What Does the Bible Say About Beggars?
While the Bible asserts that the world will always include poor people, it has relatively little to say about beggars. Most of the stories about actual beggars are found in the New Testament. The Old Testament verses about begging are more philosophical in nature.
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Identification
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The Old Testament uses the Hebrew word "shaw-al" for "to beg." It is a primary root which could be translated as "to inquire, to request, or to demand" with as much accuracy as "to beg." The Greek word that is used for beggar in the New Testament is "pto-khos." This word means "to crouch" or "to cringe." When it refers to a person, it is translated "beggar" or "pauper."
Features
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The Old Testament considers begging to be bad. Psalm 37:25 promises that the children of people who are truly righteous will never be reduced to begging for their food. Two verses in Proverbs portray begging as the result of laziness. The person who is too lazy to plow and plant in the spring will find himself begging during the harvest. To prevent this from happening, lazy people are advised to "consider" how ants store food whenever it is available. (Proverbs 20:4, Proverbs 6:6-8). This verse is similar to Paul's injunction in the New Testament that penalizes people who refuse to work by withholding their food (2 Thessalonians 3:10).
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Types
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Both of the beggars that Jesus met were blind. Mark 10:46ff and Luke 18:35ff recount the same story of Bartimaeus, a blind beggar who called loudly as Jesus' passing entourage moved through Jericho. In spite of the rebuke of many bystanders, Jesus turned aside and asked the beggar what he wanted. "Rabbi, I want to see," said the beggar. Jesus replied that the man's faith had healed him. The effect was immediate and the former beggar began to follow Jesus. A second man who had been blind since birth was another beggar. When Jesus saw him, he told him to go and wash himself in the Pool of Siloam. This act of obedience resulted in his healing.
Potential
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One of the Bible's earliest demonstrations of the ongoing power of the message of Jesus also involved a beggar. This man had been crippled from birth and habitually begged at the gate of the temple in Jerusalem where the early church members met to pray every afternoon. When Peter and John arrived one day, he asked them for money. Peter demanded the beggar's attention and announced that though there was no money to be given, they would give what they had. Then Peter pulled the beggar to his feet and commanded him to be healed in the name of Jesus. It happened. The sermon that followed persuaded 5,000 people to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead, that he was the Jewish Messiah. Peter and John were arrested and jailed by the religious leaders but released the next day.
Warning
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Jesus told a story about a beggar, Lazarus, and a rich man. Lazarus had begged daily in front of this rich man's house but the rich man never gave him anything. Both men died. The beggar found himself in comfort with Abraham, but the rich man was in agony in a burning fire. He was thirsty so he asked Abraham to send the beggar to give him a drop of water to cool his tongue. Abraham reminded the rich man that he was reaping what he had sowed in the way he had treated the beggar when they both lived. He refused his request.
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