Reference: Poor
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Ps 12:5; 41:1-3, especially cared for in the Jewish dispensation, Ex 23:6; Pr 14:31, and even more so under the gospel, Mt 25:42-45; Jas 2:5. The slight offerings required of them by the law were as acceptable as the hecatombs of the rich, Le 5:7-13; Mr 12:41-44. The gleanings of the fields, the olive-trees, and the vines, were to be left for them, Le 19:9; De 24:19; Ru 2:2. Every seventh year, the spontaneous products of the ground were free to all, Le 25:7; and in the Jubilee their alienated inheritance returned to their possession. Compare also Le 25; De 24. Neglect and oppression of the poor were severely reproved by the prophets, Isa 10:2; Jer 5:28; Am 2:6; but charity to the poor was an eminent virtue among primitive Christians, Mt 6:2-4; Lu 10:33-35; 19:8; Ac 9:36-39; 10:2; 11:29-30.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Thou shalt not hinder the right of the poor that are among you in their suit.
But if he be not able to bring a sheep, then let him bring for his trespass which he hath sinned, two turtle doves or two young pigeons unto the LORD; one for a sin offering and another for a burnt offering. And he shall bring them unto the priest, which shall offer the sin offering first and wring the neck asunder of it, but pluck it not clean off. read more. And let him sprinkle of the blood of the sin offering upon the side of the altar, and let the rest of the blood bleed upon the bottom of the altar, and then it is a sin offering. And let him offer the second for a burnt offering as the manner is: and so shall the priest make an atonement for him for the sin which he hath sinned, and it shall be forgiven him. "'And yet if he be not able to bring two turtle doves or two young pigeons, then let him bring his offering for his sin: the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering, but put none oil thereto neither put any frankincense thereon, for it is a sin offering. And let him bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it and burn it upon the altar for a remembrance to be a sacrifice for the LORD: that is a sin offering. And let the priest make an atonement for him for his sin - whatsoever of these he hath sinned - and it shall be forgiven. And the remnant shall be the priest's, as it is in the meat offering.'"
When ye reap down the ripe corn of your land, ye shall not reap down the utmost borders of your fields, neither shalt thou gather that which is left behind in thy harvest.
and for thy cattle and for the beasts that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.
When thou cuttest down thine harvest in the field and hast forgotten a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again and fetch it: But it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless and the widow, that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand.
And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, "Let me go to the field and lease and gather ears, after whomsoever I find grace in his sight." And she said unto her, "Go, my daughter."
"Now, for the comfortless troubles' sake of the needy, and because of the deep sighing of the poor, I will arise," saith the LORD, "and will help them, and set them at rest."
{To the Chanter, a Psalm of David} Blessed is he, that considereth the poor; the LORD shall deliver him in the time of trouble. The LORD shall preserve him, and keep him alive: he shall make him to prosper upon earth, and shall not deliver him into the will of his enemies. read more. The LORD shall refresh him, when he lieth sick upon his bed, yea thou makest his bed in all his sickness.
He that doth a poor man wrong, blasphemeth his maker; but whoso hath pity of the poor, doth honour unto God.
wherethrough the poor are oppressed on every side, and the innocents of my people are therewith robbed of judgment: that widows may be your prey, and that ye may rob the fatherless.
hereof are they fat and wealthy, and are run away from me with shameful blasphemies. They minister not the law, they make no end of the fatherless cause, they judge not the poor according to equity.
"Thus sayeth the LORD, 'For three and four wickednesses of Israel, I will not spare him: because he hath sold the righteous for money, and the poor for shoes.
Whensoever therefore thou givest thine alms, thou shalt not make a trumpet to be blown before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues, and in the streets, for to be praised of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But when thou doest thine alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: read more. that thine alms may be secret: and thy father which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
For I was a hungered, and ye gave me no meat. I thirsted, and ye gave me no drink. I was harborless, and ye lodged me not. I was naked, and ye clothed me not. I was sick and in prison, and ye visited me not.' read more. Then shall they also answer him, saying, 'Master, when saw we thee a hungered, or athirst, or harborless, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and have not ministered unto thee?' Then shall he answer them, and say, 'Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.'
