G. E. Post.
ALMSGIVING.— i. The llUlory of the Wurd.— This is interesting and instructive. The Gr. word f'XfTj^ocTi'i'T;, from which alms is derived, is one of I hose words which owe their origin to the u.se of the Gr. language by .lews imbued with the religious and ethical ideas of OT. The l,.KX (including the
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ALMSGIVING
ALMSGIVING
Apocr.) supplies the greatest variety of examples of the senses ^ven to it. In some passages it appears impossible to distinguish its meaning from that of IXeo! ; but eXerjiiocrvi'Tj, as derived from the aJi. iXe-^i/iwr, which describes a merciful man, who is nimself as it were a concrete example of mercy, properly denotes the exhibition of the quality, rather than the inward feeling. It is used of God both in the sing. (Is 1" 28", Sir 11^, Bar 4=) and in plur. [Ps 103 (Sept 102) «, To 3^]. A deep sense that God's goodness had been and would be proved in deeds, is specially characteristic of revealed religion ; and the need for expressing this may, in part at least, have been the motive for coining the unclassical term which we are considering. It is used of men, also, to signify (1) the 8ho^ving of kindness, the practice of worKs of mercy (Gn 47**, Pr ig^'' 20^8 2V\ Sir 7'° etc.); and (2) particular works of mercy (Pr 3", Dn 4" [Eng. 4-], Sir 35» [Sept. 32*], To !»• " etc. ). By the time at least that the books of Sir and To were written, it had come to be a quite specific description of deeds of compassion to the poor. The importance which this class of actions had acquired for religious minds is thus marked by the adoption of a special word to denote them. The LXX, however, does not supply any clear instance of the transference of the word to the actual gifts bestowed.
The LXX employs it as an equivalent not only for npn (mercy), but sometimes for words denoting right- eousness, pn^, njis, nj-ix (Dn 4**). The thougnt may suggest itself that we have here signs of a tendency to regard A. , after the manner of the Talm. , as the chief and most typical of the works whereby that righteousness may be acquired which makes man acceptable with God. But this is more than doubtful. It occurs several times where righteous- ness is predicated of God (Is 1" 28" 59'*). In one or more of the following passages, where words for righteousness are tr. m LXX by e'Ke-qtuxTvi/ri, a human quality may be in view (Ps 33 [Sept. .32]', Dt 62» 24", Ps 24 [Sept. 23]»). But in each case a different interpretation, at least of the LXX, is possible. The conception of righteousness in OT IS a lar^e one, and not wholly definite. Under one aspect it wears almost the character of mercy. And it may have been from a more or less clear consciousness of this that the renderings just re- ferred to were adopted. Neither in the Apocr. nor in the LXX of the canon, books do there appear to be examples of the use of SiKawavrti for 'alms"iving,' though it is true that eXcrj- liarwi) and SiKaioffwii are coupled at To 2" 12'- ' in a manner which shows a strong association of ideas between them. We have, however, an indication of this Rabbinic usage in the best supported reading of Mt 6'.
In NT the word is used in Mt and Lk and in Ac, but always in the sense either of A. or of alms — the actual gift (for the latter see Ac 3'- ').
The Lat. Fathers, from Tertullian and Cyprian onwards, and the Old Lat. and Vulg. VSS employ the word eleemosyna, transliterated from the Gr. ; only, however, in those cases where they had no exact or convenient I^at. equivalent. From Lat. eccles. usage come the various derivatives in the languages of modem Europe (Eng. alms, Fr. aumine. Genu. Almosen, Ital. limo^na).
ii. Jitcish Teaching. — Some consideration of this is necessary, if we would rightly appreciate the teaching of NT on the subject. Evidence of the importance which A. had acquired for religious minds among the Jews of the 2nd or 3rd cent. B.C. has already come before us in the fact that a special name was assigned to this class of actions. They had become one of the common and acknow- ledged observances of the religious life, a matter to be attended to by the religions man in the same
regular and careful manner as prayer and fasting, ■vvith which we find A. joined (see To 12', Sir 7'", and cf. the conduct of the earnest proselyte Cor- nelius, Ac 10^-*). It is regarded as a specially efficacious means of making atonement for sin (Sir S"- *> le"), and obtaining divine piotection from calamity (Sir 29" 40^, To U'"- ") ; tlie merit thereof is an unfailing possession (Sir 40") ; the religious reputation to be won thereby is held out as an inducement to the practice of it (Sir 31 [LXX 34]»).
Such features in the estimate of A. are, if possible, still more marked in the Talm., where npns, righteous- ness, is a recognised name for A. The perform- ance of works of mercy is set forth as a means whereby man may be accounted righteous in the sight of God, like the fulfilment of the command- ments of the Law. It is even more meritorious than the latter, because it is not exactly prescribed, but left, as to its extent and amount at least, to the individual. It must not, however, be supposed that all the Rabbinic teaching on A. tends to self- righteousness. It has a better side. The superiority of those deeds of kindness in which personal sym- pathy is shown, and which involve the taking of trouble, over the mere bestowal of gifts, is clearly insisted on, and there are sas'ings which strikingly enjoin consideration for the self - respect of the recipients of bounty. (See F. Weber, System d. altsynaqnqalen Paldstiniichen Theologie, p. 273f., and A. vV iinsche, Neue Beitr. z. Erldut. d. Evang. atis Talmud u. Midrasch, on Mt &•*, Lk 11" 12».)