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
" 'You will not pervert the justice of your poor in his legal dispute.
" 'If {he cannot afford a sheep}, he shall bring [as] his guilt offering [for] what he sinned two turtledoves or two {young doves} for Yahweh, one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering. He shall bring them to the priest, and he shall present that which [is] for the sin offering first, and [the priest] shall wring its head off {at the back of its neck}, but he must not sever [it], read more. and he shall spatter {some of} the sin offering's blood on the altar's side, and the leftover blood must be drained out on the altar's base; it [is] a sin offering. The second [bird] he must prepare [as] a burnt offering according to the regulation, and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin that he has {committed}, and he shall be forgiven. " 'But if {he cannot afford} two turtledoves or two {young doves}, then, because he has sinned, he shall bring [as] his offering a tenth of an ephah [of] finely milled flour as a sin offering. He must not put oil on it, nor should he put frankincense on it, because it [is] a sin offering. He shall bring it to the priest, and the priest {shall take a handful of it} [for] its token portion, and he shall turn it to smoke on the altar {in addition to} the offerings made by fire [to] Yahweh; it [is] a sin offering. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him because of the sin that he has {committed} {in any of these}, and he shall be forgiven. It shall be for the priest, like the grain offering.'"
" 'And at your reaping the harvest of your land you must not finish reaping the edge of your field, and you must not glean the remnants of your harvest.
and all its yield shall be for your domestic animal and for the wild animal, which [are] in your land to eat.
"When you reap your harvest in your field and you forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not return to get it, for it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, "Please let me go [to] the field and glean among the ears of grain after [someone] in whose eyes I [may] find favor." And she said to her, "Go, my daughter."
"Because of [the] oppression of [the] afflicted, because of [the] groaning of [the] poor, now I will rise up," Yahweh says. "I shall put [them] in [the] safety [for which] they long."
Blessed [is the one who] has regard for [the] poor; in [the] day of disaster, Yahweh delivers him. Yahweh protects him and keeps him alive; he is blessed in the land, and you do not give him into the will of his enemies. read more. Yahweh sustains him on [his] sick bed. In his illness, you {restore to health}.
He who oppresses the poor insults him who made him, but he who has mercy on the poor honors him.
to guide [the] needy away from legal claims, and to rob the justice from the poor of my people, to make widows their spoil; and they plunder orphans.
They have grown fat, they have grown sleek, also, {their evil deeds have no limit}. They do not judge [with] justice, [the] legal cause of [the] orphan, or allow it to succeed, and [the] legal case of [the] poor, they do not defend.
Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of Israel and for four I will not revoke [the punishment], because they sell the righteous for money and the poor for a pair of sandals!
Therefore whenever you practice charitable giving, do not sound a trumpet in front of you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, in order that they may be praised by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full! But you, [when you] practice charitable giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, read more. in order that your charitable giving may be in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
For I was hungry and you did not give me [anything] to eat, I was thirsty and you did not give me [anything] to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me as a guest, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not care for me.' read more. Then they will also answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and not serve you?' Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly I say to you, in as much as you did not do [it] to one of the least of these, you did not do [it] to me.'
And he sat down opposite the contribution box [and] was observing how the crowd was putting coins into the contribution box. And many rich people were putting in many [coins]. And one poor widow came [and] put in two small copper coins (that is, a penny). read more. And summoning his disciples, he said to them, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow put in more than all those who put [offerings] into the contribution box. For they all {contributed} out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in everything she had, her whole means of subsistence."
But a certain Samaritan who was traveling came up to him and, [when he] saw [him], had compassion. And he came up [and] bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine, and he put him on his own animal [and] brought him to an inn and took care of him. read more. And on the next day, he took out two denarii [and] gave [them] to the innkeeper, and said, "Take care of him, and whatever you spend in addition, I will repay to you when I return.
And Zacchaeus stopped [and] said to the Lord, "Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I am giving to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I am paying [it] back four times [as much]!"