And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people put 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 hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury. For they all did cast in of their superfluity: But she of her poverty, did cast in all that she had, even all her living."
Then a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came nigh unto him: and when he saw him, had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, and poured in wine, and oil, and put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and made provision for him. read more. And on the morrow, when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host and said unto him, 'Take care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again I will recompense thee.'
And Zacchaeus stood forth and said unto the Lord, "Behold Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have done any man wrong, I will restore him four fold."
There was at Joppa a certain woman, which was a disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: the same was full of good works and alms deeds, which she did. And it chanced in those days that she was sick and died. When they had washed her and laid her in a chamber - read more. Because Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there - they sent unto him, desiring him that he would not be grieved to come unto them. Peter arose and came with them: And when he was come, they brought him into the chamber, and all the widows stood round about 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 household, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed God always.
Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, purposed to send succour unto the brethren which dwelt in Jewry, which thing they also did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
Hearken, my dear beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world, which are rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, which he promised to them that love him?
Easton
The Mosaic legislation regarding the poor is specially important. (1.) They had the right of gleaning the fields (Le 19:9-10; De 24:19,21).
(2.) In the sabbatical year they were to have their share of the produce of the fields and the vineyards (Ex 23:11; Le 25:6).
(3.) In the year of jubilee they recovered their property (Le 25:25-30).
(4.) Usury was forbidden, and the pledged raiment was to be returned before the sun went down (Ex 22:25-27; De 24:10-13). The rich were to be generous to the poor (De 15:7-11).
(5.) In the sabbatical and jubilee years the bond-servant was to go free (De 15:12-15; Le 25:39-42,47-54).
(6.) Certain portions from the tithes were assigned to the poor (De 14:28-29; 26:12-13).
(7.) They shared in the feasts (De 16:11,14; Ne 8:10).
(8.) Wages were to be paid at the close of each day (Le 19:13).
In the New Testament (Lu 3:11; 14:13; Ac 6:1; Ga 2:10; Jas 2:15-16) we have similar injunctions given with reference to the poor. Begging was not common under the Old Testament, while it was so in the New Testament times (Lu 16:20-21, etc.). But begging in the case of those who are able to work is forbidden, and all such are enjoined to "work with their own hands" as a Christian duty (1Th 4:11; 2Th 3:7-13; Eph 4:28). This word is used figuratively in Mt 5:3; Lu 6:20; 2Co 8:9; Re 3:17.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be as an usurer unto him, neither shalt oppress him with usury. If thou take thy neighbor's raiment to pledge, see that thou deliver it unto him again by that the sun go down. read more. For that is his coverlet only: even the raiment for his skin wherein he sleepeth: or else he will cry unto me and I will hear him, for I am merciful.
and the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still, that the poor of thy people may eat, and what they leave, the beasts of the field shall eat: In like manner thou shalt do with thy vineyard and thine olive trees.
When ye reap down the ripe corn of your land, ye shall not reap down the utmost borders of your fields, neither shalt thou gather that which is left behind in thy harvest. Thou shalt not pluck in all thy vineyard clean, neither gather in the grapes that are overscaped. But thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger. I am the LORD your God.
Thou shalt not beguile thy neighbour with cavillations, neither rob him violently, neither shall the workman's labour abide with thee until the morning.
Nevertheless the Sabbath of the land shall be meat for you: even for thee and thy servant and for thy maid and for thy hired servant and for the stranger that dwelleth with thee:
"'When thy brother is waxed poor and hath sold away of his possession: if any of his kin come to redeem it, he shall buy out that which his brother sold. And though he have no man to redeem it for him, yet if his hand can get sufficient to buy it out again, read more. then let him count how long it hath been sold, and deliver the rest unto him to whom he sold it, and so he shall return unto his possession again. But and if his hand can not get sufficient to restore it to him again, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it, until the horn year: and in the horn year it shall come out, and he shall return unto his possession again. "'If a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city, he may buy it out again any time within a whole year after it is sold: and that shall be the space in which he may redeem it again. But and if it be not bought out again within the space of a full year, then the house in the walled city shall be established forever unto him that bought it and to his successors after him and shall not go out in the trumpet year.
