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Sirach 4 tells people not to mistreat the poor, based on the command in Deuteronomy 15 that one must not harden the heart toward a needy neighbor but instead give generously to the poor and vulnerable.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Deuteronomy 15:7
Hebrew Bible
5 if you carefully obey him by keeping all these commandments that I am giving you today. 6 For the Lord your God will bless you just as he has promised; you will lend to many nations but will not borrow from any, and you will rule over many nations but they will not rule over you. 7 If a fellow Israelite from one of your villages in the land that the Lord your God is giving you should be poor, you must not harden your heart or be insensitive to his impoverished condition. 8 Instead, you must be sure to open your hand to him and generously lend him whatever he needs.
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Sirach 4:1
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
1 My son, don’t deprive the poor of his living. Don’t make the needy eyes wait long. 2 Don’t make a hungry soul sorrowful, or provoke a man in his distress. 3 Don’t add more trouble to a heart that is provoked. Don’t put off giving to him who is in need. 4 Don’t reject a suppliant in his affliction. Don’t turn your face away from a poor man. 5 Don’t turn your eye away from one who asks. Give no occasion to a man to curse you.
Date: 195–180 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... According to Ben Sira, wealth is a feature of the present age and should be used to help others ... Storing up almsgiving in one’s storehouse meets with favor in the eyes of God (Sirach 17:20–3) and atones for sin (Sirach 3:30). The idea that one should appoint their goods to friends and relatives denotes some degree of negotiating wealth to their own benefit. While Ben Sira’s rhetoric may well be sincere, the idea of ‘storing up almsgiving’ seems somewhat oxymoronic. Moreover, while he exhorts his students to give ‘according to the command’ he also offers some personal benefits for doing so. The background for this command is probably Deuteronomy 15:7–11, in which verse 10 states, ‘Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.’ Thus, the references, ‘it will profit you more than gold’ and ‘it will save you from every evil’ have a this-worldly perspective. What is in mind here is the promise of material blessing for obedience, which giving to the poor reflects ..."
Mark D. Mathews, Riches, Poverty, and the Faithful: Perspectives on Wealth in the Second Temple Period and the Apocalypse of John, SNTSMS 154 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), 67.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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