Reference: Poor
American
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 rights of thy poor in his cause.
And if he is not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for the guilt of his sin two turtledoves or two young pigeons unto the LORD, one for his sin and the other for a burnt offering. And he shall bring them unto the priest, who shall offer that which is for the sin first and wring off its head from its neck but shall not divide it asunder; read more. and he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin upon the side of the altar; and the rest of the blood shall be wrung out at the bottom of the altar; it is sin. And he shall offer the second for a burnt offering, according to the ordinance; and thus shall the priest reconcile him for his sin in which he has sinned, and he shall have forgiveness. But if he is not able to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, then he that sinned shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for his sin; he shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put any frankincense thereon, for it is sin. Then shall he bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it, even a memorial thereof, and incense it on the altar upon the other offerings on fire unto the LORD; it is sin. Thus shall the priest reconcile him from his sin in which he has sinned in one of these things, and he shall have forgiveness; and that which remains shall be the priest's, as with a present.
And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not completely reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest.
and for thy beast and for the animals that are in thy land shall all the fruit thereof be food.
When thou doest reap thy harvest in thy field and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to bring it; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, or for the widow, that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.
And Ruth, the Moabitess, said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field and glean ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.
For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now I will arise, saith the LORD; I will set in safety the one whom the wicked one has ensnared.
Blessed is he that understands regarding the poor; the LORD will deliver him in the day of evil. The LORD will preserve him and keep him alive, and he shall be blessed upon the earth, and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. read more. The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing; thou wilt soften all his bed in his sickness.
He that oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker, but he that has mercy on the poor, honours him.
to turn aside the poor from right 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 overpass in deeds of wickedness; they did not judge the cause, the cause of the fatherless; with all this they made themselves prosperous; and they did not judge the cause of the poor.
Thus hath the LORD said: For three transgressions of Israel and for the fourth, I will not convert her because they sold the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of shoes,
Therefore, when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They already have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth read more. that thine alms may be in secret; and thy Father who sees in secret, he shall reward thee openly.
for I was hungry, and ye gave me no food; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick and in prison, and ye visited me not. read more. Then they shall also answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister unto thee? Then he shall answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of my brothers, ye did it not to me.
And with Jesus sitting in front of the ark of the offering, he beheld how the people cast money into the ark and many that were rich cast in much. And as there came a certain poor widow, she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. read more. Then calling his disciples, he said unto them, Verily I say unto you that this poor widow has cast more in than all those who have cast into the treasury, for they all did cast in of their abundance, but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.
But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was; and when he saw him, he was moved with compassion and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him. read more. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two denarius and gave them to the host and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
Then Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas; this woman was full of good works and alms-deeds which she did. And it came to pass in those days that she was sick and died, whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber. read more. And since as Lydda was close to Joppa and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, asking him that he not delay to come to them. Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas had made them while she was with them.
a devout man and one that feared God with all his house, who gave many alms to the people and prayed to God always.
Then the disciples, each one according to what he had, determined to send relief unto the brethren who dwelt in Judea, which they likewise did and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
Hearken, my beloved brethren, Has not God chosen the poor of this world that they might be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those 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 should lend money to my people, to the poor who is with thee, thou shalt not be to him as a usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury. If thou at all take thy neighbour's clothing as a pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him before the sun goes down; read more. for only that is his covering, it is his clothing to cover his flesh, in which he must sleep; and it shall come to pass, when he cries unto me, that I will hear, for I am merciful.
but the seventh year thou shalt leave it free and release it, that the poor of thy people may eat, and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard and with thy oliveyard.
And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not completely reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather the fallen grapes of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and the stranger. I AM your God.
Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him. Do not detain the wages of the work of the hired man in thy house until the morning.
But the sabbath of the land shall be food for you, for thee and for thy slave and for thy maid and for thy hired servant and for thy stranger that sojourns with thee
If thy brother becomes poor and has sold away some of his possession, his redeemer shall come, his closest kinsman, and shall redeem that which his brother sold. And when the man has no redeemer and is able to stretch forth his hand and find enough for his redemption, read more. then he shall count the years from the sale thereof and pay that which remains unto the man to whom he sold it; that he may return unto his possession. But if he is not able to stretch forth his hand and find enough to return unto it, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of the one that has bought it until the year of jubilee; and in the jubilee the land shall go out free, and he shall return unto his possession. And if a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year may he redeem it. And if it is not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be established for ever to the one that bought it for his descendants; it shall not go out in the jubilee.
And when thy brother becomes poor, being with thee, and if he should sell himself unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a slave. As a hired servant and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee and shall serve thee unto the year of jubilee. read more. Then he shall depart free from thy house, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he be restored. For they belong to me, I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves.