"'If thy brother that dwelleth by thee wax poor and sell himself unto thee, thou shalt not let him labour as a bondservant doeth: but as a hired servant and as a sojourner he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the trumpet year, read more. and then shall he depart from thee: both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own kindred again and unto the possessions of his fathers; for they are my servants which I brought out of the land of Egypt, and shall not be sold as bondmen.
"'When a stranger and a sojourner waxeth rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him waxeth poor and sell himself unto the stranger that dwelleth by thee or to any of the stranger's kin: after that he is sold he may be redeemed again: one of his brethren may buy him out; read more. whether it be his uncle or his uncle's son, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his kindred: either if his hand can get so much he may be loosed. And he shall reckon with him that bought him, from the year that he was sold in unto the trumpet year, and the price of his buying shall be according unto the number of years, and he shall be with him as a hired servant. If there be yet many years behind, according unto them he shall give again for his deliverance, of the money that he was sold for. If there remain but few years unto the trumpet year, he shall so count with him, and according unto his years give him again for his redemption, and shall be with him year by year as a hired servant, and the other shall not reign cruelly over him in thy sight. If he be not bought free in the meantime, then he shall go out in the trumpet year and his children with him;
At the end of three years, thou shalt bring forth all the tithes of thine increase the same year and lay it up within thine own city, and the Levite shall come because he hath neither part nor inheritance with thee, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow which are within thy city, and shall eat and fill themselves: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the works of thine hand which thou doest.
When one of thy brethren among you is waxed poor in any of thy cities within thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, see that thou harden not thine heart nor shut to thine hand from thy poor brother: But open thine hand unto him and lend him sufficient for his need which he hath. read more. And beware that there be not a point of Belial in thine heart, that thou wouldest say, 'The seventh year, the year of freedom is at hand,' and therefore it grieve thee to look on thy poor brother and givest him nought and he then cry unto the LORD against thee and it be sin unto thee. But give him, and let it not grieve thine heart to give. Because that for that thing, the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works and in all that thou puttest thine hand to. For the land shall never be without poor. Wherefore I command thee, saying, 'Open thine hand unto thy brother that is needy and poor in thy land.' If thy brother, an Hebrew, sell himself to thee, or an Hebrewess, he shall serve thee six years and the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: but shalt give him of thy sheep and of thy corn and of thy wine, and give him of that wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee. And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God delivered thee thence: wherefore I command thee this thing today.
And rejoice before the LORD thy God: both thou, thy son, thy daughter, thy servant and thy maid, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, the fatherless and the widow that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to make his name dwell there.
And thou shalt rejoice in that thy feast; both thou and thy son, thy daughter, thy servant, thy maid, the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow that are in thy cities.
If thou lend thy brother any manner succour, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch a pledge: but shalt stand without and the man to whom thou lendest, shall bring thee the pledge out at the door. read more. Furthermore, if it be a poor body, go not to sleep with his pledge: but deliver him the pledge again by that the sun go down, and let him sleep in his own raiment and bless thee. And it shall be righteousness unto thee, before the LORD thy God.
When thou cuttest down thine harvest in the field and hast forgotten a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again and fetch it: But it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless and the widow, that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand.
And when thou gatherest thy vineyard, thou shalt not gather clean after thee: but it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless and the widow.
When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, the year of tithing - and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow, and they have eaten in thy gates and filled themselves - then say before the LORD thy God, 'I have brought thee hallowed things out of mine house: and have given them unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow according to all the commandments which thou commandest me: I have not overskipped thy commandments, nor forgotten them.
Therefore said he unto them, "Go your way, and eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send part unto them also that have not prepared themselves: for this day is holy unto our LORD. Be not ye sorry therefore: 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 hath two coats, let him part with him that hath none: And he that hath meat, let him do likewise."
And he lifted up his eyes upon the disciples, and said, "Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.