Now in Joppa there was a certain female disciple {named} Tabitha (which translated means "Dorcas"). She was full of good deeds and charitable giving which she was constantly doing. Now it happened that in those days [after] becoming sick, she died. And [after] washing [her], they placed her in an upstairs room. read more. And [because] Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, [when they] heard that Peter was in {Lydda}, sent two men to him, urging, "Do not delay to come to us!" So Peter got up [and] accompanied them. [When he] arrived, they brought [him] up to the upstairs room, and all the widows came to him, weeping and showing [him] tunics and [other] clothing that Dorcas used to make [while she] was with them.
devout and fearing God together with all his household, doing many charitable deeds for the people and praying to God {continually}.
So from the disciples, {according to their ability to give}, each one of them determined to send [financial aid] for support to the brothers who lived in Judea, which they also did, sending [the aid] to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
Listen, my dear brothers! Did not God choose the poor of the world [to be] rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who 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] my people, [to] the needy with you, you will not be to him as a creditor; you will not {charge him interest}. If indeed you require the cloak of your neighbor as a pledge, you will return it to him at sundown, read more. because it is his only garment; it is his cloak for his skin. In what will he sleep? {And} when he cries out to me, I will hear, because I [am] gracious.
But the seventh you will let it rest and leave it fallow, and the poor of your people will eat, and their remainder the animals of the field will eat. You will do likewise for your vineyard and for your olive trees.
" 'And at your reaping the harvest of your land you must not finish reaping the edge of your field, and you must not glean the remnants of your harvest. And you must not glean your vineyard, and you must not gather your vineyard's fallen grapes; you must leave them behind for the needy and for the alien; I [am] Yahweh your God.
" 'You shall not exploit your neighbor, and you shall not rob [him]; a hired worker's wage you shall not {withhold} overnight until morning.
And a Sabbath of the land shall be for food for you: for you and for your slave and for your slave woman and for your hired worker and for your temporary residents who are dwelling as aliens with you;
" 'When your brother becomes poor and he sells part of his property, then {his nearest redeemer} shall come, and he shall redeem the thing sold by his brother. But if a man {does not have} a redeemer, then {he prospers} and he finds enough for his redemption, read more. then he shall calculate the years of its selling, and he shall refund the balance to the man to whom he sold [it], and he shall return to his property. But if his hand does not find enough to refund to him, then {what he has sold} shall be in the buyer's hand until the Year of Jubilee; and it shall go out [of the buyer's hand] in the Jubilee, and he shall return to his property. " 'And if a man sells {a residential house in a walled city}, then it shall be his redemption until completing {a year after his selling}; its redemption {shall last} {a year}. But if it is not redeemed {before a full year has passed}, then the house that [is] {in the walled city} shall belong to the buyer in perpetuity throughout his generations; it shall not go out [of the buyer's hand] in the Jubilee.
" 'And if your countryman [who is] with you becomes poor, and he is sold to you, {you shall not treat him as a slave}. He shall be with you like a hired worker, like a temporary resident; he shall work with you until the Year of Jubilee. read more. And he and his sons with him shall go out from you, and he shall return to his clan, and to the property of his ancestors he shall return. Because they [are] my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they shall not be sold {as a slave}.
" 'And if [the] alien or [the] temporary resident [who are] with you {prosper}, but your countryman [who is] with him becomes poor and he is sold to an alien, a temporary resident [who is] with you, or to a descendant of an alien's clan, after he is sold redemption shall be for him; one of his brothers may redeem him, read more. or his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him, or {one of} {his close relatives} from his clan may redeem him; or [if] {he prospers}, he may redeem himself. And he shall calculate with his buyer from the year of {his selling himself} until the Jubilee; and the value of his selling shall be according to the number of years--it shall be with him like a hired worker's days. If [there are] still many years, {in keeping with them} he shall restore his redemption {in proportion to his purchase price}. And if [there are] a few years left until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall calculate for himself; he shall restore his redemption {according to the number of his years}. He shall be with him {as a yearly hired worker}; he shall not rule over him with ruthlessness {in your sight}. And if he is not redeemed by [any of] these [ways], then he and his sons with him shall go out in the Year of Jubilee.
"At the end of three years you shall bring out all [of] the tithe of your yield for that year, and you shall store [it] in your {towns}. And [so] the Levite may come, because there is no plot of ground for him or an inheritance with you, and the alien [also may come] and the orphan and the widow that [are] in your {towns}, and {they may eat their fill}, so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all [of] the work of your hand that you undertake."
