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 needy in his cause.
And if his hand shall not reach the sufficiency of a sheep, and he brought his trespass which he sinned, two turtledoves, or two sons of a dove, to Jehovah; one for the sin, and one for the burnt-offering. And he brought them to the priest, and he brought near that for the sin first, and broke off its head from the front of its neck; and he shall not divide. read more. And he sprinkled from the blood of the sin upon the wall of the altar; and that remaining of the blood he shall press out at the foundation of the altar: it is sin. And the second he shall make a burnt-offering according to the judgment: and the priest expiated for him from his sin which he sinned, and it was forgiven to him. And if his hand shall not reach to the two turtle-doves, or to the two sons of a dove; and he brought his offering who sinned, the tenth of the ephah of fine flour for the sin; he shall not put oil upon it, and he shall not give frankincense upon it; for it is sin. And he brought it to the priest, and the priest pressed from it his hand full, its memorial, and burnt upon the altar for sacrifices to Jehovah: it is sin. And the priest shall expiate for him for his sin which he sinned, from one from these; and it was forgiven to him: and it was to the priest for a gift.
And in your reaping the harvest of your land thou shalt not finish to reap the extremity of thy field, and thou shalt not gather the gleaning of thy harvest
And to thy cattle, and to the beast which is in thy land shall all its produce be for food.
When thou shalt reap thy harvest in thy field and didst forget a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not turn back to take it: to the stranger and to the orphan and to the widow shall it be; so that Jehovah thy God shall bless thee in all the doing of thy hands.
And Ruth the Moabitess will say to Naomi, I will now go to the field and I will gather among the ears after; whom I shall find favor in his eyes. And she will say to her, Go, my daughter.
From the oppression of the poor, from the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, Jehovah will say; I will set with salvation, he will puff at him.
To the overseer: chanting of David. Happy he attending to the weak one: in the day of evil Jehovah will deliver him. Jehovah will watch him and preserve him alive; he shall be happy upon the earth, and thou wilt not give him to the soul of his enemies. read more. Jehovah will support him upon a bed of sickness: thou turnedst all his bed in his sickness.
He oppressing the poor reproached him making him: and he honoring him compassionated the needy.
To turn away the judgment of the powerless, and to strip off judgment of the distressed of my people, for widows to be their plunder, and they will plunder orphans.
They became fat, they shone: they passed over words of evil: they judged not judgment, the judgment of the orphan, and they will give success; and the judgment of the needy they judged not.
Thus said Jehovah: For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn it back, for their selling the just one for silver and the needy for shoes;
When therefore thou doest alms, thou shouldst not sound the trumpet before thee, as hypocrites do in the assemblies, and in the streets, that they might be praised by men. Verily I say to you, They have their reward. But thou doing alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right does: read more. That thine alms might be in secret; and thy Father, who seeing in secret, shall give back to thee openly.
For I was hungry, and ye gave me not to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a stranger and ye brought me not in; naked, and ye put not around me; sick, and in prison, and ye took not a view of me. read more. Then shall they answer him, they also saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and attended not to thee? Then shall he answer them saying, Inasmuch as ye did not to one of the least of these, ye did not to me.
And Jesus having sat over against the royal treasury, saw how the crowds cast money into the treasury: and many rich cast in much. And one poor widow, having come, cast in two small coins, which is a farthing. read more. And having called his disciples, he says to them, Truly I say to you, That this poor widow has cast into the royal treasury, more than all they casting into the treasury: For all they cast in out of the abundance to them; and she, out of her want, cast in all things which she had, her whole living.
And a certain Samaritan, travelling, came to him : and having seen him, felt compassion. And having come near, he bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and having mounted him upon his own animal, he brought him to an inn, and took care of him. read more. And upon the morrow, he having come forth, taking out two drachmas, he gave to the inn-keeper, and said to him, Take care, of him; and whatever thou spendest besides, I, in my coming back, will repay thee.
And Zaccheus having stood, said to the Lord, Behold, the half of my possessions, Lord, I give to the poor; and if I have made any false accusation against any one, I give back fourfold.