But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind,
And there was a certain beggar, named Lazarus, which lay at his gate full of sores, desiring to be refreshed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's board. Nevertheless, the dogs came, and licked his sores.
In those days, as the number of the disciples grew, there arose a grudge among the Greeks against the Hebrews, because their widows were despised in the daily ministration.
warning only that we should remember the poor, which thing also I was diligent to do.
Let him that stole, steal no more; but let him rather labour with his hands some good thing, that he may have to give unto him that needeth.
and that ye study to be quiet, and to meddle with your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you:
If a brother or a sister be naked or destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, "Depart in peace, God send you warmness and food," notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body: what helpeth it them?
because thou sayest thou art rich and increased with goods, and hast need of nothing, and knowest not how thou art wretched and miserable, poor, blind, and naked.
Fausets
The considerate provisions of the law for the poor (based on principles already recognized by the patriarchs: Job 20:19; 24:3-4,9-10; especially Job 29:11-16; 31:17) were:
(1) The right of gleaning; the corners of the field were not to be reaped, nor all the grapes to be gathered, nor the olive trees to be beaten a second time; the stranger, fatherless, and widow might gather the leavings; the forgotten sheaf was to be left for them (Le 19:9-10; De 24:19,21; Ru 2:2).
(2) They were to have their share of the produce in sabbatical years (Ex 23:11; Le 25:6).
(3) They recovered their land, but not town houses, in the Jubilee year (Le 25:25-30).
(4) Usury, i.e. interest on loans to an Israelite, was forbidden; the pledged raiment was to be returned before sundown (Ex 22:25-27; De 24:10-13); generous lending, even at the approach of Jubilee release, is enjoined: (De 15:7-11) "thou shalt open thy hand wide to THY poor"; God designs that we should appropriate them as our own, whereas men say "the poor."
(5) Lasting bondservice was forbidden, and manumission, with a liberal present, enjoined in the sabbatical and Jubilee years (De 15:12-15; Le 25:39-42,47-54); the children were not enslaved; an Israelite might redeem an Israelite who was in bondage to a rich foreign settler.
(6) Portions from the tithes belonged to the poor after the Levites (De 14:28-29; 26:12-13).
(7) The poor shared in the feasts at the festivals of weeks and tabernacles (De 16:11,14; Ne 8:10).
(8) Wages must be paid at the day's end (Le 19:13); yet partiality in judgment must not be shown to the poor (Ex 23:3; Le 19:15).
In the New Testament, Christ lays down the same love to the poor (Lu 3:11; 14:13; Ac 6:1; Ga 2:10; Jas 2:15; Ro 15:26), the motive being "Christ, who was rich, for our sake became poor that we through His poverty might be rich" (2Co 8:9). Begging was common in New Testament times, not under Old Testament (Lu 16:20-21; 18:35; Mr 10:46; Joh 9:8; Ac 3:2.) Mendicancy in the ease of the able bodied is discouraged, and honest labour for one's living is encouraged by precept and example (1Th 4:11; Eph 4:28; 2Th 3:7-12).
The prophets especially vindicate the claims of the poor: compare Eze 18:12,16-17; 22:29; Jer 22:13,16; 5:28; Isa 10:2; Am 2:7, "pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor," i.e., thirst after prostrating the poor by oppression, so as to lay their heads in the dust; or less simply (Pusey) "grudge to the poor debtor the dust which as a mourner he strewed on his head" (2Sa 1:2; Job 2:12). In De 15:4 the creditor must not exact a debt in the year of release, "save when there shall be no poor among you," but as De 15:11 says "the poor shalt never cease out of the land," translated "no poor with thee," i.e. release the debt for the year except when no poor person is concerned, which may happen, "for the Lord shall greatly bless thee": you may call in a loan on the year of release, when the borrower is not poor. Others regard the promise, De 15:11, conditional, Israel's disobedience frustrating its fulfillment. Less costly sacrifices might be substituted by the poor (Le 5:7,11).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be as an usurer unto him, neither shalt oppress him with usury. If thou take thy neighbor's raiment to pledge, see that thou deliver it unto him again by that the sun go down. read more. For that is his coverlet only: even the raiment for his skin wherein he sleepeth: or else he will cry unto me and I will hear him, for I am merciful.
and the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still, that the poor of thy people may eat, and what they leave, the beasts of the field shall eat: In like manner thou shalt do with thy vineyard and thine olive trees.
