What does the Bible say about giving to the poor?
Answered from the commentary of Morrish Bible Dictionary, F. B. Hole, Numerical Bible Notes and 13 others
Giving to the poor is righteousness, not charity, as Psalm 112:9 and 2 Corinthians 9:9 call it, so a believer who will not give is unrighteous. Mercy is therefore a debt that is owed, not something beyond duty, and to withhold from another what one can give for his need is sin. The law already required this: Israel was to open the hand wide to the poor brother, and if he cried to the Lord against a closed hand, it was sin to the one who shut it (Deuteronomy 15:7-11). They were also to leave the corners and gleanings of the harvest for the poor and the stranger (Leviticus 19:9-10). Whatever made a man poor, it is our fault if we fail to help him, and this holds as fully under grace as under law. The ground of the duty is God Himself, who gives to all liberally, for the poor are His poor and His children are called to imitate Him. So the New Testament asks how the love of God can dwell in one who sees his brother in need and shuts up his compassion (1 John 3:17). It calls faith that sends the hungry away with good words and nothing else dead (James 2:15-17). Believers are to do good to all, and especially to the household of faith (Galatians 6:10). To this duty God joins a promise: he who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, who will repay him (Proverbs 19:17). He who gives to the poor shall not lack, but he who hides his eyes shall have many a curse (Proverbs 28:27).
The spirit of the giving matters more than the gift. It is to be cheerful, not grudging or under pressure, each giving as he purposes in his heart, for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). It is also to be done in secret (Matthew 6:1-4). The Lord calls those who sound a trumpet over their alms hypocrites, and the praise of men is the only reward they will get. The Father who sees in secret will reward the one who gives without even his own left hand knowing. Nor is the gift to be thrown down from a place of superiority, as one throws a bone to a dog, but given after the gracious manner of Christ. There is an order and a limit to this duty. A man must first provide for his own family and relatives, or he has denied the faith (1 Timothy 5:8). Scripture forbids supporting the idle who will not work (2 Thessalonians 3:10). The command to give to him that asks (Matthew 5:42) calls for discrimination as to real need. Yet it is better to err on the side of kindness, and better to be deceived ninety-nine times than to shut out one worthy case. Some note that Scripture says little about such caution and urges the most lavish giving. On whether alms are commanded the writers differ. One reads Matthew 6 as not giving a commandment but showing that the Lord cares for the needy, so that hearts ought to be open to them. Others hold that giving remains imperative. On Matthew 25:31-46 most read the passage as the judgment of the living nations by how they treated Christ's brethren, His messengers of the last days, and not as a reward for general charity. Several still draw from it the principle that what is done for the least of His people is done to Christ Himself. Lastly, the poor are always present to be helped (Mark 14:7). But devotion to Christ Himself stands above care for the poor, and care for the poor can serve as a cover for a Judas.
Verses: James 2:17, Galatians 6:10, 1 Timothy 5:8, 2 Thessalonians 3:10, Matthew 5:42, Matthew 25:31, Matthew 25:32, Matthew 25:33, Matthew 25:41, Matthew 25:42, Matthew 25:43, Matthew 25:44, Matthew 25:45, Matthew 25:46, Mark 14:7, Proverbs 19:17, Deuteronomy 15:7, Deuteronomy 15:8, Deuteronomy 15:9, Deuteronomy 15:10, Deuteronomy 15:11, Matthew 6:1, Matthew 6:2, Matthew 6:3, Matthew 6:4, Proverbs 22:9, Proverbs 28:27, Proverbs 21:13, Proverbs 14:31, Luke 12:33, Luke 14:12, Luke 14:13, Luke 14:14, Matthew 19:21, Matthew 25:34, Matthew 25:35, Matthew 25:36, Matthew 25:37, Matthew 25:38, Matthew 25:39, Matthew 25:40, Galatians 2:10, 1 John 3:17, 1 John 3:18, James 2:15, James 2:16, James 1:27, Isaiah 58:6, Isaiah 58:7, Isaiah 58:8, Isaiah 58:9, Isaiah 58:10, Psalms 41:1, Psalms 112:9, 2 Corinthians 9:6, 2 Corinthians 9:7, 2 Corinthians 9:8, 2 Corinthians 9:9, Acts 20:35, Leviticus 19:9, Leviticus 19:10, Leviticus 25:35, Deuteronomy 24:19, Deuteronomy 24:20, Deuteronomy 24:21, Luke 3:11, Acts 4:34, Acts 4:35, 1 Timothy 6:17, 1 Timothy 6:18, 1 Timothy 6:19, Ephesians 4:28, Proverbs 31:20, Luke 19:8, Acts 10:4, Luke 11:41, Romans 12:13, Hebrews 13:16, Mark 10:21, Luke 21:1, Luke 21:2, Luke 21:3, Luke 21:4, Proverbs 11:24, Proverbs 11:25, Ezekiel 16:49, Job 29:12, Job 31:16, Job 31:17, Job 31:18, Job 31:19, Job 31:20, Job 31:21, Job 31:22
The above is AI generated summary based on the writers below.
