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
You shall not pervert the justice of your poor in his dispute.
And if he is not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass, which he has committed, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto the LORD; one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. And he shall bring them unto the priest, who shall offer that which is for the sin offering first, and wring off its head from its neck, but shall not divide it asunder: read more. And he shall sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering upon the side 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 second for a burnt offering, according to the ordinance: and the priest shall make an atonement for him for his sin which he has sinned, and it shall be forgiven him. 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 a sin offering; he shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put any frankincense thereon: for it is a sin offering. Then shall he bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it, even a memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the LORD: it is a sin offering. And the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin that he has sinned in one of these, and it shall be forgiven him: and the remnant shall be the priest's, as a grain offering.
And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest.
And for your cattle, and for the animals that are in your land, shall all the increase thereof be food.
When you reap your harvest in your field, and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go again to get it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your 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 will I arise, says the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that sneers at him.
[To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.] Blessed is he that considers the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble. The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and you will not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. read more. The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: you will restore his bed in his sickness.
He that oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker: but he that honors him has mercy on the poor.
To turn aside the needy from justice, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!
They have grown fat, they shine: yea, they pass over the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not defend.
Thus says the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;
Therefore when you give your alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when you give alms, let not your left hand know what your right hand does: read more. That your alms may be in secret: and your Father who sees in secret himself shall reward you openly.
For I was hungry, and you gave me no food: I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and you took me not in: naked, and you clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and you visited me not. read more. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we you hungry, or thirsty or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto you? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Since you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.
And Jesus sat opposite the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. read more. And he called unto him his disciples, and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow has cast more in, than all they who have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her poverty 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 had compassion on him, 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 next day when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the innkeeper, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever you spend more, when I come again, I will repay you.
And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto 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 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 almsdeeds 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 near to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to come to them. Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them.
A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, who gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always.
Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren who dwelt in Judea: Which also they 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 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 you lend money to any of my people who is poor among you, you shall not be to him as a lender, neither shall you charge him interest. If you at all take your neighbor's clothing as pledge, you shall deliver it unto him by the time the sun goes down: read more. For that is his only covering, it is his clothing for his skin: in what shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he cries unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.
But the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie still; that the poor of your people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner you shall deal with your vineyard, and with your oliveyard.
And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. And you shall not glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.
You shall not defraud your neighbor, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with you all night until the morning.
And the sabbath of the land shall be food for you; for you, and for your male and female servants, and for your hired man, and for your stranger that sojourns with you,
If your brother becomes poor, and has sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold. And if the man has none to redeem it, but he becomes able to redeem it; read more. Then let him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overpayment unto the man to whom he sold it; that he may return unto his possession. But if he is not able to restore it to himself, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that has bought it until the year of jubilee: and in the jubilee it shall be released, 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 forever to him that bought it throughout his generations: it shall not be released in the jubilee.
And if your brother that dwells by you becomes poor, and is sold unto you; you shall not compel him to serve as a slave: But as a hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the year of jubilee: read more. And then shall he depart from you, both 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 servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as slaves.
And if a sojourner or stranger becomes rich near you, and your brother that dwells near him becomes poor, and sells himself unto the stranger or sojourner near you, or to a member of the stranger's family: After he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him: read more. Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or any that is near of kin unto him of his family may 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 release shall be according unto the number of years, according to the time of a hired servant shall it be with him. If there be yet many years left, 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 harshness over him in your sight. And if he be 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 you shall bring forth all the tithe of your increase the same year, and shall lay it up within your gates: And the Levite, (because he has no part nor inheritance with you,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
If there be among you a poor man of one of your brethren within any of your gates in your land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother: But you shall open your hand wide unto him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he lacks. read more. Beware that there be not a thought in your wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and your eye be evil against your poor brother, and you give him nothing; and he cries unto the LORD against you, and it be sin in you. You shall surely give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give unto him: because for this thing the LORD your God shall bless you in all your works, and in all that you put your hand unto. For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command you, saying, you shall open your hand wide unto your brother, to your poor, and to your needy, in your land. And if your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto you, and serve you six years; then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. And when you send him out free from you, you shall not let him go away empty: You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, and out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress: of that with which the LORD your God has blessed you you shall give unto him. And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you: therefore I command you this thing today.