And in Joppa was a certain disciple by name Tabitha, which interpreted is called Dorcas: she was full of good works and alms which she did. And it was in those days, having been sick, she died; and having washed, they laid her in an upper room. read more. And Lydda being near Joppa, the disciples having heard that Peter is in it, sent to him two men, beseeching not to hesitate to pass through even to them. And Peter having risen came with them. Whom having approached, they brought into the upper room: and all the widows stood before him weeping, and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, being with them.
Religious, and fearing God with all his house, and doing many alms to the people, and praying God always.
And certain of the disciples, as he was able, determined, each of them, to send for service to the brethren dwelling in Judea: Which also they did, having sent to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
Hear, my dearly beloved brethren, Has not God chosen the beggars of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to them loving 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 shalt lend silver to my people being poor with thee, thou shalt not be to him, as lending; ye shall not put interest upon him. If taking in pledge, thou shalt take in pledge the garment of thy friend, at the going down of the sun thou shalt turn it back to him. read more. For it is his covering alone; his garment for his nakedness in which he shall lie; and it was when he shall cry to me, and I heard, for I am compassionate.
And the seventh thou shalt remit, and let it be; and the poor of thy people shall eat; and the remains, the beast of the field shall eat. So shalt thou do to thy vineyard and to thy olive tree.
And in your reaping the harvest of your land thou shalt not finish to reap the extremity of thy field, and thou shalt not gather the gleaning of thy harvest And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, and the scattering of thy vineyard thou shalt not glean; to the poor and to the stranger thou shalt leave them: I am Jehovah your God.
Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbor, and thou shalt not rob: the wages of the hireling shall not remain with thee till morning.
And the Sabbath of the land shall be to you for food; to thee and to thy servant, and to thy maid, and to thy hireling, and to thine inhabitant sojourning with thee.
When thy brother shall be poor, and he sold his possession, and he being near to him came to redeem it, and he redeemed the selling of his brother. And when to a man there shall be none to him to redeem, and his hand attained and found a sufficiency to redeem it; read more. And he reckoned the years of his selling, and he returned that remaining over to the man to whom he sold it, and turned back to his possession. And if his hand found not a sufficiency to return to him, and his selling was in the hand of him buying it, till the year of the jubilee: and it went forth in the jubilee, and he turned back to his possession. And when a man shall sell the house of dwelling in a walled city, its redemption of it shall be till it was completed: a year of days from its selling shall be its redemption. And if it was not redeemed till the filling up of a complete year, and the house which is in the city, which, if walled, was set forever to him buying it for his generation: it shall not go forth in the jubilee.
And when thy brother shall be poor with thee, and he was sold to thee, thou shalt not serve upon him the service of a servant. As the hireling, as the sojourner, he shall be with thee; till the year of jubilee he shall serve with thee; read more. And he shall go forth from thee, he and his sons with him, and turn back to his family, to the possession of his fathers shall he turn back. For they are my servants whom I brought them out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold from the sale of a servant
And if the hand of a stranger and sojourner with thee shall attain, and thy brother with him be poor, and he sold to the stranger, a sojourner with thee, or to the root of the stranger's family: After the selling, redemption shall be to him; one from his brethren shall redeem him: read more. Or his uncle, or his uncle's son shall redeem him, or from the remainder of his flesh from his family, shall redeem him; or his hand attained, and he redeemed himself. And he reckoned with him buying him, from the year of his being sold to him till the year of the jubilee: and the silver of his selling was according to the number of years, as the days of a hireling, shall it be with him. If yet a multitude of years, according to them he shall return his redemption from the silver of his sale. And if a fewness remained to the years till the year of jubilee; and he reckoned to him according to his years, he shall return his redemption. As the hireling of the year by the year shall he be with him: he shall not rule him by crushing to thine eyes. And if he shall not be redeemed in these, and he shall go forth in the year of the jubilee, he and his sons with him.
From the end of three years thou shalt bring all the tenth of thy produce in that year, and place thou it in thy gates: And the Levite came (because no portion and inheritance to him with thee) and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow which is in thy gates, and ate and were satisfied; so that Jehovah thy God shall bless thee in all the work of thy hand which thou shalt do.
