Poor. The general kindly spirit of the law toward the poor is sufficiently shown by such passages as Deuteronomy 15:7, for the reason that Deuteronomy 15:11, "the poor shall never cease out of the land." Among the special enactments in their favor, the following must be mentioned:
1. The right of gleaning. Leviticus 19:9-10; Leviticus 24:19; Leviticus 24:21.
2. From the produce of the land, in Sabbatical Years, the poor and the stranger were to have their portion. Exodus 23:11; Leviticus 25:6.
3. Re-entry upon land in the Jubilee Year, with the limitation as to town homes. Leviticus 25:25-30.
4. Prohibition of usury and of retention of pledges. Exodus 22:25-27; Leviticus 25:3; Leviticus 25:5; Leviticus 25:37; etc.
5. Permanent bondage forbidden, and manumission of Hebrew bondmen or bondwomen enjoined in the Sabbatical, and Jubilee Years. Leviticus 25:39-42; Leviticus 25:47-54; Deuteronomy 15:12-15.
6. Portions from the tithes to be shared by the poor after the Levites. Deuteronomy 14:28; Deuteronomy 26:12-13.
7. The poor to partake in entertainments at the Feast of Weeks, and Feast of Tabernacles. Deuteronomy 16:11; Deuteronomy 16:14. See Nehemiah 8:10.
8. Daily payment of wages. Leviticus 19:13 Principles similar to those laid down by Moses are inculcated in the New Testament, as Luke 3:11; Luke 14:13; Acts 6:1; Galatians 2:10; James 2:15.