Liberality

Liberality in scripture is a settled disposition of open-handed giving — toward God, toward the poor, toward strangers and brothers — set against the opposing vices of covetousness, parsimony, avarice, and the love of money. The biblical texts hold these together: the duty of giving, the rules and measure of giving, the encouragement to give, and the sharp condemnation of withholding and greed.

The Duty of Giving

The duty is laid on every member of the covenant community. To the Hebrew bondservant released in the seventh year, "you will not let him go empty: you will furnish him liberally out of your flock, and out of your threshing-floor, and out of your wine press; as Yahweh your God has blessed you you will give to him" (De 15:12-14). John the Baptizer's reply to the crowd is concrete and personal: "He who has two coats, let him impart to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise" (Lu 3:11). Jesus draws the same line for his own: "Sell that which you⁺ have, and give alms; make for yourselves wallets which do not wear out, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail" (Lu 12:33). Paul presses the duty on the wealthy — "that they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to communicate" (1Ti 6:18) — and gives it the broadest possible scope: "as we have opportunity, let us work that which is good toward all men, and especially toward those who are of the household of the faith" (Ga 6:10). Hebrews makes the act itself a form of worship: "to do good and to communicate do not forget: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased" (He 13:16). Romans names it among the characteristic Christian virtues — "sharing to the necessities of the saints; given to the love for strangers" (Ro 12:13).

Ben Sira presses the duty in its full economic realism. "And likewise to the needy, hold out your hand; So that your blessing may be complete" (Sir 7:32). "If you do good, know to whom you are doing good; And there will be hope for your goodness" (Sir 12:1). "Give to good and withhold from evil; Treasure the poor and do not give to the proud" (Sir 12:7). The frame is deathward: "Before you die, do good to a friend; And give to him according to your means" (Sir 14:13); "Give and take, and enjoy your soul; For there is no seeking of delight in Sheol" (Sir 14:16); "My son, do good to yourself if you have the means; And prosper according to the power of your hand" (Sir 14:11). And to one's enemy as well: "If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink: For you will heap coals of fire on his head, And Yahweh will reward you" (Pr 25:21-22).

Giving to God: Offerings and Tithes

Liberality begins, in scripture's order, as offering rendered to Yahweh. The wilderness pattern is voluntary: "Speak to the sons of Israel, that they take for me an offering: of every man whose heart makes him willing you⁺ will take my offering" (Ex 25:2); "whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, Yahweh's offering: gold, and silver, and bronze" (Ex 35:5). The same disposition runs through David's reign: "Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with a perfect heart they offered willingly to Yahweh: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy" (1Ch 29:9). Asa "brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels" (2Ch 15:18). Toi's tribute through Joram — "vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of bronze" — David in turn "did dedicate to Yahweh, with the silver and gold that he dedicated of all the nations which he subdued" (2Sa 8:10-11). Israel's contributions for the second temple were "a freewill-offering to Yahweh, the God of your⁺ fathers" (Ezr 8:28). The summary is given in Proverbs: "Honor Yahweh with your substance, And with the first fruits of all your increase" (Pr 3:9). Micah turns the spoils of nations to the same end — "I will devote their gain to Yahweh, and their substance to the Lord of the whole earth" (Mi 4:13). And of the soldiers after the Midianite campaign: "we have brought Yahweh's oblation, what every man has gotten, of jewels of gold, ankle-chains, and bracelets, signet-rings, earrings, and armlets, to make atonement for our souls before Yahweh" (Nu 31:50).

Ben Sira gives the tithe its proper temper: "With a good eye glorify the Lord, And do not hold back the offerings of your hands" (Sir 35:10); "In all your works let your countenance beam, And with gladness sanctify your tithe" (Sir 35:11).