And if a sojourner or stranger who is with thee becomes rich and thy brother who is with him becomes poor and sells himself unto the stranger or sojourner who is with thee or to the race of the lineage of the stranger, after he is sold he shall have redemption; one of his brethren shall redeem him; read more. either his uncle or his uncle's son shall redeem him; or any that is near of kin unto him of his lineage shall redeem him; or if he is able, 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 years, according to the time of a hired servant shall it be with him. If there are yet many years, according unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for. And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubilee, then he shall count with him, and according unto his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption. And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him; and the other shall not rule with rigor over him in thy sight. And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, both 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, who has no part nor inheritance with thee, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within thy gates, shall come and shall eat and be satisfied, that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hands which thou doest.
If there should be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy towns in thy land which the LORD thy God gives thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother, but thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he lacks. read more. Keep thyself that there not be a thought of Belial in thy heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother to give him nothing; for he shall cry unto the LORD against thee, and it shall be a sin unto thee. Thou shalt surely give unto him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him because for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works and in all that thou puttest thine hand to. For the poor shall never cease out of the land; therefore, I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor and to thy needy, in thy land. And if thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold unto thee and serves thee six years, then in the seventh year thou shalt send him forth from thee free. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not send him away empty. Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock and out of thy threshing floor and out of thy winepress; of that with which the LORD thy God has blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God ransomed thee; therefore, I command thee this thing to day.
And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou and thy son and thy daughter and thy manslave and thy maidslave and the Levite that is within thy gates and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God has chosen to place his name there.
And thou shalt rejoice in thy solemn feast, thou and thy son and thy daughter and thy manslave and thy maidslave and the Levite and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, that are within thy gates (or within thy towns).
When thou dost lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt not go into his house to take his pledge. Thou shalt stand outside, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring the pledge out unto thee. read more. And if the man is poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge. Without fail thou shalt deliver him the pledge again when the sun goes down that he may sleep in his own clothing and bless thee, and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the LORD thy God.
When thou doest reap thy harvest in thy field and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to bring it; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, or for the widow, that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.
When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward; 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 fruits the third year, which is the year of tithing and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates and be filled; then thou shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have brought the consecrated things out of my house and also have given them unto the Levite and unto the stranger to the fatherless and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me; I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them.
Then he said unto them, Go, eat the fat, and drink sweet wine, and send portions unto those who have nothing prepared; for this day is holy unto our Lord, and not sad; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.
He answered and said unto them, He that has two coats, let him impart to him that has none; and he that has food, let him do likewise.
And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples and said, Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
But when thou makest a banquet, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind,
and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, who was laid at his gate, full of sores and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, that their widows were neglected in the daily ministry.
Only they asked that we should remember the poor; the same which I was also diligent to do.
Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labour, working with his hands that which is good, that he may have to give to him that is in need.
and that ye procure to be quiet and to do your business and to work with your hands, as we commanded you,
If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says unto them, Depart in peace; be ye warmed and filled; but ye do not give them those things which are needful for the body; what shall it profit them?
Because thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou art wretched and 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 should lend money to my people, to the poor who is with thee, thou shalt not be to him as a usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury. If thou at all take thy neighbour's clothing as a pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him before the sun goes down; read more. for only that is his covering, it is his clothing to cover his flesh, in which he must sleep; and it shall come to pass, when he cries unto me, that I will hear, for I am merciful.
but the seventh year thou shalt leave it free and release it, that the poor of thy people may eat, and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard and with thy oliveyard.
And if he is not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for the guilt of his sin two turtledoves or two young pigeons unto the LORD, one for his sin and the other for a burnt offering.
But if he is not able to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, then he that sinned shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for his sin; he shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put any frankincense thereon, for it is sin.
And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not completely reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather the fallen grapes of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and the stranger. I AM your God.
Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him. Do not detain the wages of the work of the hired man in thy house until the morning.
Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, neither pleasing the poor, nor favoring the mighty; but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.
But the sabbath of the land shall be food for you, for thee and for thy slave and for thy maid and for thy hired servant and for thy stranger that sojourns with thee
If thy brother becomes poor and has sold away some of his possession, his redeemer shall come, his closest kinsman, and shall redeem that which his brother sold. And when the man has no redeemer and is able to stretch forth his hand and find enough for his redemption, read more. then he shall count the years from the sale thereof and pay that which remains unto the man to whom he sold it; that he may return unto his possession. But if he is not able to stretch forth his hand and find enough to return unto it, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of the one that has bought it until the year of jubilee; and in the jubilee the land shall go out free, and he shall return unto his possession. And if a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year may he redeem it. And if it is not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be established for ever to the one that bought it for his descendants; it shall not go out in the jubilee.
