they may eat in thy gates, and be filled; and thou shalt say before Jehovah thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of the house, and also have given them to the Levite, and to the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandment which thou hast commanded me; I have not transgressed nor forgotten any of thy commandments:
And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, Let me, I pray, go to the field and glean among the ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find favour. And she said to her, Go, my daughter.
And it came to pass on the third day, that behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his garments rent, and earth upon his head; and as soon as he came to David, he fell to the earth and did obeisance.
And he said to them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions to them for whom nothing is prepared; for the day is holy to our Lord; and be not grieved, for the joy of Jehovah is your strength.
And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice and wept. And they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward the heavens.
For he hath oppressed, hath forsaken the poor; he hath violently taken away a house that he did not build.
They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge; They turn the needy out of the way: the afflicted of the land all hide themselves.
They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor: These go naked without clothing, and, hungry, they bear the sheaf;
When the ear heard me, then it blessed me, and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me; For I delivered the afflicted that cried, and the fatherless who had no helper. read more. The blessing of him that was perishing came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was as a mantle and a turban. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame; I was a father to the needy, and the cause which I knew not I searched out;
Or have eaten my morsel alone, so that the fatherless ate not thereof,
to turn away the poor from judgment, and to take away the right from the afflicted of my people; that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!
They are become fat, they shine, yea, they surpass in deeds of wickedness; they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, and they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not adjudge.
Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his upper chambers by injustice; that taketh his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not his earning;
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Was not this to know me? saith Jehovah.
hath oppressed the poor and needy, exercised robbery, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, committed abomination,
and hath not oppressed any, nor withholden the pledge, neither hath exercised robbery; he hath given his bread to the hungry, and covered the naked with a garment; he hath withdrawn his hand from the poor, hath not received usury nor increase, hath executed my judgments, and walked in my statutes: he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall certainly live.
The people of the land use oppression and practise robbery; and they vex the poor and needy, and oppress the stranger wrongfully.
panting after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turning aside the way of the meek; and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name.
And they come to Jericho, and as he was going out from Jericho, and his disciples and a large crowd, the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, the blind man, sat by the wayside begging.
And he answering says to them, He that has two body-coats, let him give to him that has none; and he that has food, let him do likewise.
But when thou makest a feast, call poor, crippled, lame, blind:
And there was a poor man, by name Lazarus, who was laid at his gateway full of sores, and desiring to be filled with the crumbs which fell from the table of the rich man; but the dogs also coming licked his sores.
And it came to pass when he came into the neighbourhood of Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the wayside begging.
The neighbours therefore, and those who used to see him before, that he was a beggar, said, Is not this he that was sitting and begging?
and a certain man who was lame from his mother's womb was being carried, whom they placed every day at the gate of the temple called Beautiful, to ask alms of those who were going into the temple;
But in those days, the disciples multiplying in number, there arose a murmuring of the Hellenists against the Hebrews because their widows were overlooked in the daily ministration.
for Macedonia and Achaia have been well pleased to make a certain contribution for the poor of the saints who are in Jerusalem.
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sakes he, being rich, became poor, in order that ye by his poverty might be enriched.
only that we should remember the poor, which same thing also I was diligent to do.
Let the stealer steal no more, but rather let him toil, working what is honest with his hands, that he may have to distribute to him that has need.
and to seek earnestly to be quiet and mind your own affairs, and work with your own hands, even as we charged you,
Hastings
Morish
It was said in the O.T. that "the poor should never cease out of the land," and in the enactments of the law they were cared for by Jehovah. The Lord said, "Ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good." Mr 14:7. "Blessed is he that considereth the poor." Ps 41:1. "The poor have the gospel preached unto them." Mt 11:5. "When thou makest a feast call the poor." Lu 14:13. "He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord." Pr 19:17. Other passages show that the working of the love of God in the soul issues in a special regard for the poor. Ga 2:10. Of the Lord Jesus it is said, that though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor. 2Co 8:9.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
{To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David.} Blessed is he that understandeth the poor: Jehovah will deliver him in the day of evil.
He that is gracious to the poor lendeth unto Jehovah; and what he hath bestowed will he repay unto him.
Blind men see and lame walk; lepers are cleansed, and deaf hear; and dead are raised, and poor have glad tidings preached to them:
for ye have the poor always with you, and whenever ye would ye can do them good; but me ye have not always.
But when thou makest a feast, call poor, crippled, lame, blind:
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sakes he, being rich, became poor, in order that ye by his poverty might be enriched.
only that we should remember the poor, which same thing also I was diligent to do.
Smith
Poor.