The tithe is the institutional shape this offering takes. Abraham gives Melchizedek "a tenth of all" (Ge 14:20); Jacob vows, "of all that you will give me I will surely give the tenth to you" (Ge 28:22). The Mosaic legislation makes the tithe Yahweh's: "And all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land, of the fruit of the tree, is Yahweh's: it is holy to Yahweh" (Le 27:30). The Levites receive the tithe "for an inheritance, in return for their service which they serve, even the service of the tent of meeting" (Nu 18:21). Deuteronomy locates tithes alongside burnt-offerings, vows, and freewill-offerings (De 12:6) and orders the third-year tithe to "the Levite, to the sojourner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, that they may eat inside your gates, and be filled" (De 14:28; De 26:12). Hezekiah's reform sees Israel give "in abundance the first fruits of grain, new wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things they brought in abundantly" (2Ch 31:5). Nehemiah enforces both the Levite share — "the Levites will bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers, into the treasure-house" (Ne 10:38) — and the actual gathering: "Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and the new wine and the oil to the treasuries" (Ne 13:12; cf. Ne 12:44). The Pharisee in the parable, for all his self-display, "gives tithes of all that I get" (Lu 18:12). And Malachi sets out the encouragement that hangs over the whole apparatus: "Bring⁺ the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and prove me now herewith, says Yahweh of hosts, if I will not open for you⁺ the windows of heaven, and pour out a blessing for you⁺, that there will not be room enough [to receive it]" (Mal 3:10).

Munificent Giving

Scripture singles out instances of giving on a vast scale. David's offering for the temple is the paradigm: "because I have set my affection on the house of my God, seeing that I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, I give it to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, with which to overlay the walls of the houses" (1Ch 29:3-4). The vessel-list that follows is itemized "of gold by weight for the [vessels of] gold, for all vessels of every kind of service" (1Ch 28:14). Solomon at Gibeon offers "a thousand burnt-offerings" (1Ki 3:4); at the dedication of the temple, "twenty and two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep" (1Ki 8:63; 2Ch 7:5; cf. 2Ch 5:6, 2Ch 1:6). The queen of Sheba brings "a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these" (1Ki 10:10; 2Ch 9:9). Naaman travels with "ten talents of silver, and six thousand [pieces] of gold, and ten changes of raiment" (2Ki 5:5). Hazael's tribute fills "forty camels' burden" (2Ki 8:9). The wilderness princes bring "six covered wagons, and twelve oxen" (Nu 7:3); each prince's own offering — "one silver platter, the weight of which was a hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary" (Nu 7:13). Cyrus orders the daily provision for the rebuilt temple "without fail" (Ezr 6:9). 1 Maccabees sets the contrast in Antiochus's own panic: "he feared that he should not have as formerly enough, for charges and gifts, which he had given before with a liberal hand: for he had abounded more than the kings who had been before him" (1Ma 3:30). And against all that royal scale, the gospel sets the widow: "This poor widow cast in more than all those who are casting into the treasury" (Mr 12:43).

Almsgiving and the Care of the Poor

The Levitical law plants the duty of relief at the heart of Israel's neighborliness: "if your brother is waxed poor, and his hand fails with you; then you will uphold him: [as] a stranger [who is a] sojourner he will live with you" (Le 25:35). Deuteronomy is unflinching: "If there is with you a poor man, one of your brothers, inside any of your gates in your land which Yahweh your God gives you, you will not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother" (De 15:7). The wisdom literature catches the picture in epigram: "She stretches out her hand to the poor; Yes, she reaches forth her hands to the needy" (Pr 31:20). Boaz, charging his men over Ruth, embodies it: "Let her glean even among the sheaves, and don't reproach her" (Ru 2:15). The dispossessed Judahites of 2 Chr 28 — clothed, fed, anointed, mounted, and brought home — are an Old Testament image of the same compassion the Samaritan later shows (2Ch 28:15; Lu 10:34-35). Isaiah names what fasting actually means: "Is it not to deal your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you don't hide yourself from your own flesh?" (Is 58:7).

In the Gospels, almsgiving becomes the visible fruit of repentance. Zacchaeus says, "the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have wrongfully exacted anything of any man, I restore fourfold" (Lu 19:8). Jesus says to the rich young ruler, "sell all that you have, and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven" (Lu 18:22), and to the Pharisees, "clean those things which are inside; and look, all of you⁺ is clean" (Lu 11:41). Even Judas's protest that the ointment "should have been sold for 300 denarii, and given to the poor" (Jn 12:5) only points up the genuineness of the duty, since John adds that he said it "not because he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief" (Jn 12:6). Paul flags it as the indispensable inner companion of every other gift: "if I bestow all my goods to feed [the poor], and if I deliver up my body that I may boast, but do not have love, it profits me nothing" (1Co 13:3). And the proverb undergirds the whole — "He who has pity on the poor lends to Yahweh, And his good deed he will pay him again" (Pr 19:17).

Ben Sira makes almsgiving a sacrifice in its own right: "And he who gives alms sacrifices a thanksgiving offering" (Sir 35:4); "He who renders kindness offers fine flour" (Sir 35:3). And as a deposit against trouble: "Store up alms in your store-chambers, And it will deliver you from all affliction" (Sir 29:12).

