Poverty is of all times and also plays a role in the context of the Bible. It makes sense to examine in the Bible how God deals with poverty. In this article, we look at the Old Testament.
Poverty in the Torah
In the OT, wealth is frequently associated with God's blessing. God promises that the people will never fall into poverty if they follow Him (Deut.15:4). Stability and prosperity are the blessings of God in the OT. The events in the lives of Abraham, Job and Solomon testify to this. At the same time, the OT recognizes that much wealth leads to greed and abuse of power. According to the Jewish book Jesus Sirach, Abraham, Job and Solomon were rich because they lived righteously before God and were generous to others (Sir.31:3-10). In the OT, God stands up for the poor, the widow, the orphan and the stranger.
Rights of poor and rich
God's deliverance of poor Israel from Egypt is the optimal example of how the rich may treat the poor (Deut.24:18). God listens to the cry for help from the needy, as evidenced in the story of Elisha and the poor widow's oil jar (2Kon.4:1-7; cf. Ex.22:27). Equality of people is an important principle for God. In litigation, you must not favor the rights of the poor (Ex.23:3; Lev.19:15). You must respect them respectfully (Ex.23:6).
This occurs in two directions: you must not disadvantage them, but you must not favor them either. How difficult this instruction is is shown in several contemporary studies on how people interact with each other. For example, during an experiment, teachers were given advance information about their new students. That information strongly influenced their dealings with the new students. A student who was considered ‘less able’ received lesser challenges and lower grades from the teacher. Those who were rated as ‘very proficient’ got more exposure and consequently received higher grades. It turned out to be virtually impossible to treat people equally or neutrally. We see this neutrality reflected in God. For example, in paying the ransom price, God does not give the poor a discount versus the
rich (Ex.30:15). A poor person is worth as much to God as a rich person. He does ask the people not to charge interest to a poor person (Ex.22:25; Lev.25:37) and to pay his salary immediately (Deut.24:15).
Poverty in the prophetic books
The prophets call the people's attention to the abuse toward the poor. The poor are bought and sold, trampled and humiliated. Fellow inhabitants rob away their land and goods (Isa. 5:8). Isaiah recognizes that God is high and exalted and at the same time dwells with those who are defeated (Isa. 57:15). God therefore ‘dwells’ in two places: with the little broken man and on his exalted throne. He is near and far. Shortly thereafter, then, the prophet connects true fasting with sharing bread with those who are hungry and caring for the poor (Isa. 58:5-10). In Isaiah 61:1-3, Isaiah describes God's deliverance in terms of a return from captivity and a deliverance for the poor, for those who are broken-hearted, for the captives and for those who grieve. This promise of deliverance is impressive. Many long for a shalom for all creation. That fact is at the heart of the Judeo-Christian hope for this special earth. An earth where a third of all people live in wretched conditions: in slums, polluted neighborhoods and smelly rooms. Countless children receive no education and have little hope for the future. In the OT, Amos deals with this phenomenon most extensively. The prophet writes, ‘They sell the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of sandals. They set out to make the weak crawl in the dust, and the powerless push them aside. This oppression of a fellow man even manifests itself in sexual perversions: ’A son and his father come to the same girl and thus disgrace my holy name' (Am. 2:6b-7).
Poverty in the writings
Job is clear about the abuse people inflict on others: ‘There are those who move boundary stones, who steal flocks and pasture them as their own. They drive away the orphans’ donkey, they take from the widow her ox as collateral. The poor are driven from the path, the needy creep together‘ (Job24:2-4). The last part of this verse the Willibrord translation translates even more clearly with ’rape the right of the poor: absconding is their only chance. Job thus calls injustice between people by name. In dramatic fashion, the psalms also interpret the difficulties of the poor. Helping the poor is considered a sign of justice and humility (Ps. 112:9; cf. Ps. 25:9; 109:16; Spr. 29:7). ‘Whoever is generous becomes richer and richer; whoever is stingy becomes poor’ (Spr.11:24), ‘whoever gives to the poor never suffers want; whoever closes his eyes is afflicted by many curses’ (Spr.28:27), ‘whoever mocks an outcast insults his Creator’ (Spr.14:31; cf. 17:5). He who saves a life saves the whole world, as it were. The call sounds to all to do something for others. The poor cry out to God for help (Ps. 34:6; 70:5; 86:1; 109:21-22) and God hears their cry (69:33). Those who keep their hand closed to the needs of the poor will one day cry out for help themselves and receive no answer (Spr. 21:13). In this regard, Hebrew has a range of terms for the poor. ‘Ānı (76x) denotes the weak, living in miserable conditions, helplessly suffering. It refers to the socio-material poor who depend on the support of others (Ex. 22:21-27; Lev. 19:10; Isa. 3:14-15; Hab. 3:14). Other terms for the poor include ’ebyôn (61x), dal (48x), rwš (21x) and miskēn (4x). In the psalms, this is little about material poverty of food or clothing. It is about social oppression, illness and physical weakness.
This article was written by Raymond R. Hausoul, previously published in a Study Bible magazine and part of a longer article.