What the commentators say
The passages the answer is drawn from, the most direct first, with the words that bear on the question marked.
Offerings given to the poor. It was righteous to do so: hence, giving to the poor is called righteousness. Ps. 112:9; 2 Cor. 9:9. In the law provision was made for the poor. Ex. 23:11; Lev. 19:10. It is declared that the poor would never cease out of the land; and if not relieved and they cried to the Lord, it would be accounted a sin against those who should have aided them. Deut. 15:7-11. On the other hand, we read that "he that hath pity upon the poor lendeth to the Lord, and that which he hath given will he pay him again." Prov. 19:17. In the N.T. the same thing is enforced. We are exhorted to do good unto all men, especially unto them of the household of faith. Gal. 6:10. "He that soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly . . . . the Lord loveth a cheerful giver;" and whole chapters were written to stir up the saints to give liberally to the poor in Judaea. "It is more blessed to give than to receive."
The poor were also to be treated in great kindness. What grace and love breathes in verses 7-11! Twice we read "thou shalt open thine hand wide." "Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient." "For the poor shall never cease out of the land, therefore, I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land." Throughout the Word of God the poor are mentioned to be remembered in kindness and some most blessed promises are given to those who obey these gracious words. See Proverbs 14:21; 19:17; 22:9; 28:8, 27; Ps. 41:1. Oppression of the poor is a sin, which God specially marks. See Isaiah 3:14, 15; 10:2; Ezek. 18:11-13; Amos 2:6, 4:1; 5:11; James 2:6. When the Lord comes He will remember the poor and deliver them. See Ps. 72:2, 4, 12, 13; 113:7; 132:15; Isaiah 11:4.
For whatever reason one might be poor, the Lord did not excuse Israel from the responsibility of helping with material support. Some have dared to say that if one is poor it is his own fault, but whether we think this way or not, it is our fault if we fail to give him help. This was true in Israel, and it is fully true in our dispensation of grace. The apostles were united in their urging this liberality (Gal.2:10), and Paul devotes two chapters to this important matter (2 Cor.8 and 9).
So, in verse 8 Israelites are told to "open your hand wide," without the least grudging, to willingly lend a poor person whatever he needs. This was under law, and the person was responsible to pay it back if he was able, though the debt would be released in the seventh year. In the New Testament believers are encouraged to give, not merely to lend, for if we give as to the Lord, the Lord will take full account, as is seen even in Proverbs 19:17: "He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and He will pay him back what he has given." Therefore, how good it is to gladly give with no strings attached. Faith can surely depend simply on the Lord.
First of all let us notice that giving is not a matter of charity. In the passage from the Old Testament, quoted in 2 Corinthians 9:9, we read, "He has dispersed abroad; he has given to the poor; his righteousness [not his charity, his righteousness] remains for ever." That expression clearly shows that for a Christian to give is not in any sense a matter of charity, but of common and ordinary righteousness. The fact is that God has poured in so much upon us, that it is only righteous that we should be dispensers of blessing to others. Further, in verse 10, the apostle speaks, not of increasing the fruits of their benevolence, charity, or largeness of heart, but of their righteousness. We must learn to regard the matter of giving as something that we are responsible to do, so that if we neglect it, we neglect that which is a matter of plain righteousness.