If [there] is a poor [person] among you from [among] one of your brothers in one of your {towns} that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you, you shall not harden your heart, and you shall not shut your hand toward {your brother who is poor}. But you shall certainly open your hand for him, and {you shall willingly lend} [to] him enough to meet his need, {whatever it is}. read more. {Take care} so that there will not be {a thought of wickedness} in your heart, {saying}, 'The seventh year, the year of the remission of debt is near,' {and you view your needy neighbor with hostility}, and [so] you [do] not give to him, and he might cry [out] against you to Yahweh, and {you would incur guilt against yourself}. By all means you must give to him, and {you must not be discontented} at your giving to him, because on account of this [very] thing, Yahweh your God will bless you in all your work and {in all that you undertake}. For the poor will not cease to be {among you} [in] the land; therefore I [am] commanding you, {saying}, 'You shall willingly open your hand to your brother, to your needy and to your poor [that are] in your land.' If your relative who is a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman is sold to you, and [he or she] has served you six years, then in the seventh year you shall send that person [out] {free}. And when you send him [out] free from you, you shall not send him [away] empty-handed. You shall generously supply him from [among] your flocks and from your threshing floor and from your press; [according to] that [with which] Yahweh your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you; therefore I [am] commanding you thus {today}.
And you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite that [is] in your {towns} and the alien and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst in the place that Yahweh your God will choose to let his name dwell there.
and you shall rejoice at your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite and the orphan and the widow that [are] in your {towns}.
"When you make a loan to your neighbor, a loan of any kind, you shall not go into his house {to take his pledge}. You shall wait outside, and the man [to] whom you [are] lending, he shall bring the pledge outside to you. read more. And if [he is] a needy man, you shall not sleep in his pledge. You shall certainly return the pledge to him {as the sun sets}, so that he may sleep in his cloak and may bless you, and it shall be [considered] righteousness {on your behalf} {before} Yahweh your God.
"When you reap your harvest in your field and you forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not return to get it, for it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
When you harvest [grapes], you shall not glean your vineyards {again}; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow.
"When you are finished {giving a tithe}, all of the tithe of your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, then you shall give to the Levite, to the alien, to the orphan, and to the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and they may be satisfied. And you shall say {before} Yahweh your God, 'I have removed the sacred portion from the house and, moreover, I have given it to the Levite and to the alien and to the orphan and to the widow according to all your commandment that you commanded me; I have not transgressed any of your commandments, and I have not forgotten [any of them].
Then he said to them, "Go, eat festive food and drink sweet drinks, and send a share to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our lord. Do not be grieved because the joy of Yahweh is your refuge."
"Blessed [are] the poor in spirit, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
And he answered [and] said to them, "The one who has two tunics must share with the one who does not have [one], and the one who has food must do likewise."
And he lifted up his eyes to his disciples [and] said, "Blessed [are] the poor, because yours is the kingdom of God.
But whenever you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
And a certain poor man {named} Lazarus, covered with sores, lay at his gate, and was longing to be filled with what fell from the table of the rich man. But even the dogs came [and] licked his sores.
Now in these days, [as] the disciples were increasing [in number], a complaint arose by the {Greek-speaking Jews} against the {Hebraic Jews} because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution [of food].
[They asked] only that we should remember the poor, the very thing I was also eager to do.
The one who steals must steal no longer, but instead must labor, working with his own hands [what is] good, so that he may have [something] to share with the one who has need.
and to aspire to live a quiet life, and to attend to {your own business}, and to work with your hands, just as we commanded you,
If a brother or a sister is poorly clothed and lacking food for the day, and one of you should say to them, "Go in peace, keep warm and {eat well}," but does not give them what is necessary for the body, what [is] the benefit?
Because you are saying, "I am rich, and have become rich, and I have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are 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 you lend money [to] my people, [to] the needy with you, you will not be to him as a creditor; you will not {charge him interest}. If indeed you require the cloak of your neighbor as a pledge, you will return it to him at sundown, read more. because it is his only garment; it is his cloak for his skin. In what will he sleep? {And} when he cries out to me, I will hear, because I [am] gracious.
