Deuteronomy 15:11, commentary and pictures

The verse declares that poverty will never cease from the land and therefore commands God's people to open the hand wide to their brother, to the poor and to the needy among them. Its openhanded care means lending enough to meet need without interest, refusing to withhold help because the year of release is near, and giving willingly without a grudging heart, with the promise of God's blessing on such generosity. The duty is continuing and personal, to be done in practical deeds of houses, food, clothing and merciful dealing with debt, especially toward the household of faith, and it cannot be passed off to others. The remaining presence of the poor checks selfishness and hoarding, teaching that God owns all and His people are channels of blessing, while unequal circumstances test and develop character without being removed by equalizing possessions. Giving must be generous, willing and just, without resentment, partiality or oppression, for neglecting the poor misrepresents God, while no service to the needy loses its reward.

Meaning and Historical Setting

The poor shall never cease out of the land, and therefore the command stands to open the hand wide to a brother, to the poor and to the needy in the land. Poverty will continue to be present and to be found among God's people, so relieving the poor is an ongoing duty to be applied in practical help for people in distress.

The instruction was given through Moses to Israel among his final words to the nation, and it came from Christ as their unseen Leader. Its surrounding instruction defines openhanded care as lending to a poor person enough to meet need, without interest, and supplying what is needed including loans sufficient for needs. Help is not to be withheld because the year of release is near, nor because the seventh year of debt release is near, but is to be given generously and willingly without resentment or a grudging and resentful heart, with the promise that God will bless such generosity.

The continuance of poverty alongside God's promised blessing is not a failure of His care but an occasion for His people to show sympathy, tenderness, generosity, practical mercy and care for people in hardship rather than oppression. Misfortune, sickness and loss of property could leave people poor, yet where His instructions were followed no one would be left begging or without food.

Duty of Openhanded Care

Relieving the poor is an ongoing, lasting duty because poverty will never cease from the land, requiring open hands and provision for need continually. That command must be obeyed in practical deeds and not held merely as theory, for neglecting it fails to walk in the light given. The continuing presence of poverty is a reason to give practical help and just treatment, not an excuse to withhold it or to oppress. The responsibility is personal for each member, especially toward the poor within the church's own community and household of faith, to be shown with love and sympathy, and it cannot simply be passed to others. Churches are responsible for their own poor and sick and should not shift that duty onto an institution, but care for them as a training in serving as Christ did.

The help required must be practical and sufficient for need, including lending enough to meet a person's need and providing houses, food, and clothing. Wealth meant for this care must not be diverted to ambitious or self-serving projects or used in ways that burden the poor, but faithfully used so that God's people become channels of blessing. The church must not accept a poor servant's labor and gifts while leaving him and his family in need, but give without resentment what is required. Applied to debt, the command calls for mercy toward a brother who cannot repay, including forgiving a debt and refusing to press claims harshly. This includes a brother unable to pay money owed for purchased property, who is to be treated with compassion and tenderness rather than insistence on what is legally due in a way that wrongs him.

The duty embraces impoverished relatives as part of obedience to God's law. It applies when one who once could help others has fallen into need and distress, and to a poor servant whose labor is accepted, and especially to believers who suffer want because they keep God's commandments. Poor and rich alike are to give according to means in mutual care, while those unable to give through sickness or misfortune are to be helped by the wealthy. Means set aside for the needy faithful must not be neglected or diverted to support those continuing in transgression. Giving must be generous, willing, and just, without resentful heart, neglect, partiality toward the wealthy, oppression, or wrong, and not withheld because the year of release is near. Selfishly withholding help brings God's displeasure, fails to walk in the light given, and leaves the withholder unable to claim guiltlessness.

Purpose and Character Growth

The verse keeps the poor continually before God's people so that generosity remains continual and checks the temptation to be selfish, to hoard what God has given, or to use opportunity only for self. Faithful use of offerings and resources for the poor teaches that God owns all things and that His people are to be channels of blessing. That practice is appointed to root out selfishness and to develop a generous character.

The continuance of poverty and of unequal circumstances is one of God's means for testing character and developing moral worth. That testing leads toward the moral perfection needed for translation. Differences in circumstance are not to be erased by equalizing worldly possessions. Their remaining does not mean that poverty is God's desired final condition.

Poor and rich alike were purchased by Christ's blood. Among His followers the poor often serve Him with single-minded and undivided purpose, while the rich may cling to earthly wealth and let it eclipse eternal concerns. To neglect the poor misrepresents God's character and reveals lack of care for those in hardship. No service done for the needy, the afflicted, or the sorrowing loses its reward. Remembering the poor and following this direction would make the world a different place.