He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
Ver. 17. He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth, &c.] This is a second fruit of shaking off sloth, and working with the hands the thing that is good, that one may have to give to him that needeth. Eph 4:28 He doth not give it, but lend it; God accepts it both as δωρον και δανεισμα, as a gift, and a loan, saith Basil. a Nay, he lends it upon usury, Faeneratur Domino; and that to the Lord, who both binds himself to repay, and gives us security for it under his own hand here. He will pay him again to be sure of it - ישׁלם in the Hebrew tense Piel - he will fully and abundantly repay him; mostly in this world, but infallibly in the world to come. Evagrius in Cedrenus bequeathed three hundred pounds to the poor in his will; but took a bond beforehand of Synesius the bishop for the repayment of it in another life; and the very next night after his departure, saith the history, appearing to him in his shape, delivered in the bond cancelled, and fully discharged.
a Orat. de Elcemos.