You will not be partial to a powerless [person] in his legal dispute.
But the seventh you will let it rest and leave it fallow, and the poor of your people will eat, and their remainder the animals of the field will eat. You will do likewise for your vineyard and for your olive trees.
" 'If {he cannot afford a sheep}, he shall bring [as] his guilt offering [for] what he sinned two turtledoves or two {young doves} for Yahweh, one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering.
" 'But if {he cannot afford} two turtledoves or two {young doves}, then, because he has sinned, he shall bring [as] his offering a tenth of an ephah [of] finely milled flour as a sin offering. He must not put oil on it, nor should he put frankincense on it, because it [is] a sin offering.
" 'And at your reaping the harvest of your land you must not finish reaping the edge of your field, and you must not glean the remnants of your harvest. And you must not glean your vineyard, and you must not gather your vineyard's fallen grapes; you must leave them behind for the needy and for the alien; I [am] Yahweh your God.
" 'You shall not exploit your neighbor, and you shall not rob [him]; a hired worker's wage you shall not {withhold} overnight until morning.
" 'You shall not do injustice in judgment; {you shall not show partiality to the powerless}; you shall not give preference {to the powerful}; you shall judge your fellow citizen with justice.
And a Sabbath of the land shall be for food for you: for you and for your slave and for your slave woman and for your hired worker and for your temporary residents who are dwelling as aliens with you;
" 'When your brother becomes poor and he sells part of his property, then {his nearest redeemer} shall come, and he shall redeem the thing sold by his brother. But if a man {does not have} a redeemer, then {he prospers} and he finds enough for his redemption, read more. then he shall calculate the years of its selling, and he shall refund the balance to the man to whom he sold [it], and he shall return to his property. But if his hand does not find enough to refund to him, then {what he has sold} shall be in the buyer's hand until the Year of Jubilee; and it shall go out [of the buyer's hand] in the Jubilee, and he shall return to his property. " 'And if a man sells {a residential house in a walled city}, then it shall be his redemption until completing {a year after his selling}; its redemption {shall last} {a year}. But if it is not redeemed {before a full year has passed}, then the house that [is] {in the walled city} shall belong to the buyer in perpetuity throughout his generations; it shall not go out [of the buyer's hand] in the Jubilee.
" 'And if your countryman [who is] with you becomes poor, and he is sold to you, {you shall not treat him as a slave}. He shall be with you like a hired worker, like a temporary resident; he shall work with you until the Year of Jubilee. read more. And he and his sons with him shall go out from you, and he shall return to his clan, and to the property of his ancestors he shall return. Because they [are] my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they shall not be sold {as a slave}.
" 'And if [the] alien or [the] temporary resident [who are] with you {prosper}, but your countryman [who is] with him becomes poor and he is sold to an alien, a temporary resident [who is] with you, or to a descendant of an alien's clan, after he is sold redemption shall be for him; one of his brothers may redeem him, read more. or his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him, or {one of} {his close relatives} from his clan may redeem him; or [if] {he prospers}, he may redeem himself. And he shall calculate with his buyer from the year of {his selling himself} until the Jubilee; and the value of his selling shall be according to the number of years--it shall be with him like a hired worker's days. If [there are] still many years, {in keeping with them} he shall restore his redemption {in proportion to his purchase price}. And if [there are] a few years left until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall calculate for himself; he shall restore his redemption {according to the number of his years}. He shall be with him {as a yearly hired worker}; he shall not rule over him with ruthlessness {in your sight}. And if he is not redeemed by [any of] these [ways], then he and his sons with him shall go out in the Year of Jubilee.
"At the end of three years you shall bring out all [of] the tithe of your yield for that year, and you shall store [it] in your {towns}. And [so] the Levite may come, because there is no plot of ground for him or an inheritance with you, and the alien [also may come] and the orphan and the widow that [are] in your {towns}, and {they may eat their fill}, so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all [of] the work of your hand that you undertake."
Nevertheless, there shall not be among you a poor [person], because Yahweh will certainly bless you in the land that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you [as] an inheritance, to take possession of it.
