ABSTRACT
The written prophets, who prophesied over a 250-year period, from the rise of the Assyrian empire to the establishment of the Persian empire, evidently did not change their views on poverty and the poor, nor is there evidence that these views were challenged or debated: there is no small print or amendments. Whereas 'laws' of modern economic theory are generally subject to disagreement and debate, biblical poor laws are purely practical and, in the world of the Bible as we have it, uncontested. On justice, the major economists of the late 18th century to the mid 20th century agree with the written prophets: no system works without fair and effective laws, with justice for all. The prophetic era coincided with the momentous rise of the Mesopotamian empires; the emergence of modern economics also coincided with imperial growth that greatly extended international markets; though the extent of change from the late-18th century was far greater than in the biblical period.
