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 68 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».) iii. The Teaching of the NT.

— In the Sermon on the Mount (as recorded in Mt), our Lord, after setting forth His New Law as a true fulfilment of the Ancient Law (5""), proceeds to treat of certain chief religious observances from a similar point of view (6'"') ; and, in full accordance with the Jewish thought of the time, that one which He takes first is A.

It may seem strange that He does not more directly correct the erroneous notions of merit and justification which had already become associated, in more or less definite form, with such works ; and that He speaks of a divine reward for them without adding any warning against misunderstanding. He contents Himself -vi-ith requiring purity of motive, indifl'erence to and even avoidance of human pi-aise, and self-forgetfulness. But, in truth, if we learn to test the quality of the motive for.

and the manner of performing, each deed, with reference only bo the judgment which God will pronounce upon it, that temper of mind, that faith and humility and sense of personal failure and sin, which alone are consistent \vith the principles of the gospel, wUl be secured. Another very signifi- cant saying of our Lord on A. is given Lk 11". He there enjoins it as the true means of purifying material objects for our use ; it is a counterpart to the ceremonial washings of the Pharisees.

Lk 12™ is the only other passage in the Gospels where the word e'Xf ijM0ffi>>''7 is used. But liberality in giving is frequently inculcated or commended (Mt 5^ 19-', Mk 10=', Lk 6'-»« 14" 16» 18=') In the Acts the Jewish use of the term is illustrated ; it does not occur there in any Christian precept. But that feature of the life of the Christian community at Jems, in the first days, as there pictured, which has been called communism, is more properly an example of abounding charity.

In Christendom during many centuries the duty of A. (primarily, no doubt, from a desire of obeying the commands of Christ) received great, and sometimes exaggerated, attention. The danger now is rather that, through fear of the ill-ellects of indiscriminate A., the disjKJsition to give and the habit of doing so should be discouraged. A practice, however, enjoined as this one is, must permanently hold 8 ALMUQ ALOES, LIGN-ALOES 69 high place in the Christian rule of life.

It is the function of modem economic and social knoHledj,'e only to make ita exercise more wise and bene- ficial. V. U. Stanton.