When the needy shall be among thee, from one of thy brethren, in one of thy gates in thy land which Jehovah thy God gave to thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, and thou shalt not shut thy hand from thy needy brother. For opening, thou shalt open thy hand to him, and lending, thou shalt lend him a sufficiency for his want which he shall want read more. Watch to thyself lest a word shall be with thy heart, of Belial, saying. The seventh year, the year of remission is drawing near; and thine eye be evil against thy needy brother and thou wilt not give to him; and he call against thee to Jehovah, and it was sin in thee. Giving, thou shalt give to him, and thy heart shall not be evil in thy giving to him; for because of this word Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all thy works, and in all the sending forth of thy hand. For the needy shall not cease from the midst of thy land: for this I command thee, saying, Opening, thou shalt open thy hand to thy brother, to thy afflicted and to thy needy in thy land. When thy brother a Hebrew, or Hebrewess, shall be sold to thee, and serving thee six years; in the seventh year thou shalt send him away free from thee. And when thou shalt send him away free from thee, thou shalt not send him away empty. Furnishing, thou shalt furnish to him from thy sheep and from thy threshing floor, and from thy wine vat: with which Jehovah thy God blessed thee thou shalt give to him. And remember that thou wert a servant in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah thy God will redeem thee: for I command thee this word this day.
And rejoice before Jehovah thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy servant, and thy maid, and the Levite that is in thy gates, and the stranger, and the orphan and the widow, which are in the midst of thee in the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there.
And rejoice in thy festival, thou and thy son and thy daughter, and thy servant, and thy maid, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, which are in thy gates:
When thou shalt lend to thy friend the loan of any thing, thou shalt not go to his house to exchange his pledge: Thou shalt stand without, and the man to whom was lent to him, shall bring out to thee the pledge without read more. And if the man be poor, he shall not sleep with his pledge. Turning back, thou shalt turn back to him the pledge as the sun went down; he lay down in his garment and blessed thee; and to thee shall be justice before Jehovah thy God.
When thou shalt reap thy harvest in thy field and didst forget a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not turn back to take it: to the stranger and to the orphan and to the widow shall it be; so that Jehovah thy God shall bless thee in all the doing of thy hands.
And when thou shalt gather thy vineyard thou shalt not glean after thee; to the stranger, and to the orphan, and to the widow it shall be.
When thou shalt finish to tithe all the tenth part of thy produce, in the third year the year of the tenth part, and thou gavest it to the Levite and to the stranger and to the orphan and to the widow, and they ate in thy gates and were satisfied. And thou saidst before Jehovah thy God, I took away the holy thing from the house, and also I gave it to the Levite, and to the stranger, to the orphan and to the widow, according to all thy commands which thou didst command me: I passed not by from thy command, and I did not forget
And he will say to them, Go ye; eat fatnesses, and drink sweetnesses, and send portions to him for whom nothing was prepared: for the day is holy to our Lord: and ye shall not grieve, for the joy of Jehovah this is your strength.
Happy the poor in spirit: for their's is the kingdom of the heavens.
And he having answered, says to them, He having two coats, let him impart to him having none; and he having food, let him do likewise.
And he having lifted up his eyes upon his disciples, said, Happy the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God
But when thou makest an entertainment, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:
And there was a certain beggar, Lazarus by name, who was cast at his gate, having been wounded, And eagerly desirous to be fed from crumbs falling from the rich one's table: but also the dogs, coming, licked off his wounds.
And in those days, the disciples multiplying, there was a murmuring of the Greeks against the Hebrews, because their widows were overlooked in the daily service.
Only that we remember the poor; and this same was I forward to do.
He stealing let him steal no more: and rather let him be wearied from fatigue, working good with the hands, that he have to impart to him having need.
And that ye be ambitions to remain quiet, and attend to your own things, and work with your own hands, as we enjoined you;
And if a brother or sister be naked, and be failing of daily food, And any of you say to them, Retire in peace, be ye warmed and be ye fed; and ye give them not things fitting the body; what profit?
For thou sayest, That I am rich, and have abounded, and have need of nothing; and thou knowest not that thou art wretched, and pitiable, 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 shalt lend silver to my people being poor with thee, thou shalt not be to him, as lending; ye shall not put interest upon him. If taking in pledge, thou shalt take in pledge the garment of thy friend, at the going down of the sun thou shalt turn it back to him. read more. For it is his covering alone; his garment for his nakedness in which he shall lie; and it was when he shall cry to me, and I heard, for I am compassionate.