But if he be not able to bring a sheep, then let him bring for his trespass which he hath sinned, two turtle doves or two young pigeons unto the LORD; one for a sin offering and another for a burnt offering.
"'And yet if he be not able to bring two turtle doves or two young pigeons, then let him bring his offering for his sin: the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering, but put none oil thereto neither put any frankincense thereon, for it is a sin offering.
When ye reap down the ripe corn of your land, ye shall not reap down the utmost borders of your fields, neither shalt thou gather that which is left behind in thy harvest. Thou shalt not pluck in all thy vineyard clean, neither gather in the grapes that are overscaped. But thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger. I am the LORD your God.
Thou shalt not beguile thy neighbour with cavillations, neither rob him violently, neither shall the workman's labour abide with thee until the morning.
Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment. Thou shalt not favour the poor nor honour the mighty, but shalt judge thy neighbour righteously.
Nevertheless the Sabbath of the land shall be meat for you: even for thee and thy servant and for thy maid and for thy hired servant and for the stranger that dwelleth with thee:
"'When thy brother is waxed poor and hath sold away of his possession: if any of his kin come to redeem it, he shall buy out that which his brother sold. And though he have no man to redeem it for him, yet if his hand can get sufficient to buy it out again, read more. then let him count how long it hath been sold, and deliver the rest unto him to whom he sold it, and so he shall return unto his possession again. But and if his hand can not get sufficient to restore it to him again, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it, until the horn year: and in the horn year it shall come out, and he shall return unto his possession again. "'If a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city, he may buy it out again any time within a whole year after it is sold: and that shall be the space in which he may redeem it again. But and if it be not bought out again within the space of a full year, then the house in the walled city shall be established forever unto him that bought it and to his successors after him and shall not go out in the trumpet year.
"'If thy brother that dwelleth by thee wax poor and sell himself unto thee, thou shalt not let him labour as a bondservant doeth: but as a hired servant and as a sojourner he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the trumpet year, read more. and then shall he depart from thee: both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own kindred again and unto the possessions of his fathers; for they are my servants which I brought out of the land of Egypt, and shall not be sold as bondmen.
"'When a stranger and a sojourner waxeth rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him waxeth poor and sell himself unto the stranger that dwelleth by thee or to any of the stranger's kin: after that he is sold he may be redeemed again: one of his brethren may buy him out; read more. whether it be his uncle or his uncle's son, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his kindred: either if his hand can get so much he may be loosed. And he shall reckon with him that bought him, from the year that he was sold in unto the trumpet year, and the price of his buying shall be according unto the number of years, and he shall be with him as a hired servant. If there be yet many years behind, according unto them he shall give again for his deliverance, of the money that he was sold for. If there remain but few years unto the trumpet year, he shall so count with him, and according unto his years give him again for his redemption, and shall be with him year by year as a hired servant, and the other shall not reign cruelly over him in thy sight. If he be not bought free in the meantime, then he shall go out in the trumpet year and his children with him;
At the end of three years, thou shalt bring forth all the tithes of thine increase the same year and lay it up within thine own city, and the Levite shall come because he hath neither part nor inheritance with thee, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow which are within thy city, and shall eat and fill themselves: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the works of thine hand which thou doest.
and that in any wise, that there be no beggar among you. For the LORD shall bless the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, an inheritance, to possess it:
When one of thy brethren among you is waxed poor in any of thy cities within thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, see that thou harden not thine heart nor shut to thine hand from thy poor brother: But open thine hand unto him and lend him sufficient for his need which he hath. read more. And beware that there be not a point of Belial in thine heart, that thou wouldest say, 'The seventh year, the year of freedom is at hand,' and therefore it grieve thee to look on thy poor brother and givest him nought and he then cry unto the LORD against thee and it be sin unto thee. But give him, and let it not grieve thine heart to give. Because that for that thing, the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works and in all that thou puttest thine hand to. For the land shall never be without poor. Wherefore I command thee, saying, 'Open thine hand unto thy brother that is needy and poor in thy land.'