Giving According to Ability

The measure of giving is calibrated to what one has, not to a fixed sum. "Every man will give as he is able, according to the blessing of Yahweh your God which he has given you" (De 16:17). Leviticus permits the substitution of birds for the larger sacrifice "such as he is able to get" (Le 14:30), and adjusts the votive valuation downward "if he is poorer than your estimation" (Le 27:8). The exiles "gave after their ability into the treasury of the work threescore and one thousand darics of gold, and five thousand minas of silver, and one hundred priests' garments" (Ezr 2:69). Nehemiah's refrain is the same: "We after our ability have redeemed our brothers the Jews" (Ne 5:8). Paul gathers up the principle for the Corinthian collection: "if the readiness is there, [it is] acceptable according to as [a man] has, not according to as [he] has not" (2Co 8:12). Ben Sira runs in the same channel: "Give to God according to his gift to you, With a good eye and according as your hand has prospered" (Sir 35:12).

Rules and the Disposition of the Giver

When Paul lays out the mechanics of the Corinthian collection, the rule is regular, prospective, and proportional: "On the first day of the week let each of you⁺ lay by him in store, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come" (1Co 16:1-2). The disposition is not coerced: "[Let] each [do] according to as he has purposed in his heart: not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loves a cheerful giver" (2Co 9:7). And the same accent runs through Paul's gift-spirit shorthand — "he who gives, [let him do it] with liberality" (Ro 12:8). Philemon's gift on behalf of Onesimus is to be "not as of necessity, but of free will" (Phm 1:14). The dominical rule of measure stands behind it all: "give, and it will be given to you⁺; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will give into your⁺ bosom. For with what measure you⁺ mete it will be measured to you⁺ again" (Lu 6:38).

Ben Sira warns that even a generous hand can be spoiled by a sour spirit: "My son, do not put a blemish on [your] good deeds, Nor [cause] grief through words in any gift" (Sir 18:15); "There is a gift that profits you nothing, And there is a gift that brings a double recompense" (Sir 20:10); "The gift of a fool does not profit you, For his eyes are many instead of one" (Sir 20:14); "He gives little and criticizes much, And opens his mouth like a herald. Today he lends and tomorrow he asks it back, Hateful is such a one to God and man" (Sir 20:15). And the same Sira warns against the corrupting gift, the bribe in disguise: "Presents and gifts blind the eyes of the wise, And as a muzzle on the mouth turn away reproofs" (Sir 20:29). Liberality is not to be displayed in receiving either: "Do not let your hand be stretched out to receive, And drawn back to return" (Sir 4:31). And toward the oppressed in particular: "Do not trouble the insides of the oppressed, And do not withhold a gift from your indigent" (Sir 4:3).

The Letter to Diognetus distills the same disposition into the description of the Christian who, in imitation of God, "takes his neighbor's burden on himself; he who, where he is superior, wishes to benefit another who is inferior; he who supplies to others in need those things which he has received from God, becomes as a god to those who receive. This man is the imitator of God" (Gr 10:6). Even in want, the Christians "are poor, yet make many rich; are in want of all things, yet abound in all" (Gr 5:13).

Encouragement and Reward

The promises attached to liberality run through the whole canon. "There is one who scatters, and increases yet more; And there is one who withholds more than is meet, but [tends] only to want" (Pr 11:24). "The liberal soul will be made fat; And he who waters will be watered also himself" (Pr 11:25). "He who has a bountiful eye will be blessed; For he gives of his bread to the poor" (Pr 22:9). "He who gives to the poor will not lack; But he who hides his eyes will have many a curse" (Pr 28:27). The psalmist's portrait of the righteous: "He has dispersed, he has given to the needy; His righteousness endures forever: His horn will be exalted with honor" (Ps 112:9). Isaiah names the corresponding rise: "the noble devises noble things; and in noble things he will continue" (Is 32:8); "if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul: then your light will rise in darkness, and your obscurity be as the noonday" (Is 58:10). 2 Chronicles tells of Hezekiah's reform: "Since [the people] began to bring the oblations into the house of Yahweh, we have eaten and had enough, and have plenty left: for Yahweh has blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store" (2Ch 31:10). Ecclesiastes presses the principle of return: "Cast your bread on the waters; for you will find it after many days" (Ec 11:1). Paul's harvest image follows the same line: "He who sows sparingly will reap also sparingly; and he who sows bountifully will reap also bountifully" (2Co 9:6). And the underlying Christological economy is given in 2 Cor 8: "you⁺ know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your⁺ sakes he became poor, that you⁺ through his poverty might become rich" (2Co 8:9). On the strength of that grace the Macedonian churches gave: "in much proof of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their liberality" (2Co 8:2), giving "according to their power... yes and beyond their power" (2Co 8:3). Hebrews adds the divine memory: "for God is not unrighteous to forget your⁺ work and the love which you⁺ showed toward his name, in that you⁺ served the saints, and still do serve" (He 6:10).

