Proverbs 29:7

"The righteous know the rights of the poor; the wicked have no such understanding" (Proverbs 29:7).

Comment:

Given the nature of this election season, I'm not surprised that you've come across this statement recently. It's really rather a radical statement, isn't it? Even today, there are those who don't believe the poor even have rights, much less that they need to understand what they are. But the teaching here is unambiguous; it relates to a similar statement in Proverbs 28:5: “The evil do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it completely."

 In the culture from which these writings came, it was generally assumed in religious circles that poverty was a deserved punishment from an angry God. If you were poor, it was because you had done something to bring poverty upon you. On the other hand, being rich was a sign of God's favor. This belief system made it quite acceptable that the rich should not concern themselves with the poor; if God was inflicting poverty, who were they to counteract that judgment.

This statement suggests what Jesus will emphatically and specifically teach several centuries later: we are, indeed, our brother's keeper. The poor have rights, and are entitled to justice, no less than any other divine being. If we truly "seek the Lord," we will also be seeking the well-being of all our brothers.

 Blessings!

 Rev. Ed