For the land shall never be without poor. Wherefore I command thee, saying, 'Open thine hand unto thy brother that is needy and poor in thy land.'
For the land shall never be without poor. Wherefore I command thee, saying, 'Open thine hand unto thy brother that is needy and poor in thy land.' If thy brother, an Hebrew, sell himself to thee, or an Hebrewess, he shall serve thee six years and the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. read more. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: but shalt give him of thy sheep and of thy corn and of thy wine, and give him of that wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee. And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God delivered thee thence: wherefore I command thee this thing today.
And rejoice before the LORD thy God: both thou, thy son, thy daughter, thy servant and thy maid, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, the fatherless and the widow that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to make his name dwell there.
And thou shalt rejoice in that thy feast; both thou and thy son, thy daughter, thy servant, thy maid, the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow that are in thy cities.
If thou lend thy brother any manner succour, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch a pledge: but shalt stand without and the man to whom thou lendest, shall bring thee the pledge out at the door. read more. Furthermore, if it be a poor body, go not to sleep with his pledge: but deliver him the pledge again by that the sun go down, and let him sleep in his own raiment and bless thee. And it shall be righteousness unto thee, before the LORD thy God.
When thou cuttest down thine harvest in the field and hast forgotten a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again and fetch it: But it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless and the widow, that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand.
And when thou gatherest thy vineyard, thou shalt not gather clean after thee: but it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless and the widow.
When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, the year of tithing - and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow, and they have eaten in thy gates and filled themselves - then say before the LORD thy God, 'I have brought thee hallowed things out of mine house: and have given them unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow according to all the commandments which thou commandest me: I have not overskipped thy commandments, nor forgotten them.
And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, "Let me go to the field and lease and gather ears, after whomsoever I find grace in his sight." And she said unto her, "Go, my daughter."
Behold, there came a man the third day out of the host from Saul with his clothes rent and earth upon his head. And when he came to David, he fell to the earth and did obeisance.
Therefore said he unto them, "Go your way, and eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send part unto them also that have not prepared themselves: for this day is holy unto our LORD. Be not ye sorry therefore: for the joy of the LORD is your strength."
So when they lift up their eyes afar off, they knew him not. Then they cried, and wept: then every one of them rent his clothes, and sprinkled dust upon their heads in the air.
And why? He hath oppressed the poor, and not helped them: houses hath he spoiled, and not builded them.
that drive away the ass of the fatherless; that take the widow's ox for a pledge; that thrust the poor out of the way, and oppress the simple of the world together.
They spoil the sucking fatherless children, and put the poor in prison, insomuch that they let him go naked without clothing, and take way the sheaf of the hungry.
When all they that heard me, called me happy, and when all they that saw me, wished me good. "For I delivered the poor when he cried, and the fatherless that wanted help. read more. He that should have been lost, gave me a good word, and the widow's heart praised me. And why? I put upon me righteousness, which covered me as a garment, and equity was my crown. I was an eye unto the blind, and a foot to the lame; I was a father unto the poor, and when I knew not their cause, I sought it out diligently.
Have I eaten my portion alone, that the fatherless hath had no part with me?
wherethrough the poor are oppressed on every side, and the innocents of my people are therewith robbed of judgment: that widows may be your prey, and that ye may rob the fatherless.
hereof are they fat and wealthy, and are run away from me with shameful blasphemies. They minister not the law, they make no end of the fatherless cause, they judge not the poor according to equity.
Woe worth him, that buildeth his house with unrighteousness, and his parlors with the good that he hath gotten by violence: which never recompenceth his neighbour's labour, nor payeth him his hire.
