Beneficence

How Nave’s arranged it

• General scriptures concerningDeuteronomy 15:7–18Leviticus 25:35–43Psalms 41:1Psalms 112:9Proverbs 3:27Proverbs 3:28Proverbs 11:25Proverbs 22:9Proverbs 25:21Proverbs 25:22Proverbs 28:27Isaiah 58:6Isaiah 58:7Isaiah 58:10Isaiah 58:11Ezekiel 18:5Ezekiel 18:7–9Matthew 5:42Matthew 19:21Matthew 25:35–45
• See Alms
• See Liberality
• See Poor, Duties to
• See Rich
• See Riches
• INSTANCES OF
• The old man of GibeahJudges 19:16–21
• BoazRuth 2
• The Jews who returned from the exileNehemiah 5:8–12Nehemiah 8:10Nehemiah 8:11
• JOBJob 29:11–17Job 31:16–23
• The TemanitesIsaiah 21:14

The passages, in Bible order (58)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 16 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Leviticus 25:35–43

   Now if your countryman becomes destitute and cannot support himself among you, then you are to help him as you would a foreigner or stranger, so that he can continue to live among you.

   ›Commentary on Leviticus 25:35–431 voice

   “Rather, And if thy brother (an Israelite) becomes poor and falls into decay with thee, thou shalt assist him and let him live with thee like a resident foreigner. He was not to be regarded as an outcast, but was to be treated with the same respect and consideration as a resident foreigner who, like him, could possess no land, but could accumulate property and live in comfort as a free man. See Lev 16:29 note.

   Everything gathered on Leviticus 25:35–43→

   Verse page →Original language →

2. Deuteronomy 15:7–18

   If there is a poor man among your brothers within any of the gates in the land that the LORD your God is giving you, then you are not to harden your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother.

   ›Commentary on Deuteronomy 15:7–181 voice

   “If the hand be shut, it is a sign the heart is hardened; for, if the clouds were full of rain, they would empty themselves, Eccl. xi. Bowels of compassion would produce liberal distributions, Jam. ii.

   Everything gathered on Deuteronomy 15:7–18→

   Verse page →Original language →

3. Judges 19:16–21

   That evening an old man from the hill country of Ephraim, who was residing in Gibeah (the men of that place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the field.

   ›Commentary on Judges 19:16–211 voice

   “Which was also of Mount Ephraim - i. e., of the country of the Levite. This single giver of hospitality was himself a stranger and sojourner at Gibeah.

   Everything gathered on Judges 19:16–21→

   Verse page →Original language →

4. Ruth 2:1

   Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a prominent man of noble character from the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.

   ›Commentary on Ruth 2:12 voices

   “A kinsman - More literally “an acquaintance”; here (and in the feminine, Rth 3:2) denoting the person with whom one is intimately acquainted, one’s near relation. The next kinsman of Rth 2:20, etc. גאל gā'al, is a wholly different word. Boaz - Commonly taken to mean, “strength is in him” (compare 1Ki 7:21).

   “The Chaldee reads it, mighty in the law. If he was both, it was a most rare and excellent conjunction, to be mighty in wealth and mighty in the scriptures too; those that are so are mighty indeed.

   Everything gathered on Ruth 2:1→

   Verse page →Original language →

5. Nehemiah 5:8–12

   and said, “We have done our best to buy back our Jewish brothers who were sold to foreigners, but now you are selling your own brothers, that they may be sold back to us!” But they remained silent, for they could find nothing to say.

   ›Commentary on Nehemiah 5:8–121 voice

   “Nehemiah contrasts his own example with that of the rich Jews. He had spent money in redeeming some countrymen in servitude among the pagan; they were causing others to be sold into slavery among the Jews.

   Everything gathered on Nehemiah 5:8–12→

   Verse page →Original language →

6. Nehemiah 8:10

   Then Nehemiah told them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send out portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

   ›Commentary on Nehemiah 8:101 voice

   “Eat the fat, and drink the sweet - Eat and drink the best that you have; and while ye are feeding yourselves in the fear of the Lord, remember those who cannot feast; and send portions to them, that the joy and the thanksgiving may be general. Let the poor have reason to rejoice as well as you.

   Everything gathered on Nehemiah 8:10→

   Verse page →Original language →

7. Nehemiah 8:11

   And the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, since today is holy. Do not grieve.”

   ›Commentary on Nehemiah 8:111 voice

   “So the Levites stilled all the people,.... Made them quiet and easy, being backed by the governor: saying, hold your peace; refrain from weeping and mourning: for the day is holy; a festival, set apart for joy and gladness: neither be ye grieved; inwardly; as they were not to show any signs of sorrow outwardly, so they were not to cherish grief inwardly.

   Everything gathered on Nehemiah 8:11→

   Verse page →Original language →

8. Job 29:11–17

   For those who heard me called me blessed, and those who saw me commended me,

   ›Commentary on Job 29:11–171 voice

   “The ear hearing me, blessed me; and the eye seeing, gave witness to me. [HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION] Whereas blessed Job avouches himself to be 'blessed by those that heard him,' and to 'have witness given to him by those that saw him,' what he was in speech and what in practice, we have shewn us. For neither is he henceforth perfect in practice, whom wickedness of the tongue still withstands, or praiseworthy in speech who does not exhibit in practice the thing that he utters.

