Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the law of their God.
Read Chapter 5
Basil the Great
AD 379
Truly, slander humiliates a person, and slander troubles the poor person. The evil of slander is so great that it brings down both the perfect person … from his height, and the poor person, that is, the one who lacks great learning, as it seems to the prophet, who says, “Perhaps they are poor … therefore they will not hear. I will go to the great ones,” meaning by “the poor” those lacking in intelligence, and here, of course, those not yet made orderly in the inner person or having attained to the perfect measure of their age. These, the proverb says, are troubled and made to waver. - "Letter 223"
Foolish idiots, (Calmet) who have had no means of receiving instruction. (Haydock)
Such might be more excusable; but when the chiefs offend, the evil is irremediable.
Paul says about those who live in piety and prosperity, “I thank God that in every way you were enriched in him with all speech and all knowledge.” And to those who are impious, the blessed Jeremiah says, “Maybe they are poor. For this reason, they could not hear the word of the Lord.” Do you see that he calls poor those who have distanced themselves from piety? Therefore, God is merciful to those who sin because they are spiritually poor, and he places demands on those who act justly because they are spiritually rich. To the former he gives freely, on account of their poverty. From the latter he collects with great care, on account of their wealth of piety. That which he does to the righteous and to sinners, he does to both the rich and the poor. - "Homilies on Repentance and Almsgiving 7.3.8"