Yea when he helped the oppressed and poor to their right, then prospered he well. From whence came this? But only because he had me before his eyes, sayeth the LORD.
he grieveth the poor and needy; he robbeth and spoileth; he giveth not the debtor his pledge again; he lifteth up his eyes unto Idols, and meddle with abominable things;
he vexeth no man; he keepeth no man's pledge, he neither spoileth, nor robbeth any man; he dealeth his meat with the hungry; he clotheth the naked; he opresseth not the poor; he receiveth no usury, nor anything over; he keepeth my laws, and walketh in my commandments: this man shall not die in his father's sin, but shall live without fail.
The people in the land useth wicked extortion and robbery. They vex the poor and needy and oppress the stranger against right.
They tread upon poor men's heads, in the dust of the earth, and crook the ways of the meek. The son and the father go to the harlot, to dishonour my holy name,
And they came to Jericho: and as he went out ofJericho, with his disciples and a great number of people, Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus, which was blind, sat by the highways side begging.
He answered and said unto them, "He that hath two coats, let him part with him that hath none: And he that hath meat, let him do likewise."
But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind,
And there was a certain beggar, named Lazarus, which lay at his gate full of sores, desiring to be refreshed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's board. Nevertheless, the dogs came, and licked his sores.
And it came to pass, as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging.
The neighbours, and they that had seen him before how that he was a beggar said, "Is not this he that sat and begged?"
And there was a certain man halt from his mother's womb, whom they brought and laid at the gate of the temple called Beautiful, to ask his alms of them that entered into the temple.
In those days, as the number of the disciples grew, there arose a grudge among the Greeks against the Hebrews, because their widows were despised in the daily ministration.
For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia, to make a certain distribution upon the poor saints which are at Jerusalem.
Ye know the liberality of our Lord Jesus Christ, which though he were rich, yet for your sakes became poor: that ye through his poverty might be made rich.
warning only that we should remember the poor, which thing also I was diligent to do.
Let him that stole, steal no more; but let him rather labour with his hands some good thing, that he may have to give unto him that needeth.
and that ye study to be quiet, and to meddle with your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you:
If a brother or a sister be naked or 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 Chanter, a Psalm of David} Blessed is he, that considereth the poor; the LORD shall deliver him in the time of trouble.
He that hath pity upon the poor, lendeth unto the LORD; and look, what he layeth out, it shall be paid him again.
The blind see, the halt go, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are risen again, and the glad tidings is preached to the poor.
For ye shall have poor with you always: and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye shall not have always.
But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind,
Ye know the liberality of our Lord Jesus Christ, which though he were rich, yet for your sakes became poor: that ye through his poverty might be made rich.
warning only that we should remember the poor, which thing also I was diligent to do.
Smith
Poor.
The general kindly spirit of the law toward the poor is sufficiently shown by such passages as
De 15:7
for the reason that (ver. 11) "the poor shall never cease out of the land." Among the special enactments in their favor the following must be mentioned:
1. The right of gleaning.
Le 19:9-10; De 24:19,21
2. From the produce of the land in sabbatical years the poor and the stranger were to have their portion.
3. Re-entry upon land in the jubilee year, with the limitation as to town homes.
4. Prohibition of usury and of retention of pledges.
Ex 22:25-27; 5/3/type/mstc'>Le 25:3,5,37
etc.
5. Permanent bondage forbidden, and manumission of Hebrew bondmen or bondwomen enjoined in the sabbatical and jubilee years.
Le 25:39-42,47-54; De 15:12-15
6. Portions from the tithes to be shared by the poor after the Levites.
De 14:28; 26:12-13
7. The poor to partake in entertainments at the feasts of Weeks and Tabernacles.
De 16:11,14
see Nehe 8:10
8. Daily payment of wages.
Principles similar to those laid down by Moses are inculcated in the New Testament, as
See Verses Found in Dictionary
If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be as an usurer unto him, neither shalt oppress him with usury. If thou take thy neighbor's raiment to pledge, see that thou deliver it unto him again by that the sun go down. read more. For that is his coverlet only: even the raiment for his skin wherein he sleepeth: or else he will cry unto me and I will hear him, for I am merciful.
and the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still, that the poor of thy people may eat, and what they leave, the beasts of the field shall eat: In like manner thou shalt do with thy vineyard and thine olive trees.
