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 wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.
And if he shall not be able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass which he hath committed, two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, to the LORD; one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering. And he shall bring them to the priest, who shall offer that which is for the sin-offering first, and wring off his head from his neck, but shall not divide it asunder: read more. And he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin-offering upon the side of the altar; and the rest of the blood shall be wrung out at the bottom of the altar: it is a sin-offering. And he shall offer the second for a burnt-offering, according to the manner: and the priest shall make an atonement for him for his sin which he hath sinned, and it shall be forgiven him. But if he shall not be able to bring two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons; then he that sinned shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin-offering; he shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put any frankincense upon it: for it is a sin-offering. Then shall he bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it, even a memorial of it, and burn it on the altar, according to the offerings made by fire to the LORD: it is a sin-offering. And the priest shall make an atonement for him as concerning his sin that he hath sinned in one of these, and it shall be forgiven him: and the remnant shall be the priest's, as a meat-offering.
And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest.
And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase of it be food.
When thou cuttest down thy harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hands.
And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said to her, Go, my daughter.
For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in the time of trouble. The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him to the will of his enemies. read more. The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.
He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoreth him hath mercy on the poor.
To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!
They have become fat, they shine: yes, they surpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away their punishment: because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;
Therefore, when thou doest thy alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do, in the synagogues, and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Verily, I say to you, they have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: read more. That thy alms may be in secret; and thy Father who seeth in secret, himself will reward thee openly.
For I was hungry, and ye gave me no food: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. read more. Then will they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to thee? Then will he answer them, saying, Verily I say to 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 cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. read more. And he called his disciples, and saith to them, Verily I say to you, that this poor widow hath cast in more, than all they who have cast into the treasury. For all they cast in of their abundance: but she of her want cast in all that she had, even all her living.
But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came were he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. read more. And on the morrow, when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said to him, Take care of him: and whatever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
And Zaccheus stood, and said to the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him four-fold.
Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, who by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and alms-deeds which she did. And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom, when they had washed, they laid in an upper chamber. read more. And as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent to him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to come to them. Then Peter arose, and went with them. When he had come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them.
A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, who gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always.
Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren who dwelt in Judea. Which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath 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 shalt lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as a usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury. If thou shalt at all take thy neighbor's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it to him by the setting of the sun. read more. For that is his only covering, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth to me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.
But 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 deal with thy vineyard, and with thy olive-yard.
And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.
Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
And the sabbath of the land shall be food for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee,
If thy brother shall have become poor, and have sold some of his possession, and if any of his kin shall come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold. And if the man shall have none to redeem it, and himself be able to redeem it; read more. Then let him count the years of the sale of it, and restore the overplus to the man to whom he sold it; that he may return to his possession. But if he shall not be able to restore it to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubilee: and in the jubilee it shall go out, and he shall return to his possession. And if a man shall sell a dwelling-house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold: within a full year may he redeem it. And if it shall not be redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be established for ever to him that bought it, throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubilee,
And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee shall have become poor, and be sold to thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bond servant: But as a hired servant, and as a sojourner he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee to the year of jubilee. read more. And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and shall return to his own family, and to the possession of his fathers shall he return. For they are my servants, which I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as bond-men.
And if a sojourner or a stranger shall become rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him shall become poor, and sell himself to the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger's family: After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him: read more. Either his uncle, or his uncle's son may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin to him of his family, may redeem him; or if he is able, he may redeem himself. And he shall reckon with him that bought him, from the year that he was sold to him, to the year of jubilee: and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of years, according to the time of a hired servant shall it be with him. If there shall be yet many years behind, according to them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for. And if there shall remain but few years to the year of jubilee, then he shall count with him, and according to his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption. And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him: and the other shall not rule with rigor over him in thy sight. And if he shall not be redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, both he, and his children with him.
At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thy increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hand which thou doest.