And the seventh thou shalt remit, and let it be; and the poor of thy people shall eat; and the remains, the beast of the field shall eat. So shalt thou do to thy vineyard and to thy olive tree.
And if his hand shall not reach the sufficiency of a sheep, and he brought his trespass which he sinned, two turtledoves, or two sons of a dove, to Jehovah; one for the sin, and one for the burnt-offering.
And if his hand shall not reach to the two turtle-doves, or to the two sons of a dove; and he brought his offering who sinned, the tenth of the ephah of fine flour for the sin; he shall not put oil upon it, and he shall not give frankincense upon it; for it is sin.
And in your reaping the harvest of your land thou shalt not finish to reap the extremity of thy field, and thou shalt not gather the gleaning of thy harvest And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, and the scattering of thy vineyard thou shalt not glean; to the poor and to the stranger thou shalt leave them: I am Jehovah your God.
Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbor, and thou shalt not rob: the wages of the hireling shall not remain with thee till morning.
Ye shall not do evil in judgment; thou shalt not take up the face of the poor; thou shalt not reverence the face of the great: in justice shalt thou judge thy neighbor.
And the Sabbath of the land shall be to you for food; to thee and to thy servant, and to thy maid, and to thy hireling, and to thine inhabitant sojourning with thee.
When thy brother shall be poor, and he sold his possession, and he being near to him came to redeem it, and he redeemed the selling of his brother. And when to a man there shall be none to him to redeem, and his hand attained and found a sufficiency to redeem it; read more. And he reckoned the years of his selling, and he returned that remaining over to the man to whom he sold it, and turned back to his possession. And if his hand found not a sufficiency to return to him, and his selling was in the hand of him buying it, till the year of the jubilee: and it went forth in the jubilee, and he turned back to his possession. And when a man shall sell the house of dwelling in a walled city, its redemption of it shall be till it was completed: a year of days from its selling shall be its redemption. And if it was not redeemed till the filling up of a complete year, and the house which is in the city, which, if walled, was set forever to him buying it for his generation: it shall not go forth in the jubilee.
And when thy brother shall be poor with thee, and he was sold to thee, thou shalt not serve upon him the service of a servant. As the hireling, as the sojourner, he shall be with thee; till the year of jubilee he shall serve with thee; read more. And he shall go forth from thee, he and his sons with him, and turn back to his family, to the possession of his fathers shall he turn back. For they are my servants whom I brought them out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold from the sale of a servant
And if the hand of a stranger and sojourner with thee shall attain, and thy brother with him be poor, and he sold to the stranger, a sojourner with thee, or to the root of the stranger's family: After the selling, redemption shall be to him; one from his brethren shall redeem him: read more. Or his uncle, or his uncle's son shall redeem him, or from the remainder of his flesh from his family, shall redeem him; or his hand attained, and he redeemed himself. And he reckoned with him buying him, from the year of his being sold to him till the year of the jubilee: and the silver of his selling was according to the number of years, as the days of a hireling, shall it be with him. If yet a multitude of years, according to them he shall return his redemption from the silver of his sale. And if a fewness remained to the years till the year of jubilee; and he reckoned to him according to his years, he shall return his redemption. As the hireling of the year by the year shall he be with him: he shall not rule him by crushing to thine eyes. And if he shall not be redeemed in these, and he shall go forth in the year of the jubilee, he and his sons with him.
From the end of three years thou shalt bring all the tenth of thy produce in that year, and place thou it in thy gates: And the Levite came (because no portion and inheritance to him with thee) and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow which is in thy gates, and ate and were satisfied; so that Jehovah thy God shall bless thee in all the work of thy hand which thou shalt do.
