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(
(
, 1800), “one who is low, poor, reduced, helpless, weak.” This noun also
appears in Ugaritic. It occurs in biblical Hebrew about 47 times and in all periods.
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is related to, but differs from,
(which suggests affliction of some kind),
(which emphasizes need), and
(which suggests destitution). The
constituted the middle class of Israel—those who were physically deprived (in the ancient
world the majority of people were poor). For example, the
may be viewed as the
opposite of the rich (Exod. 30:15; cf. Ruth 3:10; Prov. 10:15).
In addition, the word may connote social poverty or lowliness. As such,
describes
those who are the counterparts of the great: “Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment:
thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in
righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor” (Lev. 19:15; cf. Amos 2:7).
When Gideon challenged the Lord’s summoning him to deliver Israel, he emphasized
that his clan was too weak to do the job: “And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith
shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh …” (Judg. 6:15; cf. 2 Sam.
3:1). God commands that society protect the poor, the lowly, and the weak: “Thou shalt
not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many
to wrest judgment: neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause” (Exod. 23:2-
3; cf. Lev. 14:21; Isa. 10:2). He also warns that if men fail to provide justice, He will do
so (Isa. 11:4).
A fourth emphasis appears in Gen. 41:19 (the first biblical appearance of the word),
where
is contrasted to “healthy” or “fat”: “And behold, seven other kine came up
after them, poor and very ill-favored and leanfleshed.…” Thus,
indicates a physical
condition and appearance of sickliness. It is used in this sense to describe Amnon’s
appearance as he longed for Tamar (2 Sam. 13:4).
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is used (very infrequently) of spiritual poverty (in such cases it is sometimes
paralleled to
): “Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they
know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgment of their God” (Jer. 5:4). Some scholars
argue that here the word means “ignorance,” and as the context shows, this is ignorance
in the knowledge of God’s word.
Another noun,
, is related to
! 4
, which appears about 8 times, means
“poverty; dishevelled hair.” The word appears in 2 Kings 24:14: “… none remained, save
the poorest sort of the people of the land,” where
emphasizes the social lowliness
and “poverty” of those people whom it describes. In Song of Sol. 7:5 the word refers to
“dishevelled hair” in the sense of something that hangs down.
B. Verbs.
(
(
, 1809), “to be low, hang down.” This verb appears only 8 times in the
Bible and always in poetical passages. It has cognates or near cognates in Arabic,
Ethiopic, Akkadian, and extra-biblical Hebrew. The word appears in Ps. 79:8: “O
remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us; for
we are brought very low.”