And when thy brother becomes poor, being with thee, and if he should sell himself unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a slave. As a hired servant and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee and shall serve thee unto the year of jubilee. read more. Then he shall depart free from thy house, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he be restored. For they belong to me, I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves.
And if a sojourner or stranger who is with thee becomes rich and thy brother who is with him becomes poor and sells himself unto the stranger or sojourner who is with thee or to the race of the lineage of the stranger, after he is sold he shall have redemption; one of his brethren shall redeem him; read more. either his uncle or his uncle's son shall redeem him; or any that is near of kin unto him of his lineage shall redeem him; or if he is able, 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 years, according to the time of a hired servant shall it be with him. If there are yet many years, according unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for. And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubilee, then he shall count with him, and according unto his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption. And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him; and the other shall not rule with rigor over him in thy sight. And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, both 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, who has no part nor inheritance with thee, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within thy gates, shall come and shall eat and be satisfied, that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hands which thou doest.
so that thus there shall be no poor among you, for the LORD shall greatly bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God gives thee for an inheritance to possess it;
If there should be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy towns in thy land which the LORD thy God gives thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother, but thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he lacks. read more. Keep thyself that there not be a thought of Belial in thy heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother to give him nothing; for he shall cry unto the LORD against thee, and it shall be a sin unto thee. Thou shalt surely give unto him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him because for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works and in all that thou puttest thine hand to. For the poor shall never cease out of the land; therefore, I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor and to thy needy, in thy land.
For the poor shall never cease out of the land; therefore, I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor and to thy needy, in thy land.
For the poor shall never cease out of the land; therefore, I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor and to thy needy, in thy land. And if thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold unto thee and serves thee six years, then in the seventh year thou shalt send him forth from thee free. read more. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not send him away empty. Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock and out of thy threshing floor and out of thy winepress; of that with which the LORD thy God has blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God ransomed thee; therefore, I command thee this thing to day.
And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou and thy son and thy daughter and thy manslave and thy maidslave and the Levite that is within thy gates and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God has chosen to place his name there.
And thou shalt rejoice in thy solemn feast, thou and thy son and thy daughter and thy manslave and thy maidslave and the Levite and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, that are within thy gates (or within thy towns).
When thou dost lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt not go into his house to take his pledge. Thou shalt stand outside, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring the pledge out unto thee. read more. And if the man is poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge. Without fail thou shalt deliver him the pledge again when the sun goes down that he may sleep in his own clothing and bless thee, and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the LORD thy God.
When thou doest reap thy harvest in thy field and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to bring it; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, or for the widow, that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.
When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward; 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 fruits the third year, which is the year of tithing and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates and be filled; then thou shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have brought the consecrated things out of my house and also have given them unto the Levite and unto the stranger to the fatherless and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me; I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them.
And Ruth, the Moabitess, said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field and glean ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.
it came to pass on the third day that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes rent and earth upon his head, and so it was when he came to David, that he fell to the earth and did obeisance.
Then he said unto them, Go, eat the fat, and drink sweet wine, and send portions unto those who have nothing prepared; for this day is holy unto our Lord, and not sad; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
And when they lifted up their eyes afar off and knew him not, they lifted up their voice and wept; and each one rent his mantle and sprinkled dust upon his head toward heaven.
Because he oppressed and forsook the poor; because he has violently taken away houses which 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; and all the poor of the earth hide themselves from them.
They pluck the fatherless from the breast and take a pledge of the poor. They cause the naked to go without clothing, and they take away the sheaves from the hungry.
When the ears that heard me, called me blessed; and when the eyes that saw me, gave witness to me: because I delivered the poor that cried and the fatherless who had no one to help him. read more. The blessing of the one that was ready to perish came upon me; and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me as a robe; and my diadem was judgment. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy; and the cause which I did not know I searched out.
or have eaten my morsel alone and the fatherless has not eaten thereof;
to turn aside the poor from right 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 overpass in deeds of wickedness; they did not judge the cause, the cause of the fatherless; with all this they made themselves prosperous; and they did not judge the cause of the poor.
Woe unto him that builds his house and not in righteousness and his chambers and not in judgment, using his neighbour's service without wages and not giving him the wages of his work!
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him. Is this not to know me? said the LORD.
oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore the pledge, or lifts up his eyes to the idols, or makes an abomination,
neither oppresses any, nor withholds the pledge, neither commits robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry, and covers the naked with a garment, takes off his hand from oppressing the poor, does not receive usury nor increase, acts according to my rights, and walks in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father; he shall surely live.