Only when no needy shall be with thee; for Jehovah blessing will bless thee in the land which Jehovah thy God gave to thee an inheritance to possess it:
When the needy shall be among thee, from one of thy brethren, in one of thy gates in thy land which Jehovah thy God gave to thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, and thou shalt not shut thy hand from thy needy brother. For opening, thou shalt open thy hand to him, and lending, thou shalt lend him a sufficiency for his want which he shall want read more. Watch to thyself lest a word shall be with thy heart, of Belial, saying. The seventh year, the year of remission is drawing near; and thine eye be evil against thy needy brother and thou wilt not give to him; and he call against thee to Jehovah, and it was sin in thee. Giving, thou shalt give to him, and thy heart shall not be evil in thy giving to him; for because of this word Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all thy works, and in all the sending forth of thy hand. For the needy shall not cease from the midst of thy land: for this I command thee, saying, Opening, thou shalt open thy hand to thy brother, to thy afflicted and to thy needy in thy land.
For the needy shall not cease from the midst of thy land: for this I command thee, saying, Opening, thou shalt open thy hand to thy brother, to thy afflicted and to thy needy in thy land.
For the needy shall not cease from the midst of thy land: for this I command thee, saying, Opening, thou shalt open thy hand to thy brother, to thy afflicted and to thy needy in thy land. When thy brother a Hebrew, or Hebrewess, shall be sold to thee, and serving thee six years; in the seventh year thou shalt send him away free from thee. read more. And when thou shalt send him away free from thee, thou shalt not send him away empty. Furnishing, thou shalt furnish to him from thy sheep and from thy threshing floor, and from thy wine vat: with which Jehovah thy God blessed thee thou shalt give to him. And remember that thou wert a servant in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah thy God will redeem thee: for I command thee this word this day.
And rejoice before Jehovah thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy servant, and thy maid, and the Levite that is in thy gates, and the stranger, and the orphan and the widow, which are in the midst of thee in the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there.
And rejoice in thy festival, thou and thy son and thy daughter, and thy servant, and thy maid, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, which are in thy gates:
When thou shalt lend to thy friend the loan of any thing, thou shalt not go to his house to exchange his pledge: Thou shalt stand without, and the man to whom was lent to him, shall bring out to thee the pledge without read more. And if the man be poor, he shall not sleep with his pledge. Turning back, thou shalt turn back to him the pledge as the sun went down; he lay down in his garment and blessed thee; and to thee shall be justice before Jehovah thy God.
When thou shalt reap thy harvest in thy field and didst forget a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not turn back to take it: to the stranger and to the orphan and to the widow shall it be; so that Jehovah thy God shall bless thee in all the doing of thy hands.
And when thou shalt gather thy vineyard thou shalt not glean after thee; to the stranger, and to the orphan, and to the widow it shall be.
When thou shalt finish to tithe all the tenth part of thy produce, in the third year the year of the tenth part, and thou gavest it to the Levite and to the stranger and to the orphan and to the widow, and they ate in thy gates and were satisfied. And thou saidst before Jehovah thy God, I took away the holy thing from the house, and also I gave it to the Levite, and to the stranger, to the orphan and to the widow, according to all thy commands which thou didst command me: I passed not by from thy command, and I did not forget
And Ruth the Moabitess will say to Naomi, I will now go to the field and I will gather among the ears after; whom I shall find favor in his eyes. And she will say to her, Go, my daughter.
And it will be in the third day, and behold, a man came from the camp from Saul, and his garments rent and dust upon his head: and it will be in his coming to David and he will fall to the earth and worship him.
And he will say to them, Go ye; eat fatnesses, and drink sweetnesses, and send portions to him for whom nothing was prepared: for the day is holy to our Lord: and ye shall not grieve, for the joy of Jehovah this is your strength.
And they will lift up their eyes from far off, and they knew him not, and they will lift up their voice and weep; and they will rend each his covering, and they will sprinkle dust upon their heads to the heavens.
For he oppressed, forsaking the poor; he stripped the house and he will not build it up.
They will lead away the ass of the orphans, and they will take for pledge, the widow's ox. They will turn the needy from the Way: the poor of the earth hid themselves together.
They will strip the orphan from the breast, and take a pledge for the poor. They caused the naked to go without clothing, and from the hungry they took away the sheaf;
If the ear heard, and it will pronounce me happy; and the eye saw, and it will testify to me: For I shall deliver the poor crying, and the orphan, and none helping to him. read more. The praise of him perishing will come upon me, and I shall cause the heart of the widow to rejoice. I put on justice and it will clothe me: my judgment as an upper garment and a turban. Eyes was I to the blind one, and feet to the lame was I. I was a father to the needy, and the contention I knew not I shall search it out
And eating my morsel alone, and the orphan ate not from it;
To turn away the judgment of the powerless, and to strip off judgment of the distressed of my people, for widows to be their plunder, and they will plunder orphans.