And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite that is within your gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD your God has chosen to place his name there.
And you shall rejoice in your feast, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within your gates.
When you do lend your brother anything, you shall not go into his house to get his pledge. You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you do lend shall bring out the pledge unto you. read more. And if the man be poor, you shall not sleep with his pledge: In any case you shall deliver him the pledge again when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his own clothing, and bless you: and it shall be righteousness unto you before the LORD your God.
When you reap your harvest in your field, and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go again to get it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.
When you have finished tithing all the tithes of your increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and have given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within your gates, and be filled; Then you shall say before the LORD your God, I have removed the sacred portion 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 your commandments which you have commanded me: I have not transgressed your commandments, neither have I forgotten them:
Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet wine, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be you grieved; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
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 be you poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.
But when you give a feast, 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 multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.
Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was eager to do.
Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needs.
And that you study to be quiet, and to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be warmed and filled; yet you give them not those things which are needful to the body; what does it profit?
Because you say, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and know not that you are 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 you lend money to any of my people who is poor among you, you shall not be to him as a lender, neither shall you charge him interest. If you at all take your neighbor's clothing as pledge, you shall deliver it unto him by the time the sun goes down: read more. For that is his only covering, it is his clothing for his skin: in what shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he cries unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.
Neither shall you be partial to a poor man in his cause.
But the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie still; that the poor of your people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner you shall deal with your vineyard, and with your oliveyard.
And if he is not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass, which he has committed, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto the LORD; one for a sin offering, 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 a sin offering; he shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put any frankincense thereon: for it is a sin offering.
And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. And you shall not glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.
You shall not defraud your neighbor, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with you all night until the morning.
You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: you shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.
And the sabbath of the land shall be food for you; for you, and for your male and female servants, and for your hired man, and for your stranger that sojourns with you,
If your brother becomes poor, and has sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold. And if the man has none to redeem it, but he becomes able to redeem it; read more. Then let him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overpayment unto the man to whom he sold it; that he may return unto his possession. But if he is not able to restore it to himself, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that has bought it until the year of jubilee: and in the jubilee it shall be released, 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 forever to him that bought it throughout his generations: it shall not be released in the jubilee.
And if your brother that dwells by you becomes poor, and is sold unto you; you shall not compel him to serve as a slave: But as a hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the year of jubilee: read more. And then shall he depart from you, both 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 servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as slaves.
And if a sojourner or stranger becomes rich near you, and your brother that dwells near him becomes poor, and sells himself unto the stranger or sojourner near you, or to a member of the stranger's family: After he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him: read more. Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or any that is near of kin unto him of his family may 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 release shall be according unto the number of years, according to the time of a hired servant shall it be with him. If there be yet many years left, 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 harshness over him in your sight. And if he be 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 you shall bring forth all the tithe of your increase the same year, and shall lay it up within your gates: And the Levite, (because he has no part nor inheritance with you,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
Except when there shall be no poor among you; for the LORD shall greatly bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it:
If there be among you a poor man of one of your brethren within any of your gates in your land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother: But you shall open your hand wide unto him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he lacks. read more. Beware that there be not a thought in your wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and your eye be evil against your poor brother, and you give him nothing; and he cries unto the LORD against you, and it be sin in you. You shall surely give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give unto him: because for this thing the LORD your God shall bless you in all your works, and in all that you put your hand unto. For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command you, saying, you shall open your hand wide unto your brother, to your poor, and to your needy, in your land.
For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command you, saying, you shall open your hand wide unto your brother, to your poor, and to your needy, in your land.
For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command you, saying, you shall open your hand wide unto your brother, to your poor, and to your needy, in your land. And if your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto you, and serve you six years; then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. read more. And when you send him out free from you, you shall not let him go away empty: You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, and out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress: of that with which the LORD your God has blessed you you shall give unto him. And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you: therefore I command you this thing today.
And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite that is within your gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD your God has chosen to place his name there.
And you shall rejoice in your feast, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within your gates.
When you do lend your brother anything, you shall not go into his house to get his pledge. You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you do lend shall bring out the pledge unto you. read more. And if the man be poor, you shall not sleep with his pledge: In any case you shall deliver him the pledge again when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his own clothing, and bless you: and it shall be righteousness unto you before the LORD your God.