If [there] is a poor [person] among you from [among] one of your brothers in one of your {towns} that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you, you shall not harden your heart, and you shall not shut your hand toward {your brother who is poor}. But you shall certainly open your hand for him, and {you shall willingly lend} [to] him enough to meet his need, {whatever it is}. read more. {Take care} so that there will not be {a thought of wickedness} in your heart, {saying}, 'The seventh year, the year of the remission of debt is near,' {and you view your needy neighbor with hostility}, and [so] you [do] not give to him, and he might cry [out] against you to Yahweh, and {you would incur guilt against yourself}. By all means you must give to him, and {you must not be discontented} at your giving to him, because on account of this [very] thing, Yahweh your God will bless you in all your work and {in all that you undertake}. For the poor will not cease to be {among you} [in] the land; therefore I [am] commanding you, {saying}, 'You shall willingly open your hand to your brother, to your needy and to your poor [that are] in your land.'
For the poor will not cease to be {among you} [in] the land; therefore I [am] commanding you, {saying}, 'You shall willingly open your hand to your brother, to your needy and to your poor [that are] in your land.'
For the poor will not cease to be {among you} [in] the land; therefore I [am] commanding you, {saying}, 'You shall willingly open your hand to your brother, to your needy and to your poor [that are] in your land.' If your relative who is a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman is sold to you, and [he or she] has served you six years, then in the seventh year you shall send that person [out] {free}. read more. And when you send him [out] free from you, you shall not send him [away] empty-handed. You shall generously supply him from [among] your flocks and from your threshing floor and from your press; [according to] that [with which] Yahweh your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you; therefore I [am] commanding you thus {today}.
And you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite that [is] in your {towns} and the alien and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst in the place that Yahweh your God will choose to let his name dwell there.
and you shall rejoice at your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite and the orphan and the widow that [are] in your {towns}.
"When you make a loan to your neighbor, a loan of any kind, you shall not go into his house {to take his pledge}. You shall wait outside, and the man [to] whom you [are] lending, he shall bring the pledge outside to you. read more. And if [he is] a needy man, you shall not sleep in his pledge. You shall certainly return the pledge to him {as the sun sets}, so that he may sleep in his cloak and may bless you, and it shall be [considered] righteousness {on your behalf} {before} Yahweh your God.
"When you reap your harvest in your field and you forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not return to get it, for it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
When you harvest [grapes], you shall not glean your vineyards {again}; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow.
"When you are finished {giving a tithe}, all of the tithe of your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, then you shall give to the Levite, to the alien, to the orphan, and to the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and they may be satisfied. And you shall say {before} Yahweh your God, 'I have removed the sacred portion from the house and, moreover, I have given it to the Levite and to the alien and to the orphan and to the widow according to all your commandment that you commanded me; I have not transgressed any of your commandments, and I have not forgotten [any of them].
And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, "Please let me go [to] the field and glean among the ears of grain after [someone] in whose eyes I [may] find favor." And she said to her, "Go, my daughter."
On the third day, a man came from the camp from [being with] Saul, with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head. {When he came} to David, he fell to the ground and bowed down.
Then he said to them, "Go, eat festive food and drink sweet drinks, and send a share to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our lord. Do not be grieved because the joy of Yahweh is your refuge."
Thus they lifted up their eyes from afar, but they did not recognize him, so they raised their voice, and they wept, and each man tore his outer garment and threw dust on their heads {toward the sky}.
for he has oppressed; he has abandoned [the] poor; he has seized a house but did not build it.
They drive away [the] donkey of orphans; they take [the] widow's ox as a pledge. They thrust [the] poor off the road; [the] needy of [the] earth hide themselves together.
"They snatch [the] orphan from [the] breast, and they take a pledge against [the] needy. They go about naked, without clothing, and hungry, they carry [the] sheaves.
"When [the] ear heard and commended me, and [the] eye saw and testified in support of me because I saved [the] needy who cried for help, and [I saved] [the] orphan for whom [there was] no helper. read more. [The] blessing of [the] wretched 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] like a robe and a headband. "I was eyes to the blind, and I [was] feet to the lame. I [was] a father to the poor, and I investigated {the stranger's} legal dispute.
or I have eaten my morsel {alone}, and [the] orphan has not eaten from it
to guide [the] needy away from legal claims, and to rob the justice from the poor of my people, to make widows their spoil; and they plunder orphans.
