The Bible and the 'Holy Poor': From the Tanakh to Les Misérables

ISBN-13: 9780367891343 / Angielski / Miękka / 2019 / 138 str.

David Aberbach

Opis

This book assesses why the Bible is so positive in its view of the poor, unlike most later literary and legislative works. It seeks to understand what historical circumstances brought about this elevated perception of the poor by exploring the clash of ideals and realities in the depiction of the poor in the Hebrew Bible and in European culture.

Spis treści

Acknowledgements  Introduction  1. Biblical law and the poor  2. Inequality and the Bible  3. The Bible and the poor  4. The Bible and European Poor Law 5. How closely were laws on the poor observed in the biblical age?  6. Subversion of the social order in the Hebrew Bible  7. The Bible and poverty: a contrast with ancient Greece and Rome  8. The Bible, the poor and Christian Europe  9. Ancient prophets, modern economists  10. The superior status of the poor in the Hebrew Bible  11. The decline of the ‘holy poor’ in Rabbinic Judaism 12. The Bible and Christian views of the poor  13. The 16th century turn against the ‘Apostolic Poor’  14. Vernacular Scripture, the Reformation and the poor  15. The Bible and literary compassion for the poor  16. On ‘false’ poor  17. Mendele and the damned poor 18. Why are there no deceitful poor in the Bible?  Notes Bibliography Index

O autorze

David Aberbach is Professor, Department of Jewish Studies, McGill University