When you reap your harvest in your field, and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go again to get it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.
When you have finished tithing all the tithes of your increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and have given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within your gates, and be filled; Then you shall say before the LORD your God, I have removed the sacred portion 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 your commandments which you have commanded me: I have not transgressed your 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 even to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes torn, and earth upon his head: and so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and paid him honor.
Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet wine, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be you grieved; 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 they tore every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.
Because he has oppressed and has forsaken the poor; because he has violently taken away a house which he built not;
They drive away the donkey of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge. They drive the needy off the road: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.
They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge from the poor. They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaves from the hungry;
When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me: Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. read more. The blessing of him 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: my justice was as a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.
Or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it;
To turn aside the needy from justice, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!
They have grown fat, they shine: yea, they pass over the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not defend.
Woe unto him that builds his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that uses his neighbor's service without wages, and gives him nothing for his work;
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? says the LORD.
Has oppressed the poor and needy, has robbed by violence, has not restored the pledge, and has lifted up his eyes to the idols, has committed abomination,
Neither has oppressed any, has not withheld the pledge, neither has robbed by violence, but has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment, That has withheld his hand from the poor, that has not received from money interest nor increase, has executed my judgments, has walked 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 committed robbery, and have oppressed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
That trample on the dust of the earth which is on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maiden, to defile my holy name:
And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside 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 you give a feast, 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 by the wayside begging:
The neighbors therefore, and they 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 them that entered into the temple;
And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.
For it has pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints who are at Jerusalem.
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich.
Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was eager to do.
Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needs.
And that you study to be quiet, and to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
If a brother or sister be 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
[To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.] Blessed is he that considers the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
He that has pity upon the poor lends unto the LORD; and that which he has given will he pay him again.
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 you have the poor with you always, and whenever you will you may do them good: but me you have not always.
But when you give a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich.
Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was eager 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/kj2000'>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 you lend money to any of my people who is poor among you, you shall not be to him as a lender, neither shall you charge him interest. If you at all take your neighbor's clothing as pledge, you shall deliver it unto him by the time the sun goes down: read more. For that is his only covering, it is his clothing for his skin: in what shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he cries unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.
But the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie still; that the poor of your people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner you shall deal with your vineyard, and with your oliveyard.
And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. And you shall not glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.
You shall not defraud your neighbor, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with you all night until the morning.
Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;
That which grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, neither gather the grapes of your untended vine: for it is a year of rest unto the land.
If your brother becomes poor, and has sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold. And if the man has none to redeem it, but he becomes able to redeem it; read more. Then let him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overpayment unto the man to whom he sold it; that he may return unto his possession. But if he is not able to restore it to himself, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that has bought it until the year of jubilee: and in the jubilee it shall be released, 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 forever to him that bought it throughout his generations: it shall not be released in the jubilee.
You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor lend him your food for profit.
And if your brother that dwells by you becomes poor, and is sold unto you; you shall not compel him to serve as a slave: But as a hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the year of jubilee: read more. And then shall he depart from you, both 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 servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as slaves.
And if a sojourner or stranger becomes rich near you, and your brother that dwells near him becomes poor, and sells himself unto the stranger or sojourner near you, or to a member of the stranger's family: After he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him: read more. Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or any that is near of kin unto him of his family may 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 release shall be according unto the number of years, according to the time of a hired servant shall it be with him. If there be yet many years left, 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 harshness over him in your sight. And if he be 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 you shall bring forth all the tithe of your increase the same year, and shall lay it up within your gates:
If there be among you a poor man of one of your brethren within any of your gates in your land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother:
And if your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto you, and serve you six years; then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. And when you send him out free from you, you shall not let him go away empty: read more. You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, and out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress: of that with which the LORD your God has blessed you you shall give unto him. And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you: therefore I command you this thing today.
And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite that is within your gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD your God has chosen to place his name there.
And you shall rejoice in your feast, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within your gates.
When you reap your harvest in your field, and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go again to get it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.
When you have finished tithing all the tithes of your increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and have given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within your gates, and be filled; Then you shall say before the LORD your God, I have removed the sacred portion 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 your commandments which you have commanded me: I have not transgressed your commandments, neither have I forgotten them:
And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.
Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was eager to do.
If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,