Concrete Instances of Liberality

The pattern of liberality shows up over and over as concrete event. The Israelites at the tabernacle bring so much that "the people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which Yahweh commanded to make" (Ex 36:5); "the men as well as the women, as many as were willing-hearted, brought brooches, and earrings, and signet-rings, and armlets, all jewels of gold; even every man who offered an offering of gold to Yahweh" (Ex 35:22). Returning exiles receive aid as they go: "all those who were round about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered" (Ezr 1:6). The heads of fathers' houses contribute (Ne 7:70); the people of Jehoiada's day "rejoiced, and brought in, and cast into the chest, until they had made an end" (2Ch 24:10), responding to the king's appeal that the Levites collect "the tax of Moses the slave of Yahweh, and of the assembly of Israel, for the tent of the testimony" (2Ch 24:6). Ezra weighs out for the journey "the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering for the house of our God, which the king, and his counselors, and his princes, and all Israel there present, had offered" (Ezr 8:25). Two New Testament instances stand out: the widow at the treasury, who "of her want cast in all the living that she had" (Lu 21:1-4), and the Philippians, who "even in Thessalonica... sent once and again to my need" (Php 4:16). Wealth is not in itself the measure: 1 Tim presses the rich to "do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come" (1Ti 6:17-19). And Job's friends, when he is restored, mark his renewal with quiet generosity: "every man also gave him a kesitah [of silver], and every one a ring of gold" (Job 42:11).

Giving of Presents

A particular sub-form of liberality is the customary present that accompanies relationship — covenantal, royal, prophetic, marital. Abraham's slave gives Rebekah "jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment" (Ge 24:53). Jacob distributes raiment among his brothers, "but to Benjamin he gave three hundred [shekels of] silver, and five changes of raiment" (Ge 45:22). Saul's attendant produces "the fourth part of a shekel of silver" for the seer (1Sa 9:8). Abigail's present "to the young men who follow my lord" (1Sa 25:27) and David's distribution of spoil to the elders of Judah — "Look, a present for you⁺ of the spoil of the enemies of Yahweh" (1Sa 30:26) — both work within this convention. The queen of Sheba's gift to Solomon and Solomon's reciprocation "of his royal bounty" (1Ki 10:10; 1Ki 10:13) display the royal form. The wife of Jeroboam takes "ten loaves, and cakes, and a cruse of honey" to Ahijah (1Ki 14:3). Benhadad sends Hazael to Elisha with "every good thing of Damascus" (2Ki 8:9).

Covetousness, Greed, and Avarice Condemned

The reverse of liberality is named with equal sharpness. The tenth commandment is the foundational prohibition: "You will not covet your fellow man's house, you will not covet your fellow man's wife, nor his male slave, nor his female slave, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your fellow man's" (Ex 20:17). Paul transposes it into the New Testament catalogue of vices — "whoring, all impurity, or greed, don't let it even be named among you⁺" (Eph 5:3); "whoring, impurity, immoral sexual passion, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry" (Col 3:5). Jesus warns flatly: "Take heed, and keep yourselves from all greed: for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of the things which he possesses" (Lu 12:15). Hebrews makes contentment its discipline: "Be⁺ free from the love of money; content with such things as you⁺ have: for he himself has said, I will never fail you, neither will I ever forsake you" (He 13:5). And Paul gives the diagnostic line: "the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil: which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (1Ti 6:10), and so the elder must be "no lover of money" (1Ti 3:3).