   Everything gathered on Job 29:11–17→

   Verse page →Original language →

9. Job 31:16–23

   If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail,

   ›Commentary on Job 31:16–232 voices

   “If I have withheld the poor from their desire,.... Their reasonable desires, and which it was in his power to grant; as when they desired a piece of bread, being hungry, or clothes to cover them, being naked; but not unreasonable desires, seeking and asking great things for themselves, or unlimited and unbounded ones, such as the two sons of Zebedee desired of Christ, Mar 10:35; or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail; through long waiting for, and expecting help and succour from him, and at last disappointed.

   “If I have withheld the poor from their desire - Job now turns to another class of virtues, regarded also as of great importance in the patriarchal ages, kindness to the poor and the afflicted; to the fatherless and the widow. He appeals to his former life on this subject; affirms that he had a good conscience in the recollection of his dealings with them, and impliedly declares that it could not have been for any deficiency in the exercise of these virtues that his calamities had come upon him.

   Everything gathered on Job 31:16–23→

   Verse page →Original language →

10. Psalms 41:1

    Blessed is the one who cares for the poor; the LORD will deliver him in the day of trouble.

    ›Commentary on Psalms 41:11 voice

    “Faith comes first, and mercy comes second.… Happy, therefore, is the one who understands the poverty of Christ, his utter destitution. Christ, though he was very rich, became poor for us. In his kingdom, he was rich; in his flesh, he was poor, for he took on himself the flesh of the poor. We had indeed become very poor, because, by fraud practiced on us by the serpent, we lost the rich robes of virtue and were put out of paradise. We were thrown out of our native land and banished into exile. We were even stripped of clothing.

    Everything gathered on Psalms 41:1→

    Verse page →Original language →

11. Psalms 112:9

    He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor.

    ›Commentary on Psalms 112:92 voices

    “He hath dispersed, he hath given, to the poor. What he received, he distributed; and distributed to those who most needed it. He was God's reservoir, and forth from his abundance flowed streams of liberality to supply the needy. If this be one of the marks of a man who feareth the Lord, there are some who are strangely destitute of it. They are great at gathering, but very slow at dispersing; they enjoy the blessedness of receiving, but seldom taste the greater joy of giving.

    “Generosity, sound judgment in business, and confidence in God, form a character which preserves from fear of evil and ensures success against enemies. While a man thus truly pious is liberal, he increases in substance.

    Everything gathered on Psalms 112:9→

    Verse page →Original language →

12. Proverbs 3:27

    Do not withhold good from the deserving when it is within your power to act.

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 3:272 voices

    “Withhold not good from them to whom it is due,.... Honour, reverence, and tribute, to civil magistrates, Rom 13:7; just payment of debts to creditors, and alms to the poor, which, by what follows, seems to be chiefly intended; and the Septuagint render it, "do not abstain to do well to the needy;'' and Aben Ezra interprets it of the poor; to them alms are due because of their wants, and by the appointment; of God; hence called "righteousness", in some copies of Mat 6:1; so money kept from the poor "mammon of unrighteousness", Luk 16:

    “A marked change in style. The continuous exhortation is replaced by a series of maxims. From them to whom it is due - literally, as in the margin. The precept expresses the great Scriptural thought that the so-called possession of wealth is but a stewardship; that the true owners of what we call our own are those to whom, with it, we may do good. Not to relieve them is a breach of trust. Pro 3:28 Procrastination is especially fatal to the giving impulse.

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 3:27→

    Verse page →Original language →

13. Proverbs 3:28

    Do not tell your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I will provide”—when you already have the means.

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 3:281 voice

    “Say not unto thy neighbor - Do not refuse a kindness when it is in thy power to perform it. If thou have the means by thee, and thy neighbor’s necessities be pressing, do not put him off till the morrow. Death may take either him or thee before that time.

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 3:28→

    Verse page →Original language →

14. Proverbs 11:25

    A generous soul will prosper, and he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 11:252 voices

    “The soul that blesses will be enriched, etc. He who outwardly blesses by preaching receives inwardly the fatness of increase. And while he ceases not to drench the minds of his hearers with sacred discourse, he himself grows fat with the multiple drink of grace.

    “Liberal soul - literally, “the soul that blesses,” i. e., gives freely and fully. The similitudes are both of them essentially Eastern. Fatness, the sleek, well filled look of health, becomes the figure of prosperity, as leanness of misfortune Pro 13:4; Pro 28:25; Psa 22:29; Isa 10:16. Kindly acts come as the refreshing dew and soft rain from heaven upon a thirsty land.

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 11:25→

    Verse page →Original language →

15. Proverbs 22:9

    A generous man will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 22:92 voices

    "He who is kind-hearted will be blessed," etc. This is similar to that of the same judge, who discerning the merciful from the impious, says: "Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was …

    “A bountiful eye - One that disposes him to help all that he sees to be in want; the bountiful eye means the bountiful heart; for the heart looks through the eye. The merciful heart, even when the hand has little or nothing to give, shall be blessed of the Lord.

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 22:9→

    Verse page →Original language →

16. Proverbs 25:21

    If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 25:211 voice

    “A precept reproduced by Paul Rom 12:20; the second clause of which seems at first sight to suggest a motive incompatible with a true charity. Lev 16:12 suggests an explanation. The high priest on the Day of Atonement was to take his censer, to fill it with “coals of fire,” and then to put the incense thereon for a sweet-smelling savor. So it is here.

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 25:21→

    Verse page →Original language →