They have grown fat, they have grown sleek, also, {their evil deeds have no limit}. They do not judge [with] justice, [the] legal cause of [the] orphan, or allow it to succeed, and [the] legal case of [the] poor, they do not defend.
Woe [to the one who] builds his house without righteousness, and his upper rooms without justice. His fellow countryman, he works for nothing, and he does not give to him his wages.
He judged [the] legal cause of [the] needy and [the] poor, [and] then it was well. {Is that not what it means to know me}?" {declares} Yahweh.
He oppresses [the] needy and [the] poor, [and] {he commits robbery}, [and] he [does] not return pledge for a loan, [and] he lifts his eyes to the idols [so] he does a detestable thing.
And he oppresses no one; he requires no pledge for a loan, and {he does not commit robbery}; he gives his bread to [the] hungry, and he covers the naked person [with] a garment. He brings back his hand from iniquity; he does not take interest and usury; he does my regulations; he goes in my statutes. He will not die because of the guilt of his father; he will surely live!
They severely oppress the people of the land, and {they committed robbery}, and they mistreated [the] needy and [the] poor, and they oppressed the alien {without} justice.
Those who trample the heads of the powerless into the dust of the ground and turn aside the way of the destitute, a man and his father {have sexual relations with} the same girl, so that [they] profane my holy name.
And they came to Jericho. And [as] he was setting out from Jericho along with his disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar, Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus, was sitting beside the road.
And he answered [and] said to them, "The one who has two tunics must share with the one who does not have [one], and the one who has food must do likewise."
But whenever you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
And a certain poor man {named} Lazarus, covered with sores, lay at his gate, and was longing to be filled with what fell from the table of the rich man. But even the dogs came [and] licked his sores.
Now it happened that as he drew near to Jericho, a certain blind man was sitting on the side of the road begging.
Then the neighbors and those who saw him previously (because he was a beggar) began to say, "Is this man not the one who used to sit and beg?"
And a certain man was being carried who was lame {from birth}. {He} was placed every day at the gate of the temple called "Beautiful," [so that he] could ask for charitable gifts from those who were going into the temple [courts].
Now in these days, [as] the disciples were increasing [in number], a complaint arose by the {Greek-speaking Jews} against the {Hebraic Jews} because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution [of food].
For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that [although he] was rich, for your sake he became poor, in order that you, by his poverty, may become rich.
[They asked] only that we should remember the poor, the very thing I was also eager to do.
The one who steals must steal no longer, but instead must labor, working with his own hands [what is] good, so that he may have [something] to share with the one who has need.
and to aspire to live a quiet life, and to attend to {your own business}, and to work with your hands, just as we commanded you,
If a brother or a sister is poorly clothed and lacking food for the day,
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 the one who] has regard for [the] poor; in [the] day of disaster, Yahweh delivers him.
He who lends to Yahweh [is] he who is kind to the poor, and his benefits he will repay to him.
the blind receive sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised, and the poor have good news announced to [them].
For the poor you always have with you, and you can do good for them whenever you want, but you do not always have me.
But whenever you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that [although he] was rich, for your sake he became poor, in order that you, by his poverty, may become rich.
[They asked] only that we should remember the poor, the very thing I was also 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/leb'>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] my people, [to] the needy with you, you will not be to him as a creditor; you will not {charge him interest}. If indeed you require the cloak of your neighbor as a pledge, you will return it to him at sundown, read more. because it is his only garment; it is his cloak for his skin. In what will he sleep? {And} when he cries out to me, I will hear, because I [am] gracious.
But the seventh you will let it rest and leave it fallow, and the poor of your people will eat, and their remainder the animals of the field will eat. You will do likewise for your vineyard and for your olive trees.
" 'And at your reaping the harvest of your land you must not finish reaping the edge of your field, and you must not glean the remnants of your harvest. And you must not glean your vineyard, and you must not gather your vineyard's fallen grapes; you must leave them behind for the needy and for the alien; I [am] Yahweh your God.
" 'You shall not exploit your neighbor, and you shall not rob [him]; a hired worker's wage you shall not {withhold} overnight until morning.
Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and you shall gather its yield.
You must not reap your harvest's aftergrowth, and you must not harvest the grapes of your unpruned vines--it shall be {a year of complete rest} for the land.
" 'When your brother becomes poor and he sells part of his property, then {his nearest redeemer} shall come, and he shall redeem the thing sold by his brother. But if a man {does not have} a redeemer, then {he prospers} and he finds enough for his redemption, read more. then he shall calculate the years of its selling, and he shall refund the balance to the man to whom he sold [it], and he shall return to his property. But if his hand does not find enough to refund to him, then {what he has sold} shall be in the buyer's hand until the Year of Jubilee; and it shall go out [of the buyer's hand] in the Jubilee, and he shall return to his property. " 'And if a man sells {a residential house in a walled city}, then it shall be his redemption until completing {a year after his selling}; its redemption {shall last} {a year}. But if it is not redeemed {before a full year has passed}, then the house that [is] {in the walled city} shall belong to the buyer in perpetuity throughout his generations; it shall not go out [of the buyer's hand] in the Jubilee.
You must not give your money to him with interest or give your food for profit.
" 'And if your countryman [who is] with you becomes poor, and he is sold to you, {you shall not treat him as a slave}. He shall be with you like a hired worker, like a temporary resident; he shall work with you until the Year of Jubilee. read more. And he and his sons with him shall go out from you, and he shall return to his clan, and to the property of his ancestors he shall return. Because they [are] my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they shall not be sold {as a slave}.
" 'And if [the] alien or [the] temporary resident [who are] with you {prosper}, but your countryman [who is] with him becomes poor and he is sold to an alien, a temporary resident [who is] with you, or to a descendant of an alien's clan, after he is sold redemption shall be for him; one of his brothers may redeem him, read more. or his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him, or {one of} {his close relatives} from his clan may redeem him; or [if] {he prospers}, he may redeem himself. And he shall calculate with his buyer from the year of {his selling himself} until the Jubilee; and the value of his selling shall be according to the number of years--it shall be with him like a hired worker's days. If [there are] still many years, {in keeping with them} he shall restore his redemption {in proportion to his purchase price}. And if [there are] a few years left until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall calculate for himself; he shall restore his redemption {according to the number of his years}. He shall be with him {as a yearly hired worker}; he shall not rule over him with ruthlessness {in your sight}. And if he is not redeemed by [any of] these [ways], then he and his sons with him shall go out in the Year of Jubilee.
"At the end of three years you shall bring out all [of] the tithe of your yield for that year, and you shall store [it] in your {towns}.
If [there] is a poor [person] among you from [among] one of your brothers in one of your {towns} that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you, you shall not harden your heart, and you shall not shut your hand toward {your brother who is poor}.
If your relative who is a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman is sold to you, and [he or she] has served you six years, then in the seventh year you shall send that person [out] {free}. And when you send him [out] free from you, you shall not send him [away] empty-handed. read more. You shall generously supply him from [among] your flocks and from your threshing floor and from your press; [according to] that [with which] Yahweh your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you; therefore I [am] commanding you thus {today}.
And you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite that [is] in your {towns} and the alien and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst in the place that Yahweh your God will choose to let his name dwell there.
and you shall rejoice at your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite and the orphan and the widow that [are] in your {towns}.
"When you reap your harvest in your field and you forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not return to get it, for it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
When you harvest [grapes], you shall not glean your vineyards {again}; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow.
"When you are finished {giving a tithe}, all of the tithe of your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, then you shall give to the Levite, to the alien, to the orphan, and to the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and they may be satisfied. And you shall say {before} Yahweh your God, 'I have removed the sacred portion from the house and, moreover, I have given it to the Levite and to the alien and to the orphan and to the widow according to all your commandment that you commanded me; I have not transgressed any of your commandments, and I have not forgotten [any of them].
Now in these days, [as] the disciples were increasing [in number], a complaint arose by the {Greek-speaking Jews} against the {Hebraic Jews} because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution [of food].
[They asked] only that we should remember the poor, the very thing I was also eager to do.
If a brother or a sister is poorly clothed and lacking food for the day,