They became fat, they shone: they passed over words of evil: they judged not judgment, the judgment of the orphan, and they will give success; and the judgment of the needy they judged not.
Wo to him building his house not with justice, and his upper chambers not with judgment; by his neighbor he will work gratuitously, and he will give him not for his work;
He judged the judgment of the poor and the needy; then it was well: was this not knowing me? says Jehovah.
Oppressing the poor and needy, stripping off plunder, he will not turn back the pledge, and he lifted up his eyes to the blocks, doing abomination,
And not oppressing a man, not binding the pledge, and not stripping off plunder, giving his bread to him hungry, and clothing the naked with a garment Turning back his hand from the poor, taking not usury and interest, doing my judgment, going in my laws; he shall not die in the iniquity of his father; living, he shall live.
The people of the land oppressed with violence and stripped off robbery, and oppressed the poor and needy, and did violence to the stranger without judgment
Panting for the dust of the earth upon the head of the poor, and they will turn away the way of the humble: and a man and his father will go to the same young girl to profane my holy name:
And they come into Jericho: and he going out from Jericho, and his disciples, and a sufficient crowd, Bartimeus the blind, son of Timms, sat by the way asking alms.
And he having answered, says to them, He having two coats, let him impart to him having none; and he having food, let him do likewise.
But when thou makest an entertainment, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:
And there was a certain beggar, Lazarus by name, who was cast at his gate, having been wounded, And eagerly desirous to be fed from crumbs falling from the rich one's table: but also the dogs, coming, licked off his wounds.
And it was in his drawing near to Jericho, a certain blind sat by the way, begging:
Then the neighbors, and those seeing him before that he was blind, said, Is not this he sitting and begging?
And a certain man, being lame from his mother's womb, was carried, whom they set in the day at the door of the temple called Beautiful, to ask alms from those going into the temple;
And in those days, the disciples multiplying, there was a murmuring of the Greeks against the Hebrews, because their widows were overlooked in the daily service.
For Macedonia and Achaia were contented a certain mutual participation be made for the poor of the holy ones in Jerusalem.
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for you he was in a state of beggary, being rich; that ye in his poverty might be rich.
Only that we remember the poor; and this same was I forward to do.
He stealing let him steal no more: and rather let him be wearied from fatigue, working good with the hands, that he have to impart to him having need.
And that ye be ambitions to remain quiet, and attend to your own things, and work with your own hands, as we enjoined 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 overseer: chanting of David. Happy he attending to the weak one: in the day of evil Jehovah will deliver him.
He pitying the poor lends to Jehovah, and he will recompense to him his act.
The blind receive sight, and the lame walk, the leprous are cleansed, and the deaf bear, the dead are roused, and the poor have good news announced.
For always have ye the poor with you, and when ye wish ye can do them good: and me ye have not always.
But when thou makest an entertainment, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for you he was in a state of beggary, being rich; that ye in his poverty might be rich.
Only that we remember the poor; and this same was I forward 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/juliasmith'>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 shalt lend silver to my people being poor with thee, thou shalt not be to him, as lending; ye shall not put interest upon him. If taking in pledge, thou shalt take in pledge the garment of thy friend, at the going down of the sun thou shalt turn it back to him. read more. For it is his covering alone; his garment for his nakedness in which he shall lie; and it was when he shall cry to me, and I heard, for I am compassionate.
And the seventh thou shalt remit, and let it be; and the poor of thy people shall eat; and the remains, the beast of the field shall eat. So shalt thou do to thy vineyard and to thy olive tree.
And in your reaping the harvest of your land thou shalt not finish to reap the extremity of thy field, and thou shalt not gather the gleaning of thy harvest And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, and the scattering of thy vineyard thou shalt not glean; to the poor and to the stranger thou shalt leave them: I am Jehovah your God.
Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbor, and thou shalt not rob: the wages of the hireling shall not remain with thee till morning.
Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather its produce;
The overflowing of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, and the grapes of thy separation thou shalt not gather: a year of the Sabbaths shall be to the land.