The people of the land have used oppression and exercised robbery and have done violence unto the poor and needy; they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
desiring that there be dust of the earth upon the head of the poor, and to twist the way of the humble: and the man and his father have gone in unto the same maid, profaning my holy name:
And so they come to Jericho, and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.
He answered and said unto them, He that has two coats, let him impart to him that has none; and he that has food, let him do likewise.
But when thou makest a banquet, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind,
and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, who was laid at his gate, full of sores and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
And it came to pass that as he came near unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat beside the way begging,
The neighbours, therefore, and those who before had seen him that he was blind said, Is not this he that sat and begged?
And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of those that entered into the temple,
And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, that their widows were neglected in the daily ministry.
For it has pleased those of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints who are in Jerusalem.
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be enriched.
Only they asked that we should remember the poor; the same which I was also diligent to do.
Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labour, working with his hands that which is good, that he may have to give to him that is in need.
and that ye procure to be quiet and to do your business and to work with your hands, as we commanded you,
If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,
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
Blessed is he that understands regarding the poor; the LORD will deliver him in the day of evil.
He that gives unto the poor lends unto the LORD, and he will give him his reward.
The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
For ye have the poor with you always, and whenever ye will, ye may do them good; but me ye have not always.
But when thou makest a banquet, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind,
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be enriched.
Only they asked that we should remember the poor; the same which I was also 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/j2000'>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 should lend money to my people, to the poor who is with thee, thou shalt not be to him as a usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury. If thou at all take thy neighbour's clothing as a pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him before the sun goes down; read more. for only that is his covering, it is his clothing to cover his flesh, in which he must sleep; and it shall come to pass, when he cries unto me, that I will hear, for I am merciful.
but the seventh year thou shalt leave it free and release it, that the poor of thy people may eat, and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard and with thy oliveyard.
And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not completely reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather the fallen grapes of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and the stranger. I AM your God.
Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him. Do not detain the wages of the work of the hired man in thy house until the morning.
Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard and gather in the fruit thereof,
That which grows of its own accord in thy land that was harvested, thou shalt not reap; neither fence in the grapes of thy consecrated vine; for it is a year of rest unto the land.
If thy brother becomes poor and has sold away some of his possession, his redeemer shall come, his closest kinsman, and shall redeem that which his brother sold. And when the man has no redeemer and is able to stretch forth his hand and find enough for his redemption, read more. then he shall count the years from the sale thereof and pay that which remains unto the man to whom he sold it; that he may return unto his possession. But if he is not able to stretch forth his hand and find enough to return unto it, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of the one that has bought it until the year of jubilee; and in the jubilee the land shall go out free, and he shall return unto his possession. And if a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year may he redeem it. And if it is not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be established for ever to the one that bought it for his descendants; it shall not go out in the jubilee.
Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy food for increase.
And when thy brother becomes poor, being with thee, and if he should sell himself unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a slave. As a hired servant and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee and shall serve thee unto the year of jubilee. read more. Then he shall depart free from thy house, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he be restored. For they belong to me, I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves.
And if a sojourner or stranger who is with thee becomes rich and thy brother who is with him becomes poor and sells himself unto the stranger or sojourner who is with thee or to the race of the lineage of the stranger, after he is sold he shall have redemption; one of his brethren shall redeem him; read more. either his uncle or his uncle's son shall redeem him; or any that is near of kin unto him of his lineage shall redeem him; or if he is able, 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 years, according to the time of a hired servant shall it be with him. If there are yet many years, according unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for. And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubilee, then he shall count with him, and according unto his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption. And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him; and the other shall not rule with rigor over him in thy sight. And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, both 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 should be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy towns in thy land which the LORD thy God gives thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother,
And if thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold unto thee and serves thee six years, then in the seventh year thou shalt send him forth from thee free. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not send him away empty. read more. Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock and out of thy threshing floor and out of thy winepress; of that with which the LORD thy God has blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God ransomed thee; therefore, I command thee this thing to day.
And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou and thy son and thy daughter and thy manslave and thy maidslave and the Levite that is within thy gates and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God has chosen to place his name there.
And thou shalt rejoice in thy solemn feast, thou and thy son and thy daughter and thy manslave and thy maidslave and the Levite and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, that are within thy gates (or within thy towns).
When thou doest reap thy harvest in thy field and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to bring it; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, or for the widow, that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.
When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward; 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 fruits the third year, which is the year of tithing and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates and be filled; then thou shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have brought the consecrated things out of my house and also have given them unto the Levite and unto the stranger to the fatherless and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me; I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them.
And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, that their widows were neglected in the daily ministry.
Only they asked that we should remember the poor; the same which I was also diligent to do.
If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,