Texts in Conversation
Proverbs 11 teaches that wealth is useless during judgment, but that righteousness delivers from death. Tobit echoes this by declaring that giving to the poor saves from death and removes sin, identifying righteousness with giving to the poor.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Proverbs 11:4
Hebrew Bible
1 The Lord abhors dishonest scales, but an accurate weight is his delight. 2 After pride came, disgrace followed; but wisdom came with humility. 3 The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them. 4 Wealth does not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. 5 The righteousness of the blameless will make their way smooth, but the wicked will fall through their own wickedness.
Date: 600–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Tobit 12:9
Deuterocanon
6 Then he called them both privately, and said to them, Bless God, and give him thanks in the sight of all that live, for the good things which he has done to you, to bless and praise his name. The words of God show forth to all men with honour and do not be slack to give him thanks. 7 It is good to keep close the secret of a king, but to confess and reveal the works of God. And confess them with honour. Do the good, and evil shall not find you. 8 Better is prayer with truth, and alms with righteousness than riches with unrighteousness; it is better to give alms than to lay up gold: 9 almsgiving does deliver from death, and it purges away all sin. They that do alms shall be fed with life; 10 they that commit sin and unrighteousness are enemies to their own life.
Date: 225–175 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Righteousness in 4Q420-21 may allude to charitable works. 4Q424 3 7-10 gives advice regarding kindness towards the poor: 'a man of generosity performs charity for the poor' (1.9). It is used several times as a term for almsgiving in Ben Sira. Sirach 3:30-4:6 is on this topic and reads in part: 'As water quenches flaming fire, so alms atone for sins. The kindness a person has done crosses his path as he goes' (4QTobit also appears to use the word as a term for almsgiving. It is a prominent theme in this work (1:3; 4:7-11; 12:8-9). Compassion for the downtrodden is a prominent theme in traditional wisdom (e.g., Proverbs 14:31; 21:13; 22:7). This topic is highlighted also in the covenantal tradition and elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible. Almsgiving is not explicit in 4QWays of Righteousness, but there is nothing in the text that is incompatible with this theme. That 4Q420-21 recommends almsgiving remains a reasonable possibility ..."
Matthew J. Goff, Discerning Wisdom: The Sapiential Literature of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 164–165.
* 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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