The general kindly spirit of the law toward the poor is sufficiently shown by such passages as
De 15:7
for the reason that (ver. 11) "the poor shall never cease out of the land." Among the special enactments in their favor the following must be mentioned:
1. The right of gleaning.
Le 19:9-10; De 24:19,21
2. From the produce of the land in sabbatical years the poor and the stranger were to have their portion.
3. Re-entry upon land in the jubilee year, with the limitation as to town homes.
4. Prohibition of usury and of retention of pledges.
Ex 22:25-27; 5/3/type/darby'>Le 25:3,5,37
etc.
5. Permanent bondage forbidden, and manumission of Hebrew bondmen or bondwomen enjoined in the sabbatical and jubilee years.
Le 25:39-42,47-54; De 15:12-15
6. Portions from the tithes to be shared by the poor after the Levites.
De 14:28; 26:12-13
7. The poor to partake in entertainments at the feasts of Weeks and Tabernacles.
De 16:11,14
see Nehe 8:10
8. Daily payment of wages.
Principles similar to those laid down by Moses are inculcated in the New Testament, as
See Verses Found in Dictionary
if thou lend money to my people, the poor with thee,thou shalt not be to him as a usurer: ye shall charge him no interest. If thou at all take thy neighbour's garment in pledge, thou shalt return it to him before the sun goes down; read more. for that is his only covering, his garment for his skin: on what shall he lie down? And it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.
but in the seventh thou shalt let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of thy people may eat of it; and what they leave, the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thine olive-tree.
And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, and the gleaning of thy harvest thou shalt not gather. And thy vineyard shalt thou not glean, neither shalt thou gather what hath been left of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am Jehovah your God.
Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbour, neither rob him. The wages of the hired servant shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
Six years shalt thou sow thy field, and six years shalt thou prune thy vineyard, and gather in the produce thereof,
That which springeth up from the scattered seed of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, and the grapes of thine undressed vines thou shalt not gather: a year of rest shall it be for the land.
If thy brother grow poor, and sell of his possession, then shall his redeemer, his nearest relation, come and redeem that which his brother sold. And if the man have no one having right of redemption, and his hand have acquired and found what sufficeth for its redemption, read more. then shall he reckon the years since the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; and so return unto his possession. And if his hand have not found what sufficeth for him to restore it to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of the purchaser, until the year of jubilee; and in the jubilee it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession. And if any one sell a dwelling-house in a walled city, then he shall have the right of redemption up to the end of the year of the sale thereof; for a full year shall he have the right of redemption. But if it be not redeemed until a whole year is complete, then the house that is in the walled city shall be established for ever to him that bought it, throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubilee.
Thy money shalt thou not give him upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.
And if thy brother grow poor beside thee, and be sold unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant: as a hired servant, as a sojourner, shall he be with thee; until the year of jubilee shall he serve thee. read more. Then shall he depart from thee, he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return. For they are my bondmen, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as men sell bondmen.
And if a stranger or sojourner become wealthy beside thee, and thy brother beside him grow poor, and sell himself unto the stranger, who is settled by thee, or to a scion of the stranger's family, after that he is sold there shall be right of redemption for him; one of his brethren may redeem him. read more. Either his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him, or one of his next relations of his family may redeem him; or if his means be sufficient, he may redeem himself. And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubilee; and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of the years, according to the days of a hired servant shall he be with him. If there are yet many years, according unto them shall he return his redemption money out of the money that he was bought for; and if there remain but few years unto the year of jubilee, then he shall reckon with him; according unto his remaining years of service shall he give him back his redemption money. As a hired servant shall he be with him year by year; his master shall not rule with rigour over him before thine eyes. And if he be not redeemed in this manner, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, he and his children with him.
At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates;
If there be amongst you a poor man, any one of thy brethren in one of thy gates, in thy land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy brother in need;
If thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, have been sold unto thee, he shall serve thee six years, and in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty; read more. thou shalt certainly furnish him from thy sheep, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of what Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee with shalt thou give unto him. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and that Jehovah thy God redeemed thee; therefore I command thee this thing to-day.
and thou shalt rejoice before Jehovah thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy bondman, and thy handmaid, and the Levite that is in thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow that are in thy midst in the place that Jehovah thy God will choose to cause his name to dwell there.
And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy bondman, and thy handmaid, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are in thy gates.
When thou reapest thy harvest in thy field, and forgettest a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not return to fetch it; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow; that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hands.
When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterwards; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.
When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thy produce in the third year, the year of tithing, thou shalt give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, that they may eat in thy gates, and be filled; and thou shalt say before Jehovah thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of the house, and also have given them to the Levite, and to the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandment which thou hast commanded me; I have not transgressed nor forgotten any of thy commandments:
But in those days, the disciples multiplying in number, there arose a murmuring of the Hellenists against the Hebrews because their widows were overlooked in the daily ministration.
only that we should remember the poor, which same thing also I was diligent to do.