The prophets indict the same vice in social form. "From the least of them even to the greatest of them everyone is given to covetousness" (Je 6:13). "Woe to him who gets an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high" (Hab 2:9). Micah names the seizure pattern — "they covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a [noble] man and his house" (Mi 2:2). Proverbs warns: "The leader who lacks understanding is also a great oppressor; [But] he who hates covetousness will prolong his days" (Pr 28:16). The psalmist names the wicked's posture: "the wicked boasts of his soul's desire, And the covetous curses, [yes,] scorns [the Speech of] Yahweh" (Ps 10:3). Ezekiel sketches the religious form: "with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain" (Eze 33:31). And the proverbs of greed pile up: "We will find all precious substance; We will fill our houses with spoil" (Pr 1:13); "So are the ways of everyone who is greedy of gain; It takes away the soul of its owners" (Pr 1:19); "He who is greedy of gain troubles his own house" (Pr 15:27); "There is one who covets greedily all the day long; But the righteous gives and does not withhold" (Pr 21:26). Isaiah's image of the insatiable: "the dogs are greedy of soul, they can never have enough; and these are shepherds who cannot understand: they have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain" (Is 56:11). Micah of his contemporaries: "The heads of it judge for reward, and its priests teach for wages, and its prophets tell the future for silver" (Mi 3:11). Of Samuel's sons: "his sons didn't walk in his ways, but turned aside after greed for monetary gain, and took bribes, and perverted justice" (1Sa 8:3). Ben Sira sets it as wisdom: "He who runs after gold will not be guiltless, And he who loves gain will go astray by it" (Sir 31:5); and Sira warns the would-be ruler against gain in office: "Do not seek to be a ruler If you do not have the strength to make pride cease. Or else you will be afraid of the noble; And allow unjust gain in your integrity" (Sir 7:6).

The natural fruits of the same root run as a thread of narrative. Saul and his men "spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and the oxen" (1Sa 15:9). Achan, taking the Babylonian mantle and the gold and silver: "I coveted them, and took them; and, look, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent" (Jos 7:21). Jacob recalls how Laban "changed my wages ten times" (Ge 31:41). Benhadad's threat — "they will search your house... whatever is pleasant in your eyes, they will put it in their hand, and take it away" (1Ki 20:6). Ahab's covetous offer to Naboth (1Ki 21:2). Gehazi resolving "I will run after him, and take somewhat of him" (2Ki 5:20). The Pharisees who, "lovers of money, heard all these things; and they scoffed" (Lu 16:14).

Avaricious Men

A handful of texts name the avaricious man directly. Balaam, "who loved the wages of wrongdoing" (2Pe 2:15). The oppressors of Amos "who pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek" (Am 2:7). Tyre, who "built herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets" (Zec 9:3). Judas, "a thief, and having the bag took away what was put in it" (Jn 12:6). Jeremiah's image of the unjust enricher: "As the partridge that sits on [eggs] which she has not laid, so is he who gets riches, and not by right; in the midst of his days they will leave him, and at his end he will be a fool" (Je 17:11). And James's apocalyptic of corroded wealth: "Your⁺ gold and your⁺ silver are corroded; and their corrosion will be for a testimony against you⁺, and will eat your⁺ flesh as fire. You⁺ have laid up your⁺ treasure in the last days" (Jas 5:3). Ecclesiastes, in summary: "He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase: this also is vanity" (Ec 5:10); "There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun, [namely], riches kept by their owner to his hurt" (Ec 5:13).

Withholding from God

Liberality's reverse face, finally, is appraised in the worship system itself. To withhold offerings is robbery. "Will man rob God? Yet you⁺ rob me. But you⁺ say, In what have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings" (Mal 3:8). The withholding takes shape both in the closing of the temple under Ahaz — "Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt-offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel" (2Ch 29:7) — and in the post-exilic neglect Nehemiah finds: "the portions of the Levites had not been given them; so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled every one to his field" (Ne 13:10). The same dishonor takes the shape of skimping the sacrifice itself: "You haven't brought me of your sheep for burnt-offerings; neither have you honored me with your sacrifices" (Is 43:23); "You have bought me no sweet cane with silver, neither have you filled me with the fat of your sacrifices; but you have burdened me with your sins, you have wearied me with your iniquities" (Is 43:24). The deafness to need has its own judgment: "Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, He also will cry, but will not be heard" (Pr 21:13). Malachi's long indictment (Mal 1:6-14; Mal 3:4-12) draws the whole pattern together — polluted offerings, blemished animals, robbed tithes — and announces the reversal: "Then will the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant to Yahweh, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years" (Mal 3:4). And John's epistle puts the test in its bluntest one-line form: "whoever has the world's goods, and looks at his brother in need, and shuts up his compassion from him, how does the love of God stay in him?" (1Jn 3:17).