When thy brother shall be poor, and he sold his possession, and he being near to him came to redeem it, and he redeemed the selling of his brother. And when to a man there shall be none to him to redeem, and his hand attained and found a sufficiency to redeem it; read more. And he reckoned the years of his selling, and he returned that remaining over to the man to whom he sold it, and turned back to his possession. And if his hand found not a sufficiency to return to him, and his selling was in the hand of him buying it, till the year of the jubilee: and it went forth in the jubilee, and he turned back to his possession. And when a man shall sell the house of dwelling in a walled city, its redemption of it shall be till it was completed: a year of days from its selling shall be its redemption. And if it was not redeemed till the filling up of a complete year, and the house which is in the city, which, if walled, was set forever to him buying it for his generation: it shall not go forth in the jubilee.
Thy silver thou shalt not give to him upon interest, and upon increase thou. shalt not give him thy food.
And when thy brother shall be poor with thee, and he was sold to thee, thou shalt not serve upon him the service of a servant. As the hireling, as the sojourner, he shall be with thee; till the year of jubilee he shall serve with thee; read more. And he shall go forth from thee, he and his sons with him, and turn back to his family, to the possession of his fathers shall he turn back. For they are my servants whom I brought them out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold from the sale of a servant
And if the hand of a stranger and sojourner with thee shall attain, and thy brother with him be poor, and he sold to the stranger, a sojourner with thee, or to the root of the stranger's family: After the selling, redemption shall be to him; one from his brethren shall redeem him: read more. Or his uncle, or his uncle's son shall redeem him, or from the remainder of his flesh from his family, shall redeem him; or his hand attained, and he redeemed himself. And he reckoned with him buying him, from the year of his being sold to him till the year of the jubilee: and the silver of his selling was according to the number of years, as the days of a hireling, shall it be with him. If yet a multitude of years, according to them he shall return his redemption from the silver of his sale. And if a fewness remained to the years till the year of jubilee; and he reckoned to him according to his years, he shall return his redemption. As the hireling of the year by the year shall he be with him: he shall not rule him by crushing to thine eyes. And if he shall not be redeemed in these, and he shall go forth in the year of the jubilee, he and his sons with him.
From the end of three years thou shalt bring all the tenth of thy produce in that year, and place thou it in thy gates:
When the needy shall be among thee, from one of thy brethren, in one of thy gates in thy land which Jehovah thy God gave to thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, and thou shalt not shut thy hand from thy needy brother.
When thy brother a Hebrew, or Hebrewess, shall be sold to thee, and serving thee six years; in the seventh year thou shalt send him away free from thee. And when thou shalt send him away free from thee, thou shalt not send him away empty. read more. Furnishing, thou shalt furnish to him from thy sheep and from thy threshing floor, and from thy wine vat: with which Jehovah thy God blessed thee thou shalt give to him. And remember that thou wert a servant in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah thy God will redeem thee: for I command thee this word this day.
And rejoice before Jehovah thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy servant, and thy maid, and the Levite that is in thy gates, and the stranger, and the orphan and the widow, which are in the midst of thee in the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there.
And rejoice in thy festival, thou and thy son and thy daughter, and thy servant, and thy maid, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, which are in thy gates:
When thou shalt reap thy harvest in thy field and didst forget a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not turn back to take it: to the stranger and to the orphan and to the widow shall it be; so that Jehovah thy God shall bless thee in all the doing of thy hands.
And when thou shalt gather thy vineyard thou shalt not glean after thee; to the stranger, and to the orphan, and to the widow it shall be.
When thou shalt finish to tithe all the tenth part of thy produce, in the third year the year of the tenth part, and thou gavest it to the Levite and to the stranger and to the orphan and to the widow, and they ate in thy gates and were satisfied. And thou saidst before Jehovah thy God, I took away the holy thing from the house, and also I gave it to the Levite, and to the stranger, to the orphan and to the widow, according to all thy commands which thou didst command me: I passed not by from thy command, and I did not forget
And in those days, the disciples multiplying, there was a murmuring of the Greeks against the Hebrews, because their widows were overlooked in the daily service.
Only that we remember the poor; and this same was I forward to do.