But, on the other side, alms-giving, as here classed by the Lord Himself as a form of righteousness, is a significant witness to us that mercy is not something supererogatory, but the ministry of love is itself a debt ― a due. A man who withholds from another what he can give him for his need is not even righteous; and this removes also the thought of merit from the mercy shown. Only in a world of habitual unrighteousness could the thought of the fulfilment of duty associate with it any thought of merit. "To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin," says the apostle (James 4:17). And the Lord bids us on the other hand, "When ye shall have done all things that are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done" ― not we have not done ― "that which was our duty to do" (Luke 17:10). And with the comparative righteousness which is all that is ours at best, ― a righteousness that still leaves us inners, ― how impossible should be the claim of merit! But to love, with all that this implies, is mere commanded duty; yea, to love one's neighbor as oneself is the injunction of the law. While the Christian standard rises higher still in its law of self-sacrifice, and all the marvelous enforcement of this in the example of Him who has given us life through His death. For those who have known this, there is no possible margin of devotedness outside of that duty which His love has endeared.
Alms-giving shrinks in this way into a small thing indeed; while this diminution of it cannot make it less imperative. All this, then; that our Lord addresses to a Jewish audience, our Christianity only emphasizes for us in every particular. We are of all men ― to all men ― the witnesses of grace. Debtors to it, absolutely, ourselves, we are debtors to show it to others.
And as to the secrecy of alms-giving, alas, how have Christians forgotten such words in their displayed charities, justifying the display as letting their light shine! The contrast is too manifest here to need enlargement.
In such a world of disorder, of violence and corruption, we have always with us the poor, whom no man that has eyes or ears can fail to meet. This tests the heart practically; for to say, Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled, and to give them not the things needful for the body, is to cheat ourselves quite as much as them. Man was to represent God who loves a cheerful giver in a wilderness world, and here encourages the man to pity those that have not. "He that pities," or is gracious to, "the poor lends to Jehovah," as He deigns to count it; "and what he bestows He will pay him again." What security can match this? Think too of the honour of being creditor to Him!
"He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse."
A liberal spirit is only a normal product of faith: the Lord cares for the poor, and faith in Him will show the same attitude. Moreover, the Lord will see that the giver is not impoverished by his kindness: he shall not lack. But a cold, selfish spirit that looks the other way when real need presents itself, will reap its proper reward in "many a curse."
I love the poor, I have no distrust of them; I live by far the most of my time amongst them, and gladly. When first I began such a life, I as to nature felt a certain satisfaction in the intercourse of educated persons: it was natural. I avow that, if I find a person spiritually minded and full of Christ, from habit as well as principle, I had rather have him than the most elevated or the most educated: the rest is all alike to me. The latter are apt to spare themselves, to screen themselves, to get on in society; they want a fence round them. I would rather, in general, have a poor man's judgment of right and wrong than another's; only I think they are, from being thrown more together and the importance of character, apt to be a little hard on each other as to conduct, and jealous of favours conferred, but often very kind and considerate one towards another.
Our Lord says, in verse 42, "Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away." It is an example of a great general principle that the Lord is insisting upon; as He had laid bare the character of violence, so here of another thing — the solicitation that addresses itself to the kindness of heart of a Christian. "Give to him that asketh thee." Most certainly this is a comely and a gracious thing; but it is perfectly plain the Lord is not pressing upon His people that the thing be done heedlessly, nor as a mere gratification of their feelings, but with a conscience towards God. Supposing a person came to ask you for something, and you have reason to think that he would spend it improperly, you must limit it. Why not? He might say to you, Did not the Lord enjoin, "Give to him that asketh thee?" Certainly; but the Lord has given certain other words by which I judge as to the propriety of giving in each particular case. The asker might be going to do what I am sure would be absurd or wrong; am I still to give? or is not another principle introduced, namely, due discrimination? Perhaps he that asks has plans of his own which I believe to be worldly: am I to gratify his worldliness? What the Lord has in view is real need; and as there was wont to be great indifference to this among the Jews, as indeed such is apt to be everywhere, the Lord not merely insists upon the Christian helping his brother, but takes the broadest ground in urging generous giving; not, of course, for anything we may get by it, but out of love according to God.
