WHO ARE THE POOR IN OUR MIDST?

Résumé

This essay is a study of the biblical terminologies that refer to the poor, and through them, it intends to establish the character of the people that the Bible, and by extension the modern society describe as poor. It is commonplace to think that the poor refers to those who are deprived of economic resources and material goods. The biblical terminologies reveal a broader reality that covers a wider designation. Therefore, the essay begins by exposing the use of the terminologies of poverty and the poor especially in the Old Testament (OT). Moreover, a study of the ways in which these designations are used through the scriptures offers an awareness of the social situation in which the poor lived and which the prophets addressed. This would enable the reader to understand the biblical terminology within a living context in which they are defined.