If there shall be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD the God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy poor brother: But thou shalt open thy hand wide to him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. read more. Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thy eye shall be evil against thy poor brother, and thou shalt give him naught; and he shall cry to the LORD against thee, and it shall be sin to thee. Thou shalt surely give him, and thy heart shall not be grieved when thou givest to him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thy hand to. For the poor shall never cease from the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thy hand wide to thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land. And if thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, shall be sold to thee, and serve thee six years; then in 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 depart empty: Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy wine-press: of that with which the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give to him. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bond-man in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing this day.
And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to place his name there.
And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates:
When thou dost lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt not go into his house to take his pledge: Thou shalt stand abroad, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring out the pledge abroad to thee: read more. And if the man is poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge: In any case thou shalt deliver to him the pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee; and it shall be righteousness to thee before the LORD thy God.
When thou cuttest down thy harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hands.
When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.
When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thy increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled: Then thou shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, and to the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them:
Then he said to them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions to them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy to our Lord: neither be ye sad; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
He answereth and saith to them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath provisions, let him do likewise.
And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed are ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.
But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:
And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, who was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores.
And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.
Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
If a brother or sister is naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you sayeth to them, Depart in peace, be you warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Fausets
The considerate provisions of the law for the poor (based on principles already recognized by the patriarchs: Job 20:19; 24:3-4,9-10; especially Job 29:11-16; 31:17) were:
(1) The right of gleaning; the corners of the field were not to be reaped, nor all the grapes to be gathered, nor the olive trees to be beaten a second time; the stranger, fatherless, and widow might gather the leavings; the forgotten sheaf was to be left for them (Le 19:9-10; De 24:19,21; Ru 2:2).
(2) They were to have their share of the produce in sabbatical years (Ex 23:11; Le 25:6).
(3) They recovered their land, but not town houses, in the Jubilee year (Le 25:25-30).
(4) Usury, i.e. interest on loans to an Israelite, was forbidden; the pledged raiment was to be returned before sundown (Ex 22:25-27; De 24:10-13); generous lending, even at the approach of Jubilee release, is enjoined: (De 15:7-11) "thou shalt open thy hand wide to THY poor"; God designs that we should appropriate them as our own, whereas men say "the poor."
(5) Lasting bondservice was forbidden, and manumission, with a liberal present, enjoined in the sabbatical and Jubilee years (De 15:12-15; Le 25:39-42,47-54); the children were not enslaved; an Israelite might redeem an Israelite who was in bondage to a rich foreign settler.
(6) Portions from the tithes belonged to the poor after the Levites (De 14:28-29; 26:12-13).
(7) The poor shared in the feasts at the festivals of weeks and tabernacles (De 16:11,14; Ne 8:10).
(8) Wages must be paid at the day's end (Le 19:13); yet partiality in judgment must not be shown to the poor (Ex 23:3; Le 19:15).
In the New Testament, Christ lays down the same love to the poor (Lu 3:11; 14:13; Ac 6:1; Ga 2:10; Jas 2:15; Ro 15:26), the motive being "Christ, who was rich, for our sake became poor that we through His poverty might be rich" (2Co 8:9). Begging was common in New Testament times, not under Old Testament (Lu 16:20-21; 18:35; Mr 10:46; Joh 9:8; Ac 3:2.) Mendicancy in the ease of the able bodied is discouraged, and honest labour for one's living is encouraged by precept and example (1Th 4:11; Eph 4:28; 2Th 3:7-12).
The prophets especially vindicate the claims of the poor: compare Eze 18:12,16-17; 22:29; Jer 22:13,16; 5:28; Isa 10:2; Am 2:7, "pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor," i.e., thirst after prostrating the poor by oppression, so as to lay their heads in the dust; or less simply (Pusey) "grudge to the poor debtor the dust which as a mourner he strewed on his head" (2Sa 1:2; Job 2:12). In De 15:4 the creditor must not exact a debt in the year of release, "save when there shall be no poor among you," but as De 15:11 says "the poor shalt never cease out of the land," translated "no poor with thee," i.e. release the debt for the year except when no poor person is concerned, which may happen, "for the Lord shall greatly bless thee": you may call in a loan on the year of release, when the borrower is not poor. Others regard the promise, De 15:11, conditional, Israel's disobedience frustrating its fulfillment. Less costly sacrifices might be substituted by the poor (Le 5:7,11).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
If thou shalt lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as a usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury. If thou shalt at all take thy neighbor's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it to him by the setting of the sun. read more. For that is his only covering, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth to me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.
Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.
But 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 deal with thy vineyard, and with thy olive-yard.
And if he shall not be able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass which he hath committed, two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, to the LORD; one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering.
But if he shall not be able to bring two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons; then he that sinned shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin-offering; he shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put any frankincense upon it: for it is a sin-offering.
And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.
Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment; thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor.
And the sabbath of the land shall be food for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee,
If thy brother shall have become poor, and have sold some of his possession, and if any of his kin shall come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold. And if the man shall have none to redeem it, and himself be able to redeem it; read more. Then let him count the years of the sale of it, and restore the overplus to the man to whom he sold it; that he may return to his possession. But if he shall not be able to restore it to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubilee: and in the jubilee it shall go out, and he shall return to his possession. And if a man shall sell a dwelling-house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold: within a full year may he redeem it. And if it shall not be redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be established for ever to him that bought it, throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubilee,
And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee shall have become poor, and be sold to thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bond servant: But as a hired servant, and as a sojourner he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee to the year of jubilee. read more. And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and shall return to his own family, and to the possession of his fathers shall he return. For they are my servants, which I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as bond-men.
And if a sojourner or a stranger shall become rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him shall become poor, and sell himself to the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger's family: After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him: read more. Either his uncle, or his uncle's son may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin to him of his family, may redeem him; or if he is able, he may redeem himself. And he shall reckon with him that bought him, from the year that he was sold to him, to the year of jubilee: and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of years, according to the time of a hired servant shall it be with him. If there shall be yet many years behind, according to them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for. And if there shall remain but few years to the year of jubilee, then he shall count with him, and according to his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption. And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him: and the other shall not rule with rigor over him in thy sight. And if he shall not be redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, both he, and his children with him.
At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thy increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hand which thou doest.
Save when there shall be no poor among you; for the LORD shall greatly bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it:
If there shall be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD the God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy poor brother: But thou shalt open thy hand wide to him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. read more. Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thy eye shall be evil against thy poor brother, and thou shalt give him naught; and he shall cry to the LORD against thee, and it shall be sin to thee. Thou shalt surely give him, and thy heart shall not be grieved when thou givest to him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thy hand to. For the poor shall never cease from the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thy hand wide to thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.
For the poor shall never cease from the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thy hand wide to thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.
For the poor shall never cease from the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thy hand wide to thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land. And if thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, shall be sold to thee, and serve thee six years; then in 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 depart empty: Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy wine-press: of that with which the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give to him. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bond-man in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing this day.
And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to place his name there.
And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates:
When thou dost lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt not go into his house to take his pledge: Thou shalt stand abroad, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring out the pledge abroad to thee: read more. And if the man is poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge: In any case thou shalt deliver to him the pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee; and it shall be righteousness to thee before the LORD thy God.
When thou cuttest down thy harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hands.
When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.
When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thy increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled: Then thou shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, and to the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them:
And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said to her, Go, my daughter.
It came even to pass on the third day, that behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head: and so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and did obeisance.
Then he said to them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions to them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy to our Lord: neither be ye sad; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they raised their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads towards heaven.
Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away a house which he did not build.
They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge. They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.
They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor. They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry;
When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me: Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. read more. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.
Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten of it;
To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!
They have become fat, they shine: yes, they surpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
Woe to him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbor's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.
Hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath stripped by violence, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination.
Neither hath oppressed any, hath not withheld the pledge, neither hath stripped by violence, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment, That hath taken off his hand from the poor, that hath not received interest nor increase, hath executed my judgments, hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live.
The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have oppressed the poor and needy: yes, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in to the same maid, to profane my holy name:
And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples, and a great number of people, blind Bartimeus, the son of Timeus, sat by the highway-side begging.
He answereth and saith to them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath provisions, let him do likewise.
But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:
And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, who was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores.
And it came to pass, that as he had come nigh to Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging;
The neighbors therefore, and they who before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?