"Give to him that asketh thee." We all know there are those who would impose. This shuts up and often hinders pity; and it may oftener still be an excuse for not showing pity. The Lord is guarding against the snare, and shows the great moral value, for our own souls and for the glory of God, of habitual, considerate, ungrudging kindness towards the distressed in this world. Not that I am always to give what a person asks, for he may seek something foolish; but still "Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away." Do you count up how often you have been deceived? Even then why be sore? You are entitled, at the word of Jesus, to do it as unto your Father. The receiver of your bounty may apply it to a bad use: that is his responsibility. I am bound to cultivate unsuspicious generosity, and this quite independent of mere friendship. Even the publicans and sinners are kind to those who are kind to them; but what ought a Christian to be? Christ determines the position, conduct and spirit of the Christian. As He was a sufferer, they are not to resist evil. If there was need, the Lord's heart went out to it. They might turn His love against Himself, and use the gifts of His grace for their own purposes, like the man who was healed, heedless of the Lord's warning and the sense of His benefits. But the Lord, perfectly knowing it all, goes on steadfastly in His path of doing good, not in the mere vague thought of benevolence to man, but in the holy service of His Father.
Reflections. — We may learn from this passage. That from the nature of the precept to communicate to the poor, it is perfectly clear that there was no general custom among the first Christians of a community of goods. That it is only to the necessities of the saints that the rich are commanded to communicate of their substance. What love may delight to do in distributing its riches, great or small, is left to the hearts and consciences of those who have the means. While the Lord makes the most just and tender appeals for the poor, He guards the rich. The indolent, in strongest terms, He condemns. Such is the fulness and wisdom of scripture. "This we command you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat." While it is one of our most sacred christian privileges to communicate to those who have need, according to our ability, it would be a violation of the word of God to support the idle. (2 Thess. 3:6-15.)
Verses
- James 2:15–1715Now if a brother or a sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16and one from amongst you say to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled; but give not to them the needful things for the body, what [is] the profit? 17So also faith, if it have not works, is dead by itself.
- Galatians 6:10So then, as we have occasion, let us do good towards all, and specially towards those of the household of faith.
- 1 Timothy 5:8But if any one does not provide for his own, and specially for those of [his] house, he has denied the faith, and is worse than the unbeliever.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:10For also when we were with you we enjoined you this, that if any man does not like to work, neither let him eat.
- Matthew 5:42To him that asks of thee give, and from him that desires to borrow of thee turn not away.
- Matthew 25:31–4631But when the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit down upon his throne of glory, 32and all the nations shall be gathered before him; and he shall separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33and he will set the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on [his] left. 34Then shall the King say to those on his right hand, Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from [the] world's foundation 35for I hungered, and ye gave me to eat; I thirsted, and ye gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; 36naked, and ye clothed me; I was ill, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came to me. 37Then shall the righteous answer him saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungering, and nourished thee; or thirsting, and gave thee to drink? 38and when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in; or naked, and clothed thee? 39and when saw we thee ill, or in prison, and came to thee? 40And the King answering shall say to them, Verily, I say to you, Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it to me. 41Then shall he say also to those on the left, Go from me, cursed, into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels 42for I hungered, and ye gave me not to eat; I thirsted, and ye gave me not to drink; 43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye did not clothe me; ill, and in prison, and ye did not visit me. 44Then shall they also answer saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungering, or thirsting, or a stranger, or naked, or ill, or in prison, and have not ministered to thee? 45Then shall he answer them saying, Verily I say to you, Inasmuch as ye have not done it to one of these least, neither have ye done it to me. 46And these shall go away into eternal punishment, and the righteous into life eternal.