When ye reap down the ripe corn of your land, ye shall not reap down the utmost borders of your fields, neither shalt thou gather that which is left behind in thy harvest. Thou shalt not pluck in all thy vineyard clean, neither gather in the grapes that are overscaped. But thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger. I am the LORD your God.
Thou shalt not beguile thy neighbour with cavillations, neither rob him violently, neither shall the workman's labour abide with thee until the morning.
Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt cut thy vines and gather in thy fruits.
The corn that groweth by itself thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes that grow without thy dressing: but it shall be a Sabbath of rest unto the land.
"'When thy brother is waxed poor and hath sold away of his possession: if any of his kin come to redeem it, he shall buy out that which his brother sold. And though he have no man to redeem it for him, yet if his hand can get sufficient to buy it out again, read more. then let him count how long it hath been sold, and deliver the rest unto him to whom he sold it, and so he shall return unto his possession again. But and if his hand can not get sufficient to restore it to him again, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it, until the horn year: and in the horn year it shall come out, and he shall return unto his possession again. "'If a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city, he may buy it out again any time within a whole year after it is sold: and that shall be the space in which he may redeem it again. But and if it be not bought out again within the space of a full year, then the house in the walled city shall be established forever unto him that bought it and to his successors after him and shall not go out in the trumpet year.
Thou shalt not lend him thy money upon usury, nor lend him of thy food to have advantage by it;
"'If thy brother that dwelleth by thee wax poor and sell himself unto thee, thou shalt not let him labour as a bondservant doeth: but as a hired servant and as a sojourner he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the trumpet year, read more. and then shall he depart from thee: both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own kindred again and unto the possessions of his fathers; for they are my servants which I brought out of the land of Egypt, and shall not be sold as bondmen.
"'When a stranger and a sojourner waxeth rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him waxeth poor and sell himself unto the stranger that dwelleth by thee or to any of the stranger's kin: after that he is sold he may be redeemed again: one of his brethren may buy him out; read more. whether it be his uncle or his uncle's son, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his kindred: either if his hand can get so much he may be loosed. And he shall reckon with him that bought him, from the year that he was sold in unto the trumpet year, and the price of his buying shall be according unto the number of years, and he shall be with him as a hired servant. If there be yet many years behind, according unto them he shall give again for his deliverance, of the money that he was sold for. If there remain but few years unto the trumpet year, he shall so count with him, and according unto his years give him again for his redemption, and shall be with him year by year as a hired servant, and the other shall not reign cruelly over him in thy sight. If he be not bought free in the meantime, then he shall go out in the trumpet year and his children with him;
At the end of three years, thou shalt bring forth all the tithes of thine increase the same year and lay it up within thine own city,
When one of thy brethren among you is waxed poor in any of thy cities within thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, see that thou harden not thine heart nor shut to thine hand from thy poor brother:
If thy brother, an Hebrew, sell himself to thee, or an Hebrewess, he shall serve thee six years and the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: read more. but shalt give him of thy sheep and of thy corn and of thy wine, and give him of that wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee. And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God delivered thee thence: wherefore I command thee this thing today.
And rejoice before the LORD thy God: both thou, thy son, thy daughter, thy servant and thy maid, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, the fatherless and the widow that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to make his name dwell there.
And thou shalt rejoice in that thy feast; both thou and thy son, thy daughter, thy servant, thy maid, the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow that are in thy cities.
When thou cuttest down thine harvest in the field and hast forgotten a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again and fetch it: But it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless and the widow, that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand.
And when thou gatherest thy vineyard, thou shalt not gather clean after thee: but it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless and the widow.
When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, the year of tithing - and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow, and they have eaten in thy gates and filled themselves - then say before the LORD thy God, 'I have brought thee hallowed things out of mine house: and have given them unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow according to all the commandments which thou commandest me: I have not overskipped thy commandments, nor forgotten them.
In those days, as the number of the disciples grew, there arose a grudge among the Greeks against the Hebrews, because their widows were despised in the daily ministration.
warning only that we should remember the poor, which thing also I was diligent to do.
If a brother or a sister be naked or destitute of daily food,