And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple.
And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor of the saints who are at Jerusalem.
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.
Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
If a brother or sister is naked, and destitute of daily food,
Hastings
Morish
It was said in the O.T. that "the poor should never cease out of the land," and in the enactments of the law they were cared for by Jehovah. The Lord said, "Ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good." Mr 14:7. "Blessed is he that considereth the poor." Ps 41:1. "The poor have the gospel preached unto them." Mt 11:5. "When thou makest a feast call the poor." Lu 14:13. "He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord." Pr 19:17. Other passages show that the working of the love of God in the soul issues in a special regard for the poor. Ga 2:10. Of the Lord Jesus it is said, that though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor. 2Co 8:9.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in the time of trouble.
He that hath pity upon the poor, lendeth to the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
For ye have the poor with you always, and whenever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.
But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.
Smith
Poor.
The general kindly spirit of the law toward the poor is sufficiently shown by such passages as
De 15:7
for the reason that (ver. 11) "the poor shall never cease out of the land." Among the special enactments in their favor the following must be mentioned:
1. The right of gleaning.
Le 19:9-10; De 24:19,21
2. From the produce of the land in sabbatical years the poor and the stranger were to have their portion.
3. Re-entry upon land in the jubilee year, with the limitation as to town homes.
4. Prohibition of usury and of retention of pledges.
Ex 22:25-27; 5/3/type/wbs'>Le 25:3,5,37
etc.
5. Permanent bondage forbidden, and manumission of Hebrew bondmen or bondwomen enjoined in the sabbatical and jubilee years.
Le 25:39-42,47-54; De 15:12-15
6. Portions from the tithes to be shared by the poor after the Levites.
De 14:28; 26:12-13
7. The poor to partake in entertainments at the feasts of Weeks and Tabernacles.
De 16:11,14
see Nehe 8:10
8. Daily payment of wages.
Principles similar to those laid down by Moses are inculcated in the New Testament, as
See Verses Found in Dictionary
If thou shalt lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as a usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury. If thou shalt at all take thy neighbor's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it to him by the setting of the sun. read more. For that is his only covering, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth to me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.
But 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 deal with thy vineyard, and with thy olive-yard.
And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.
Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;
That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest, thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest to the land.
If thy brother shall have become poor, and have sold some of his possession, and if any of his kin shall come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold. And if the man shall have none to redeem it, and himself be able to redeem it; read more. Then let him count the years of the sale of it, and restore the overplus to the man to whom he sold it; that he may return to his possession. But if he shall not be able to restore it to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubilee: and in the jubilee it shall go out, and he shall return to his possession. And if a man shall sell a dwelling-house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold: within a full year may he redeem it. And if it shall not be redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be established for ever to him that bought it, throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubilee,
Thou shalt not give him thy money upon interest, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.
And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee shall have become poor, and be sold to thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bond servant: But as a hired servant, and as a sojourner he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee to the year of jubilee. read more. And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and shall return to his own family, and to the possession of his fathers shall he return. For they are my servants, which I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as bond-men.
And if a sojourner or a stranger shall become rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him shall become poor, and sell himself to the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger's family: After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him: read more. Either his uncle, or his uncle's son may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin to him of his family, may redeem him; or if he is able, he may redeem himself. And he shall reckon with him that bought him, from the year that he was sold to him, to the year of jubilee: and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of years, according to the time of a hired servant shall it be with him. If there shall be yet many years behind, according to them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for. And if there shall remain but few years to the year of jubilee, then he shall count with him, and according to his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption. And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him: and the other shall not rule with rigor over him in thy sight. And if he shall not be redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, both he, and his children with him.
At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thy increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates:
If there shall be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD the God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy poor brother:
And if thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, shall be sold to thee, and serve thee six years; then in 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 depart empty: read more. Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy wine-press: of that with which the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give to him. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bond-man in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing this day.
And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to place his name there.
And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates:
When thou cuttest down thy harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hands.
When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.
When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thy increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled: Then thou shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, and to the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them:
And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.
If a brother or sister is naked, and destitute of daily food,